Integrity problems and anti-corruption activities extend beyond electoral issues to the wider political, social and economic issues addressed by every government. However, integrity issues related to the electoral process must be taken into consideration by electoral administrators and legislative law makers when designing an electoral system and administering elections.
Good systems can combat and expose economic and political corruption and help ensure integrity. Building a good electoral system with checks and balances is a priority of most electoral management bodies.
Designing Checks and Balances
A good system, with checks and balances, appropriate to the political and economic conditions of the country (Social and Political Context) reduces the possibilities for electoral fraud and increases the chances that corrupt activities will be detected. A credible election process encourages participation and fosters a healthy electoral climate.
The separation and limitation of powers is first be built into the Legal Framework for elections. For example, the law can separate the administrative aspects of elections from the criminal enforcement aspects, as well as separating prosecution from the court which will pass judgement. The validity or constitutionality of election legislation or administrative action should be open for challenge through the judicial system or other mechanism, such as a Constitutional Council, in order to provide a check on its legality.
In New Zealand, for example, there is a separation of responsibilities for specific electoral tasks among different institutions. The Chief Electoral Officer is responsible for running the elections and is an employee of the Ministry of Justice. Voter registration, and the maintaining of voters lists is done by the Electoral Enrolment Centre which is part of the New Zealand Post Office. The Electoral Commission is a separate and independent statutory body which registers political parties and their logos, promotes public awareness of electoral matters, allocates public funds for campaign broadcasting, and receives campaign financing reports. The police are responsible for investigating breaches of electoral law and for prosecuting suspected offenders in the courts. An independent statutory body, the Representation Commission, determines the boundaries of electorates and a committee of Parliament reviews the administration of elections and makes recommendations for law reform. 7
However, the separation of electoral functions in New Zealand is largely for historical reasons, and, consideration may be given in due course to creating one electoral management body similar to the federal Australian Electoral Commission. 8
When there is a separation of electoral powers between several bodies, it is important to develop good coordination mechanisms to ensure that the organizations are working together, and not duplicating efforts or going in conflicting directions. It is also important to be sure that the public, politicians and parties are informed on the roles and responsibilities of each agency to avoid confusion and misunderstandings. 9
In transition countries, where there is no history of an independent judiciary or a functioning legal system (see Special Considerations in Countries in Transition), the establishment of an electoral commission with wide-ranging powers, of the type that would normally be exercised by legal institutions, may be the only way to counter the influence of the exiting institutions. 10
Within the electoral management body, the delegation of authority and the limitation of power for each division and staff position can also be clearly delineated within the administrative Regulations, along with the checks and balance mechanisms to be used. This will ensure electoral authorities know their responsibilities as well as the extent of their authority, and that a system is in place to keep the electoral officials from exceeding their responsibilities.
Integrity mechanisms can also be built into the procedures for election administration to ensure a fair, transparent and honest implementation of the legal framework. These are described in the Integrity in Election Administration texts, with each subtext detailing the integrity problems inherent in that step of the process and the mechanisms that can be used to address them.
Codes of Conduct/Ethics can set standards of integrity in participation and administration, and are used in many electoral systems. These can vary from standards of expected behaviour to binding ethical codes of conduct for electoral administrators, candidates or political parties. In cases of elections in transition, or post-conflict countries, codes of conduct can provide a standard of expected behaviour that, if followed and enforced, can help build trust in the electoral process and reduce the levels of cynicism or fear.
Enforcing Integrity
The enforcement of good procedures and the legal framework is essential to combat corruption. Enforcement mechanisms (Enforcement of Election Integrity) need to be developed in both the legislative and administrative context so that election law violators are caught and dealt with in a timely, professional and non-partisan manner. Effective enforcement also serves as a practical deterrent to future problems.
An example of electoral reform that succeeded using the separation of powers and checks and balances is the Mexican electoral system which underwent a series of reforms from 1990 to 1996. According to Dr. Andreas Schedler, this reform incorporated six mutually re-enforcing mechanisms:
In order to subject the electoral leviathan to credible restraint, political parties set up a comprehensive scheme of interlocking institutional constraints. Among other things, they wrote a new electoral law, the Federal Code of Electoral Institutions and Procedures (COFIPE). They took the administration of elections out of the hands of the Ministry of the Interior, and established a permanent, non-partisan, and autonomous election management body, the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE). They designed a specialized judicial tribunal to settle electoral disputes. They formulated a catalogue of electoral crimes backed by harsh penal sanctions, to be enforced by a special prosecutor. They revamped the electoral registry and issued new, high-tech and high-security voter ID cards. And they established a 'panoptic' regime of party surveillance, allowing political parties to monitor each step of the process. 11
Avoiding Conflicting Legislation and Regulations
Electoral policymakers and administrators must understand how the different legal and administrative pieces fit together. The relevant legislative and administrative codes should work together to form a cohesive legal framework for the promotion and protection of election integrity. For example, is election fraud that is criminal in nature included in the penal codes? In a federal system, who has jurisdiction over election corruption? Is it the national or state governments? Could a crime go undetected or unpunished because of a gap in the legal or administrative framework?
Whether designing a new system or improving an old one, electoral administrators and policymakers need to take a comprehensive look at all of the different laws, regulations and procedures that work to protect election integrity. Gaps, errors and conflicting legislation or regulations should be identified and corrected.
