Essential to Election Integrity
by Steve Connolly
This case study examines the ballot procurement process in the 1995 Haitian elections. This was a
procurement essential to the integrity of the elections, but was subjected to tremendous pressure in an
effort by some to subvert the electoral process. But as this case study will show, using fair and transparent
procurement methods, prevented the politicization of the award of the ballot procurement contract from
derailing the electoral process.
Importance of transparency
While certain security measures taken together can greatly contribute to the integrity of an election (e.g.
security ballots, tamper evident seals on ballot boxes, security ink, tamper proof envelopes) the
transparency of the overall procurement process is an essential ingredient of any credible election.
Without transparency it is impossible to demonstrate the integrity of the process. If the procurement
process is in doubt, the credibility of the election is in question.
The 1995 municipal elections in Haiti were nearly derailed by allegations of impropriety in the ballot
procurement process. The president of the Provisional Election Commission (CEP) publically charged that
the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), the organization mandated to conduct the
procurement of ballots, had decided to award the contract before the completion of the process, and that
the entire competitive process was, therefore, a sham.
These charges were made on national television and planted the seed of doubt about the integrity of the
procurement process. As this study will show, the charges were unfounded, however for a critical time, it
stymied the entire election preparation process. If the procurement had not been done accurately, and
with transparency, these allegations could have derailed the elections.
Ballot Procurement
IFES was given a grant by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to assist the CEP
with the organization, design, procurement and delivery of the ballots. This was a complex task,
complicated by the fact that the elections involved over 10,000 candidates for more than 1,000 electoral
races at both the national (Deputy, Senate) and local levels (Kasek, Magistrate). The national mood at
the time of the elections was tense and uncertain, coming, as they did, shortly after the arrival of the UN
and U.S. peacekeeping forces, and the restoration of civilian rule.
In the United States, procurement with public monies is subject to a specific regulatory regime. U.S. law,
USAID regulations and IFES internal procurement policies require open, competitive procurement. In
organizing a complex procurement, such as ballots for Haiti, it was essential that planning be initiated
well in advance of production and shipping. In addition to the technical challenges, the delivery and
reception in Haiti of such material presented serious logistics challenges and security concerns.
Bidding Process
To start procurement, IFES began assembling a list of companies in the US, Europe and Haiti with an
interest in receiving a Request for Bid (RFB). Ballot specifications were drafted by experts hired by IFES.
Care was taken to ensure that the specifications respected the requirements of the Haitian electoral code
and the CEP. As a check to make sure the specifications were complete, and made sense, IFES contacted
an independent printer technician from a large printing facility that would not be involved in the
bidding, to review the specifications. This extra step helped ensure that the specifications were accurate
and that a firm could understand the requirements.
The final specifications were then presented to a committee in Port-au-Prince for review and approval.
This committee consisted of members of the CEP, which had the mandate to conduct the elections, IFES,
an advisor from the UN Elections Assistance Unit (UNEAU), which was providing technical assistance to
the CEP, and USAID, the agency funding the ballots. This committee also reviewed and approved the bid
review criteria and weighting that would be used to select the winning bid.
The final specifications and the changes incorporated and approved by the CEP review committee were
reviewed one last time by the independent technical advisor to ensure they were complete and
comprehensible. This outside check on specifications and bid language was an important integrity
mechanisms to ensure that the printer selected would print ballots according to the right specifications.
The RFB was developed and released to a total of 15 firms in North America, Haiti, and Europe.
Numerous bids were received before the closing date, set at two weeks from the date of the RFB.
Review and Approval of Bids
On the date and time specified in the RFB no further bids were accepted. A bid review committee
consisting of IFES in-house program managers and the outside technical adviser met to open and review
the bids. For transparency reasons, companies submitting bids were invited to attend the opening,
although none of the firms did.
Seven submissions were received. Each member of the bid review committee had a day to rank the bids
according to the pre-approved objective criteria. Once this was completed, they met again as a committee
to consolidate their individual findings and to select the most responsive bid. The committee looked at
the total number of points awarded to each bid, the review of each bid and the results of an earlier
investigation by IFES into the capacity and performance information available on each bidder.
