Types of Electoral Management Bodies
The appropriate balance between the roles played by electoral law, regulations and electoral management body policy in determining the parameters and methods of voting operations will in many respects be related to the standing and administrative framework of electoral management bodies. Where multiple electoral bodies under no central controls are responsible for managing different geographic areas for one election, it would be more appropriate that the legal framework were more detailed, for example, in respect to election forms content and design, voting station location and capacities, and voter information requirements, to promote consistency and quality of treatment of all voters. This would also hold true where electoral management bodies are inexperienced or subject to political influences.
Conversely, where electoral management body structure provides for a strong quality control focus from a central point encompassing all electoral districts and has a history of impartial judgment, it would be more appropriate that the more detailed issues of voting operations management were left to policies developed by the electoral management body. This flexibility, in competent hands, can enable more appropriate and swifter responses to changing environments.
Basic Legal Requirements
What is the basic voting operations framework that should be defined in law for any election environment? It would seem that the essential elements would have to include the following:
- the method of officially determining the election date;
- the significant points in the election period time frame--the nominations period, campaign period, voting day (or days) and hours, periods for special voting, official announcement of results;
- eligibility criteria for voters and where they may vote;
- qualifications and disqualifications for candidacy (individual candidates and parties), methods of nominating candidates and announcing accepted candidates and parties for the election;
- ballot types and formats;
- requirements for location and promulgation of voting stations and other voting facilities;
- powers and responsibilities of polling officials and voting operations administrators;
- procedures for handling, maintenance and disposal of accountable materials;
- the voting method, including requirements for a valid vote, and voting secrecy and integrity controls to be applied;
- treatment of voters not found on voting station voters lists;
- methods of and qualifications for any special voting facilities--absentee, early, mail, mobile, provisional/tendered, assisted votes;
- rights and responsibilities of candidates and party and candidate representatives;
- settling of disputes and challenges;
- adjournment of voting and treatment of errors and omissions in voting processes;
- methods for replacement of elected representatives, such as recounts, partial elections;
- offences and penalties.
Additional requirements will vary according to election systems and cultural environments. (Further discussion of the effect of the election legal framework on voting operations is at legislative Electoral Legislation and Administrative Regulations.)
Examples
Examples of electoral laws and regulations governing voting operations from more than seventy countries can be accessed through the Internet links contained in the 'Country Index' section of the 'Other Resources' listing, which can be accessed from the ACE main page.
