It is easy to forget that principles that are thought to be commonly, almost universally, accepted as
tenets of democracy have a recent provenance. The concept of universal suffrage has become a
reality in most countries only in the twentieth century, within the lifetime of the world's oldest
inhabitants. In Britain, it was 1918 before most men over the age of twenty-one obtained the right
to vote, with women waiting until 1928. Only in 1949 were property requirements removed. In
Switzerland, many women did not get the vote until 1991.
While the concept of universal suffrage is relatively new, election management is an essential part
of any democratic process and has existed in some manner for more than twenty-five hundred
years. Someone was responsible for counting the hands and reporting the results in the Athenian
assemblies. Throughout the centuries, whilst great importance has been placed on the outcome of
elections because of the ability of the result to legitimise government activity, election management
has received little attention, few staff, and only meagre resources at best.
Elections and election management have, along with other public services, developed more in the
last twenty-five years then in the preceding two hundred and fifty years. The pace of change has
gone hand in hand with increased automation, the re-emergence of democratic governments in
many Latin American countries in the 1980s, the collapse of the Berlin Wall, and the break up of
the Soviet Union. These events led to an awakening of the international community's interest in
democratic elections and to its rapid and at times deep involvement in providing electoral
assistance. Beginning with the United Nations' engagement in the management and shadowing of
South Africa's arrangements for elections in Namibia in 1989 as part of the decolonisation,
numerous bilateral assistance agencies, international organisations, nongovernmental organisations
(NGOs), and others have become active participants in the electoral assistance field.
In addition to growing international interest, the field of election administration has experienced
some notable developments along the way. One of these is a growing consensus on the need to
have, at the core of election management, an independent electoral commission. This is
recognised as the body that can develop the principles of independence, impartiality and, as
important, professionalism. But, there is no one model for an election commission that is
universally acceptable, and it is necessary for any commission to be able to adapt and change.
South Africa's Independent Election Commission went so far as appointing international members
in advance of the 1994 elections to increase the level of expertise, independence and impartiality.
The United Kingdom appointed a commission to discuss alternative ways to elect members of
parliament. The commission could form the basis of a permanent election commission with
powers to regulate and administer elections in a way that has not happened in the past.
Recent improvements in the quality of election management can be highlighted by considering the
ways in which elections were managed before 1990. There now exist examples of well-managed
elections that recognise the need for a professional, service-oriented approach to the electoral
process. Notable examples include the electoral laws of Cambodia and Bosnia-Herzegovina,
which illustrate how the work that began in Namibia has developed.
The professionalisation of the work in this area is shown by developments in Mexico, where the
election commission established a professional service with its own rigorous training programme.
In the United States, where the electoral process is probably the most developed of any country,
organisations such as IACREOT (the International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Election
Officials, and Treasurers) and the Election Centre are committed to the professional training of
people working in this field. In the United Kingdom, the Association of Electoral Administrators
has developed an examination for people working in the field.
Election management was once an area that received little attention either locally, nationally, or
internationally. That view has changed and will continue to change as the importance of
democracy continues to be demonstrated.
