Election Cycle Planning
Voting operations planning methodology will be largely determined by whether electoral management bodies are temporary or permanent and whether elections are at fixed or variable intervals.
Where there are permanent electoral management bodies, it is easier to undertake longer-term voting operations planning, aiming at building up resources and skills in a fashion that avoids a last minute rush of preparation following the announcement of the election and integrated into the electoral management body's strategic plan. (For an example of such a plan, over a cycle of thirty-six months, see Election Cycle Planner - Australia.) If planning and acquisition resources are available permanently, this longer-term outlook is the most effective method of voting operations planning.
(For some detailed information on electoral management body strategic planning, see Strategic Planning, and for operational planning, see Operational Planning.)
Election Period Planning
For the election period itself, detailed project and overall operational plans are vital to ensure that:
- all relevant actions have been identified and assigned administrative deadlines so as to meet legal deadlines;
- dependencies and links between actions are in logical time frames;
- responsibilities have been assigned for the many interdependent voting operations tasks to be completed;
- targets for activity progress and monitoring are in place.
These plans could be developed on two levels--an overall schedule of significant tasks (for an example see Election Planning Schedule - New Zealand 1996) combined with more detailed project planning (see examples at Election Project Plan - New Zealand 1996, 1995 Election Action Plan - United Kingdom and, for a post-conflict, internationally-supervised election, Election Project Management Plan - UNTAES, Croatia 1997).
Ideally, project plans should have a flexible format, that shows the overall, integrated project plan for all voting operations projects in a single time line, and also shows data and time lines for each project individually. Such flexibility will make the task of individual project managers easier.
Timing
Planning for the election does not need to await the announcement of an election date. Actions and interdependencies can be established, and time frames for actions determined and placed within the planning framework in a 'days before' and 'days after' voting day format. Such advance planning needs to be developed in a flexible format, to allow later insertion of actual dates and readjustment of time frames and dependencies due to procedural changes.
These more detailed project plans will generally be much easier to develop where at least basic computer facilities, if not project planning software, is available. Such project planning and monitoring software and ancillary technical skills to use it are among the most effective contributions that technology can make to the voting operations process. More rudimentary planning styles may employ a checklist format, listing each of the activities to be undertaken in the election period (see Election Management Plan - Trinidad and Tobago).
Needs Assessments
Before the development of work plans for particular aspects of voting operations (see Work Plan), needs assessment should be undertaken to determine overall requirements and the gap between these and resources currently on hand (see Needs Assessments) and taking into account the resource supply environment (see Infrastructure). Detailed planning is required for all voting operations activities if they are to be implemented effectively.
Operational plans for voting operations cannot be developed in isolation either from planning for other election operations or, most importantly, from financial and budget planning. Active coordination, with operations managers, and understanding of voting operations goals is required by financial managers. (For further discussion of cost considerations and budget preparation, see Cost Considerations and Finance).
