The Sources
Help, information and advice is available from many different sources, which can be external to
the electoral process and/or external to the country concerned. The electoral manager may often
feel, when work is at its peak, that only the manager and staff can successfully deliver the
electoral process. This is rarely the case, however. Plenty of help is available and some of it is
free of charge. Some common examples are:
- Specialist Staff Agencies - Temporary clerical or data processing staff can usually be hired
from agencies or even seconded from other government departments or educational
establishments.
- Specialist Suppliers - There is a computer or photocopier salesmen waiting to do business in
every country in the world. Technology does not come cheaply but many of the multinational
suppliers have considerable electoral experience. In the United States of America (US) and
United Kingdom (GB) the exhibitions at conventions of election officials are full of equipment
which will help to deliver parts of the electoral process. This equipment includes everything
from voter registration systems to touch screen voting and from ballot boxes to voting booths.
Many suppliers are anxious to do more business world-wide and are interested in piloting
systems and helping to develop these systems. Again, this expertise does not come free of
charge, but the expertise and technology is there for anyone to access. There is no need to
develop systems from scratch.
- Specialist Skills Agencies - A public relations agency is an obvious example. National
elections are high profile and often require considerable communication skills, because there can
be difficult problems to comment on and deal with that often have a political element. EMBs
should hire people with the skills to deal with public relations; it does not need to be a core
activity for the electoral manager. Budgets and finance is another area in which employing
specialist skills will reduce the workload of the core electoral staff. Training agencies are also
capable of helping with the delivery of programmes. While they may not have direct expertise in
electoral issues, they will be able to assist in the design and delivery of programmes.
- Nongovernmental Organisations and Civic Groups - these may help with voter education and
monitoring activity at polling sites
- Associations of Electoral Officers - The last decade has seen the formation of a number of
electoral officer associations and these are increasingly taking on an international profile. One of
the best sources of advice and assistance is from another more experienced electoral manager.
The associations have many members in this category who are normally happy to assist. Most
electoral problems are not unique - they have happened before to another electoral manager.
Each manager should learn from the experience of others. The International Foundation for
Electoral Systems (IFES) publishes an International Directory of Election Offices
18 and also has links to many national and international electoral manager associations.
- Private Contractors - The situation differs considerably between countries. In the United
States of America (US) there are many national contractors who will supply systems and
undertake parts of the electoral process. IFES publishes a Buyers Guide for Election
Services, Supplies, and Equipment external link 19, which lists many US and other contractors.
All this potential assistance needs to be placed in perspective. Often, using people to carry out an
unskilled repetitive task is more cost effective than importing lots of complex equipment and
then undertaking the training necessary before it can be used. Also, too much external
(overseas) involvement can detach the local election organisation from its tasks.
International Assistance
The international community has assisted many nations in electoral processes. This assistance
can range from a co-ordinated international effort involving millions of dollars of assistance,
such as occurred in Namibia (NA) in 1989, Cambodia (KH) in 1992, Mozambique (MZ) in 199?
and Bosnia/Herzegovina (BA) in 1997, to assistance at a relatively modest level on one part of
the process, such as voter education - which may even be targeted at a specific minority group.
Learning and Assistance through International Visits
Elections occur throughout the world and no two countries have identical methods. There is
much to learn from a study of practices in other countries. The first source of assistance is to
look at publications such as this one and study the different ways of carrying out electoral tasks.
Most electoral commissions or electoral managers are happy to host visitors during the election
period, and often the costs of such visits can be minimised through local arrangements. There
are international organisations specialising in electoral assistance; the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) external link can provide details on most of the international organisations and many of
the national associations, such as the International Association of Clerks Recorders and Election
Officials and Treasurers (IACREOT)external link in the USA and the Association of Electoral Administrators in the
United Kingdom external link. There are also international groupings such as the Association of Central
and Eastern European Election Officials external link, the Association of Asian Election Authorities, the
Caribbean Election Network Conference and the Association of African Election Authorities.
Again, IFES can supply contact details for them. There is very little left to invent in the electoral
field - most systems have been tried somewhere and there are numerous examples of best
practice.