The bid review committee determined that most of the respondents were technically capable of satisfying
the requirements of the ballot procurement and, ultimately, price became the determining criteria. As the
prices submitted by the 2nd and 3rd ranked bidder exceeded that of the 1st ranked by a factor of two and
three times respectively, the choice was, in the final analysis, quite simple. The review process and
recommendation were documented for presentation to the CEP committee for final approval.
IFES presented the results of the bids and review process to the CEP committee along with the resulting
recommendation. The lowest qualified bidder was an offshore firm. However, as the CEP respresentative
expected a national firm to obtain the contract even if it was not the most cost-effective proposal, the
Provisional Electoral Council rejected the IFES recommendation and accused it of pre-determining the
winner.
A stalemate ensued while the CEP pressed for award to a national firm. To ensure everything was in
order, the entire procurement process was reviewed by the USAID Regional Legal Advisor who found that
the process had been properly conducted and that the most reasonable choice had been made. Delays in
the procurement of the ballots began to affect not only the election timetable, but the cost of the
procurement as there were problems with the availability of paper at the time, and reduced shipping times.
In the end, the Haitian Government was unable to fund the ballots from its own resources., and as the U.S.
Government procurement regulations required award of the bid to the most responsive bidder, the results
of the competitive bid process were respected.
Award of Contract
The bidders were notified of the results of the bid review and a contract was drafted. This contract was
approved by the funding agency (USAID) as required by U.S. Government regulations. It was then signed
by all parties. Unfortunately, the delays in approving the winning bid meant that once the contract was
finally signed, the price validity had expired. The printer advised IFES that due to the lack of market
availability there would be an increase in the cost of the paper. As this was beyond the control of the
printer, and the caution had been included in the successful bid, an upwards adjustment was made to the
contract price.
Printing of Ballots
In order to ensure maximum transparency and to provide assurances to political parties and candidates
during the printing of the integrity of the ballots, IFES arranged for a representative from the CEP to be
on site at the print facility throughout the printing process. This proved to be useful as there were frequent
changes to the candidate list submitted to the printer which necessitated numerous changes in the plates
and the ballots. The on site CEP representative was able to approve each plate as it was produced and
inspected all resulting subsequent ballot print runs for accuracy and quality.
Despite the late and frequent changes, the printer was able to mobilize the necessary resources and
complete the job according to schedule. On completion of the printing, the plates were destroyed as a
security measure.
Shipping the ballots
Shipping and receiving arrangements had been made when the printing process was initiated. In addition
to logistical and cost factors, physical security of the ballots was a major concern, given the political and
security environment in Haiti. Because of delays in awarding the contract, and the frequent changes to
the candidate list, shipment of the ballots now required two transport aircraft, rather than going as
previously planned as sea freight. A warehouse, adjacent to the airport and adequate for the reception,
storage, and eventually the consolidation for shipment to polling stations, was made available to the CEP
by the U.N. Round the clock security was provided by the UN peacekeeping troops and the Interim Police
Force.
The ballots were airlifted to Port-au-Prince arriving according to the schedule determined by the contract
with the printer. The shipment was received by the CEP with international observers present on the
tarmac in Port-au-Prince. Staff organized by the CEP and the UNEAU assisted in off-loading the
materials and consolidating them in the warehouse. These persons were identified by photo ids for
security purposes and the contents of each pallot was checked against the shipping documents and the
contract. Keeping a good paper trail of the ballot movement is an important integrity mechanism.
Ballot Payment
Payment was not made to the printer until the arrival of the shipment was confirmed by IFES and the
CEP. Payment of the printer was done by a separate office within IFES-- separate from the procurement
office. This separation acts as a check and balance on the procurement process to make sure the process
followed the regulations and competitive bid process.
Conclusion
Despite the intense desire by the CEP for a national printer, the open and competitive bidding process,
ensured that the most responsive and cost-effective printer had been chosen. Ultimately, all involved
parties, including the CEP agreed that the printer, which had been selected through a transparent and
competitive process, had been able to deliver the ballots on time and according to specification, despite the
many delays and changes in candidate lists. An essential factor of this realization was that the
procurement process had been truly transparent. Ensuring the transparency of the entire process from
development of the specifications to distributing the request for proposals (RFP) and awarding the
contract, resulted in a procurement that withstood politically motivated criticism and allowed the elections
to be held as scheduled.
