What observers need
The election observer will need a copy of the relevant electoral laws and regulations, the poll
workers manual(s), voter information materials, information on previous elections, press reports
and a briefing about social, economic and geographical factors is always very useful for
international observers.
At local level observers involved in technical assessments of the election process will need maps
of the area and information about candidates, the nature of elections at local level, the polling
sites and stations, the arrangements for the counts and the collation of results. It is often useful
for observers to decide (at random) on establishing an audit trail to follow the results through
from a particular polling station to the national assembly of results. This may well necessitate
checking back several days after the election is concluded to see that the results have been dealt
with properly at each level of the election process - observers need time to do the job properly.
Issues such as the allocation of transport also need to be made clear to observers. Longer term
observers both international and domestic would have requirements for much greater information
about the particular area of study and would have more dealings with the electoral and other
bodies relevant to their particular area of activity.
Overview of observers deployment
There is considerable advantage in an overview being taken of deployment of election observers,
taking particular account of any specialist skills which those observers have. This needs deciding
in advance and often a single organisation such the Organisation for Security and Cooperation In
Europe (OSCE) will take responsibility (for elections in Europe).
Some geographical areas, because of ethnic minority or other local issues may be of more
interest to observers than others and it is important to avoid a situation where one area is
saturated and others are only covered very superficially.
Manuals for observers have been known to extend to several hundred pages of material and this
oversupply may be counterproductive particularly where an observer is only in the country
concerned for 5 or 6 days and is looking at only one part of the overall process such as polling
day and vote counting.
For observation of the electoral process a copy of the Poll Workers Manual often supplies much
of the information that is needed - see Election Officials Manual - Ghana, Precinct Officers Manual - USA, Elections Canada Extract from Poll Workers Manual, IFES Precinct Election Handbook - Russia, and
Extract from Election Judges Manual - USA - particularly if this is supplemented by some material on the Country concerned and
the electoral process. The material produced by the Hungarian Electoral Commission for their
1994 Elections - see Information Sheets - Hungary - comprises an outline of the geographical and social conditions
in one document and then an explanation of the election process in another. The Polling and
Counting Manual produced by OSCE for Bosnia and Herzegovinia - see Extract of Poll Workers Manual - OSCE - sets out
clearly at the beginning of the manual the duties, role and obligations of observers. It is equally
important for the Poll Workers to know these and the Poll Workers Manual is an obvious place
to set out this type of information.
Observation standards
There is little benefit in observers all judging issues by different standards. Advance briefing and
agreement on what issues are going to be covered is highly desirable. This is where the role of
the long term observers is particularly relevant as they can highlight concerns about process and
arising from the campaign or party perspectives. The use of standard check sheets for evaluation
is common practice - see Pollworker Forms - which shows an International Foundation for Electoral
Systems (IFES) sheet and an International Republican Institute (IRI) one. Despite the increase
in observer activity it is still embarrassing to find occasions when observers have produced no
written or electronic record of where they have been and no comparative evaluation against any
form of standard criteria of the election processes observed.
Advice on local conditions
The sponsoring organisation should also ensure that observers have been given lists of equipment
needed and advice on health, clothing, etiquette and any other appropriate issues including
emergency procedures.
Orientation materials for long term observers need to be much more comprehensive and are
influenced by the type of observation work involved. Observers involved in Electoral Law issues
will need copies of the Laws and Regulations and would be likely to have a continuing
relationship with the Electoral Commission or Officials responsible for organising the election.
Scrutiny of the media often involves a considerable amount of monitoring work if all media
sources are being covered and collating and evaluating media information can be time
consuming and complex.
For further information see Training for Observers.
