The issue of integrity in less developed countries (LDCs), and countries undergoing a transition from authoritarian rule to a more open democratic system, is as important as it is in the more established democracies. In addition to the universal problems of the influence of money and the factionalism of special interest groups, LDCs and countries in transition face a lack of operating funds, low levels of literacy or understanding of elections, and security problems. A pervasive lack of trust in transition or post-conflict societies can poison the atmosphere for 'free and fair' elections, and result in low levels of candidate or voter participation. Ensuring the transparency and integrity of the process in these situations can be difficult and requires special consideration.
Some of the problems that can occur in these situations is evident in this summary of the 1996 parliamentary elections in Bangladesh. 'Before the election at least 13 people were killed and hundreds wounded in the clashes between the opposition and government's security forces. The Awami League's call for a boycott was heeded, and fewer than 10% of the eligible voters turned out for the polls. About a dozen people were killed during the election. The electoral commission invalidated the results for 100 of the 300 contested seats because of fraud.' 27
Reliance on External Support
LDCs and post-conflict societies often do not have sufficient resources to administer an election without external assistance. This can result in a reliance on external assistance. The percentage of donor funding for elections can vary, depending on the needs of the country and the degree of donor interest. A high percentage of external election funding, coupled with donor conditions for the use of the funds, can sometimes raise concerns over the integrity of a 'national' process.
The lack of sufficient funds to implement an election can preoccupy underfunded electoral authorities through an entire election. Even if donor pledges help cover the estimated cost of the elections, shortfalls can occur with unexpected expenses. Donor funding is also dependent on the funding cycles and regulations of the individual donor country. Funds can come late in the process forcing the electoral management body to scramble to cover start up and registration costs. If political conditions are included and are not met, donor funds could never materialize. Thus, uncertainty over funding can negatively impact the integrity of the process. The issue of having sufficient funds for the electoral management body on a timely basis is an important issue for electoral integrity and is dealt with in more depth in Budget.
Technical Assistance
The international community provides technical assistance to electoral management bodies in LDCs and countries undergoing transitions. This technical assistance plays a valuable role in helping the often inexperience electoral managers understand the need for integrity, transparency and viable systems. Technical assistance, though, can create problems for new electoral administrators when the different assistance groups disagree over procedures or alternatives. This dilemma is noted by the Vice Chairman of the 1998 National Elections Commission (NEC) in Cambodia, Kassie Neou:
Much of the credit for the administrative success of the elections goes to the foreign donors and experts who advised the NEC at every point.... This constant diplomatic pressure markedly improved the conditions for the elections. Of course, foreign experts sometimes created problems too. At times our three separate advisor teams fought with one another and the NEC would have to mediate. But on balance, the foreign advisors were a vital resource. 28
Conditionality of External Assistance
Donor funding can be provided without strings as a gift to the country or election management body. However, it is usually conditioned on the recipient country holding 'free and fair' elections. Conditioning funds gives donors leverage over the process which can be used to help keep the elections on track and to make sure integrity is respected. For example, donors can ensure competitive bidding is done for expensive communication or computer systems or that voter registration is open to all eligible citizens.
In the case of the 1998 Cambodian parliamentary elections, one of the donor conditions was the establishment of the Constitutional Council, a supreme court that was written into the Cambodian constitution but which had not yet been created. The establishment of a functioning Council was an important element for the integrity of the process as it was a key constitutional mechanism to resolve electoral disputes.
In some cases donors can attach conditions which surpass the scope and authority of the electoral administrators. In the 1998 Cambodian elections, donor conditions included the apprehension and trial of human rights violators. Although this condition directly affected election funding, it was a political condition which could only be resolved by governmental action. The electoral management body could only indirectly address this condition by lobbying the appropriate government ministries.
Security
Another factor which can negatively affect the integrity of an election is the security environment. In LDCs and post-conflict countries, physical security can be a serious issue. In the 1995 Haitian legislative elections, 'death lists' circulated with the names of some of the Haitian electoral commissioners, candidates and political party officials. The political assassination of a prominent attorney who had been named on one of the lists reinforced fears, resulting in the prolonged absence of an electoral commissioner and affecting the decision-making of those who remained. The presence of UN peacekeeping forces kept violence from erupting during voter registration and polling, but did not stop post-election incidents of burning ballots and counting sheets. In those places, the integrity of the process was so badly damaged, that rerun elections were required.
Peacekeeping Elections
Elections held as part of a peace accord are special cases and require special considerations. These elections are usually held after an internal war as part of the peace and reconciliation process. There is usually significant international assistance to the peace process which involves not only elections but issues such as demobilization of former combatants, demining, and the return of refugees or the internally displaced. Peacekeeping elections have been held in Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Liberia, and Nicaragua.29
Some of the special integrity problems faced in peacekeeping elections include:
- Timing of the elections. The electoral timetable, or at least the date, is usually set in the peace accord after lengthy political negotiations. However, as it is based on political issues rather than technical ones, it often sets an unrealistically short time frame for election preparations.
- Politicization of the election policy and management bodies. In polarized societies, technical issues can turn into political standoffs, in some cases stopping the process for months at a time.
- Destroyed infrastructure which creates overwhelming logistical problems and requires everything to be done from scratch.
- Insecurity including intimidation and continuing human rights violations that negatively affect voter and candidate participation as well as electoral administration.
- Displaced populations that may or may not be returning home to register and vote.
One of the key issues facing post-conflict societies is holding their second election, when the international peacekeepers are gone or have a minimal presence. Security and intimidation can still be a problem. Many of the systems established by international assistance were too expensive or too focused on peacekeeping issues for the national governments to maintain. As a result, the second election was like starting again from scratch.
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In Cambodia, the system established by UNTAC (United Nations Transitional Authority for Cambodia) in 1993 was beyond the financial and human resource capacity of the national government. A new, scaled down system had be to designed and every voter re-registered for the 1998 elections. In Mozambique, many voter registration books from 1994 could not be found and every voter had to be re-registered for the 1999 elections. In Haiti, the voter registration books were kept, but were seen to be suspect, so the entire country was re-registered for the 2000 elections.
