Party or candidate representatives become involved in the actual organising and implementing of elections in some instances. However, whether politically nominated or otherwise recruited, election administration officials must commit themselves to non-partisanship, by oath or other agreement. An advantage of this approach is the sense of commitment to the elections that party representatives gain by actually working on administrative issues. A disadvantage is that party involvement in such areas can provide opportunities to manipulate or stall the elections for partisan gain.
Until recently (1997) Canadian political parties were involved in nominating the officials who carried out the door-to-door registration (enumeration) of voters. The two leading 'parties' in each electoral district (riding) provided the enumeration teams that worked in pairs, one from each party. The intention was to instill confidence in the registration process. Parties would serve as their own checks and balances while conducting their task. This same two-party approach continues in the administration of all polling stations in Canada on voting day with the poll supervisor and his assistant being 'party designates'. This does not preclude the participation of parties and candidates as agents of the polls.
In the USA it has been considered a responsibility of both the political parties and the state to organise voter registration drives. The same was true for Britain until early this century, when legislation made it a public rather than personal or party responsibility to conduct a house-to-house or other search for eligible voters.
Many countries allow party involvement in the transportation of elderly, disabled, or other voters to the polls and this is the case in the UK, El Salvador, and Canada. In Mauritius, each of the main parties arranges for a large number of cars to bring supporters to the polling station. In the 1998 by-election in Flacq, Mauritius, the winning party reportedly had four hundred cars for a total electorate of 30,000.
In Mozambique in 1994 elections were implemented by a multiparty agency (STAE - the Technical Secretariat for the Administration of Elections). The director of each of the levels of the electoral agency (national, provincial, and district) was from the governing Frelimo party. They in turn were flanked by two deputies, one, responsible for finance, from the opposition Renamo party, and the second from a coalition of the remaining parties. Lower level staff were also appointed in a balanced partisan way, complemented by external United Nations personnel who constituted one-third of the lower level officers.
In Eastern European elections it is common for political parties to be represented on local polling station commissions such as in recent elections in Albania (1997), Armenia (1995), and Romania (1996). The chair of the polling station commission is usually a teacher or a mayor (non-partisan) while the remainder of the commission is made up of members usually recruited on the basis of one representative per party on the ballot. In addition to having voting duties they undertake the count at the station after the close of the poll.
