What is Operational Planning?
Operational planning is setting out clearly the implementation of the strategic plan against
specific objectives. In the case of the electoral manager, this task normally requires the
implementation of part of an or the whole electoral process.
Each process, be it voter registration, voter education, or the election and counting processes, is a
series of operations carried out against a timetable and in a manner which complies with the
electoral law and regulations.
Like the strategic plan, the operational plan should be simple, easily understood by all the
participants and leave all staff knowing what activities they have to undertake and the time scale
by which these have to be finished.
Experience of Previous Electoral Activity
On occasion, electoral managers are faced with organising elections with minimal previous
national experience of this activity on the scale planned. Namibia (NA) in 1989 was an example.
In most cases, however, there have been previous elections and any operational planning should
take into account lessons from previous elections to establish:
- What went well?
- What went badly?
- Why?
- What were the costs and where could savings be made?
- What processes could be
simplified?
Learning from these issues can save a lot of time and money when planning the next electoral
event.
Operational Plans
These can range from fairly simple timetables identifying key events in the electoral process to
complex plans setting out in considerable detail what has to happen by certain dates. For the
Haiti elections in 1995, a detailed overall timetable of activities was prepared,
which separates the various areas of activity into the following:
- Electoral Law
- Structure / Personnel
- Operations of National, Regional and Local Election Commissions
-
Communications
- Staff Recruitment and Training
- Security
- Evaluation
- Voter Registration
- Dealing with Candidates
- Materials
- Voting Day
- Civic Education
- Observers
- Retrieval of Materials and Post-election Activities
- Complaints and Contestation
of Results
It has the advantage of giving a specific time frame to each
activity.
The preparation of a diary of activity for the electoral manager is a common practice. The
Diary of Duties of Returning Officer - Canada shows, according to each area of the electoral manager's responsibilities, what
activity has to be undertaken, the time scale for each and also cross-references the duty or
activity to the appropriate section in the electoral law. This type of operational plan, if prepared
from the electoral law and regulations, ensures that no activity identified in the law is 'missed'
by the electoral manager.
The election calendar overview - see Elections Canada Election Calendar - sets out key activities for a specific election.
Operational plans can also identify the responsible electoral manager or unit. The OSCE plan for
the Bosnia/Herzegovina (BA) elections in 1996, Briefing Notes - United Kingdom, sets out activities, the time scale
and the responsible unit. It also has the advantage on the final page of setting out the definitions
for all the acronyms used, so it is easy to understand and does not force the reader to guess what
is actually intended.
In Ghana (GH) the Electoral Commission started the planning process at the regional level, with
the commission travelling to or hosting officials from each region to gather input. There is no
need to have a complex plan if a simple one will ensure everyone concerned knows the tasks and
time scale. The above examples show different approaches to major electoral events. The review
process at the end of the electoral task will show whether the operational plan worked well.
The key issues for a plan are to specify the task and the timespan for it.
Critical path analysis charts and program bar charts can be used to ease understanding of plans.
These charts set out each step or activity of the process and how long it will take. They also
identify the key tasks (those which have to be completed before the next one can start) so that it
is simple to assess where the main problems are and, at each stage, review to ensure deadlines are
met. Remember that the key task is completing the election. Operational planing is meant to be
an aid to this process and not a task in itself. Simple plans with clear timetables are easy to
understand; the more complex the plan and the instructions, the fewer occasions people will
referred to it.
See 1995 Election Action Plan - United Kingdom for a simple action plan of an election. In this example, all key tasks are listed
and the staff who have the responsibility for them are shown. The plan sets forth what has to be
done and when it has to be done!
Ownership of the Operational Plan
Any electoral process, if completed successfully, will rely on the competence and commitment of
a core of electoral staff. Ensuring that the core managers and staff have confidence in and
ownership of the operational plan will help in delivering it. Gathering the key staff together in
the run up to the electoral process to brief them on the overall logistics and the planning of the
electoral process and enable them to ask questions and comment will also improve planning.
Where there are choices to be made in, for example, the planning of the count or the way
absentee voting materials will be prepared, involve the staff who will be responsible for the task
in the decision-making process. In the run up to the Parliamentary and local elections in the
United Kingdom in May 1997, many local electoral managers organised such briefings.
Briefing Notes - United Kingdom shows a typical programme for such a briefing, which was attended by the 44 key
core staff responsible for the elections in two Parliamentary constituencies. Of these 44 staff only
4 were in the elections unit - the remainder were seconded from other local government activity
to assist on either a full- or part-time basis for the election period. Involving them at an early
stage and setting out their work load and choices ensured that everyone felt ownership and
responsibility for the election administration.
Emergencies and Problems
The operational plan should contain clear guidance as to what happens in an emergency. Major
catastrophes are not easy to foresee, but standard problems such as a fire in a polling site or
during vote counting or a disruption of the poll by protestors need to be considered so that a clear
procedure can be outlined in the instruction material given to the staff. See Strategic Planning, for
guidance on emergency planning.
Precedents File
The period between major elections can be up to 7 years and elections can occur at short notice.
Keep a file of all forms, documents and procedural instructions. If a summary of issues identified
in the post-election review is kept with the file, then whoever is responsible when the next
election comes round has all the documentation and issues from the last election to help with the
operational planning. With rapid turnover of staff, it is not unusual to find that the vast majority
of the key staff at one election are not present 4 or 5 years later. If all the information can be
stored in electronic format, so that it can be amended for the next election, the task is much
easier.
For further information see 'po6'.
