Why?
Strategic planning is important because it will help to achieve the effective use of scarce
resources - human, financial and material.
Planning is crucial to undertaking any major electoral process and is a key responsibility. It is
relevant to all electoral managers, whether they are in charge of a national electoral commission
or a polling site. A clear written statement of process for implementing the responsibilities of the
electoral manager should be prepared. The content will obviously vary; in some cases the plan
will relate to the organisation of a single electoral process and in others it will represent the
objectives and proposals for achieving high levels of performance in a continuing organisation.
The world is awash with mission statements, value statements, short and long term plans,
strategies and programmes. On occasions it seems that organisations compete with one another to
provide ever more complex plans and statements. The amount of notice taken of these plans and
statements may be in inverse proportion to their length.
What should a plan contain
The American Management Association has produced a Workbook Program on Strategic
Planning.14 They contend that the characteristics of a useful plan are:
1. The plan should be simple.
2. The plan should be flexible.
3. The plan should be credible.
The plan should set out the key issues to be addressed. It should identify the various key
operational areas and who will be responsible for each. The strategic plan should set out the
overall principles for the work of the electoral management body. The operational plan (see
Operational Planning) should then apply these principles to the specific electoral task(s) involved and prepare
a detailed plan which will put a time frame and programme against each of the activities.
Any strategic plan should include provision for a clear and continuing review and overview of
the whole process. Plans do not implement themselves and early identification of emerging
problems is essential.
Learning from the last elections
Some elections start from scratch, but in most cases, strategic planning of the next election
process starts when the most recent one finishes. A review of the strengths and weaknesses of the
last electoral process is essential. Electoral work is normally repetitive and the lessons learned
on each occasion must be taken into account in planning for the future. The same issues and
problems often come up time after time during the electoral process - significant numbers of
voters are not registered, polling sites are poorly laid out causing delays and confusion, the vote
counting is conducted in cramped conditions with poor layout and organisation, or poll workers
in one site deal with a situation differently from those in another site due to inadequate training.
One must ensure that problems arising during the last electoral process have been identified and
include in the strategic plan steps to make sure that they will not recur. If the problems are
beyond the control of the electoral management body or electoral manager, they must be
highlighted otherwise they will happen again.
What are the core issues and requirements?
Identification of core issues and requirements is essential. Electoral processes are normally
governed by laws and regulations, so the strategic plan should always comply with these
provisions.
Strategic plans may relate to the continuing work of a major electoral commission or to the
planning and implementation of a single major electoral process - such as registration of voters
or holding of a major national election.
The Australian Electoral Commission identified five key areas in their 1993 / 1996 plan
15 and these were:
- Roll Management
- Conduct of Elections
- Community Awareness
- Industrial Elections
- Corporate Management
.
It then identified within these five key areas one main goal for each area and set out how these
goals were to be achieved.
In terms of the achievement of the plan, the Australian system has electoral officers for each state
and territory, who are responsible for electoral organisation at their respective level. At national
level, there is a Central Office divided into five divisions which are:
- Corporate Services - this division includes resources management, personnel, property and
services and strategic planning
- Information and Education
- Development and Research - this division includes election operations, legal, people and
organisational learning and research and international services
- Industrial Elections -
the commission carries out various other elections in connection with industrial relations issues
- Information Technology
With these divisions, the commission is in a position not only to deal with the operational issues,
such as holding elections, but also to ensure that new initiatives, research and planning and
technology are properly resourced.
What happens if something goes wrong?
Any strategic plan needs to include provision for dealing with major problems. The extract
below is from David Leahy's article, 'Preparing for the Worst', in Elections Today (Vol
5 No. 4),
Unfortunately, disasters - natural or otherwise - do happen, regardless of where we
live. Election officials, if a detailed contingency plan is not in place, should quickly assess the
situation, seek definitive answers, and use all available resources.
Develop a contingency procedure before disaster strikes for small catastrophes that could affect
your own office space. Not only is it good to have those procedures in place should they become
necessary, but the development exercise will help if a large-scale disaster hits.
Organize an emergency network in advance for contacting your employees - one that does not
only rely on the telephone. When disaster strikes, first check on the safety and emergency needs
of your employees. Then, communicate when and where they are to report for work.
Determine first who has the authority to postpone an election. Whether this decision maker is an
official, such as the Governor or Secretary of State, or the courts, do not lose valuable time when
disaster strikes. Seek a speedy, definitive answer as to whether the election is to be postponed or
conducted on the scheduled date.
Work with the emergency management or civil defence officials. Advise them that the disaster
has a direct and immediate impact on your operation. Sit in on emergency planning meetings
and become familiar with the officials' recovery strategies and the type of resources that will be
available. Tap into those resources.
Appoint one of your staff members to be at the emergency centre following the disaster. 1. to get
a quick assessment of the extent of the disaster. 2. to communicate quickly with emergency
officials such as power and phone company representatives and other officials.
3. to disseminate election-related information through the news media.
Designate an individual to coordinate the assistance that others will offer you leading up to the
election process. Without a person overseeing the process, this assistance will be under-utilized.
If a disaster occurs, focus not only on the logistical aspects of conducting the election, but also
on the necessity to defend the steps you take to complete the process. Do everything possible to
ensure a fair election for voters and candidates.
Keep records of the costs you incur above, your normal expenses, which result from the disaster
in order to justify a supplemental budget allocation.'
There may be other issues to include in contingency planning. The important one for the
electoral manager to recognise is that however good the system and the people operating it and
however well planned the process, problems (hopefully small but occasionally very large) will
occur. These problems may be totally beyond the control of the electoral manager, but if there is
a proper contingency plan, the issue will be minimised. If the electoral manager has no
contingency or emergency plan, a wholly external problem may rapidly become the focus for
complaints about the manner with which it was dealt. A frequent occurence in developing
countries is the breakdown or default of third party services - water, electricity or fuel - which
can put considerable pressure on already tight deadlines.
Other Strategic Planning Issues
These issues include:
- identifying all resources available - personnel, materials, technology, offices,
assistance;
- identifying which tasks can be carried out by engaging contractors or external
assistance;
- identifying which other agencies and organisations have a statutory role in the process and
setting up effective co-ordination systems;
- setting up a proper review process after each major task;
- setting up staff training
programmes;
- preparing proper systems for the creation of budgets and control of costs.
Overall the need to ensure a level playing field, as far as practicable between contesting parties,
is essential.
Values
The strategic plan ought to include an outline of the values of the organisation, because they
should influence the way the organisation works and achieves its objectives. The Strategic Plan
of Elections Canada 16 includes values set out as commitments to:
- the integrity and openness of the electoral process;
- a fair and inclusive system
accessible to the entire electorate;
- participation of all citizens in the electoral process;
- staff training and development.
The plan then sets out that the organisation is striving for:
- a high quality, cost
effective and professional service;
- excellent relations and interaction between and
among staff with the public;
- leadership in performance and innovation among
electoral organisations worldwide;
- efficiency and effectiveness in achieving
objectives;
...that the organisation believes in:
- impartiality and independence of the Office;
- teamwork and open lines of communication;
- a sense of community among staff;
...and finally that the organisation encourages:
- innovation, creativity and openness among all staff members.
The document rapidly conveys to the reader the aims, values and ideals of the commission and
the belief that they will put them into practice.
Overview
The reports published by the major national electoral commissions such as those for Canada and
Australia set out both their work carried out during the previous period and their plans for the
short, medium and long term. Any electoral manager planning a major electoral process will
find considerable benefit in looking at these documents, as they include the key overall issues. It
is quite possible to organise an electoral process without any strategic plan, but the chances are
that little will be learnt from it in terms of developing excellence over a period. Good strategic
planning will look at the medium and long term and put in place systems to evaluate and improve
each part of the process for the benefit of all the participants.
It is difficult to obtain a complete picture of the process without involving members from the
different levels of electoral management bodies as well as the political community. Such a
procedure enhances the transparency of the electoral mamager`s work.
