Strategic Objectives
Development of training programs and plans for voting operations staff would normally start from a basis of analysing and defining:
- the overall training objective: what the electoral management body wants to achieve through training its voting operations staff;
- who needs to be trained: both in general, and any categorisation of trainees that would increase training effectiveness and economy;
- the learning outcomes: what each person trained is expected to be able to do, and expected to know, at different stages in the election calendar and at the conclusion of training for the election;
- the coverage of voting operations staff that is aimed to be achieved: this may be by different aspects of the training program, such as continuous on-the-job training, face-to-face intensive sessions, information briefings, provision of reference or information materials, or other means.
Only by first defining these objectives can training planners develop plans (see Training Plan) and select methodologies (see Training Methodology) appropriate for the environment and effectively tailor them to resource constraints.
Expected Training Outcomes
There is no such thing as a common knowledge of an unstated objective. Objectives need to be defined to ensure accountability. When determining the objectives of training, training managers and planners should also define the indicators by which they can judge whether training programs are successful. This will make evaluation of training considerably more relevant (see Evaluation of Recruitment and Training).
In defining training objectives, and indicators of performance against these, training planners are focusing on organisational outcomes, related to the principles and procedures of voting operations (see Guiding Principles and Voting Procedures). Regarding training of voting operations staff, objectives would concern issues such as:
- service levels to voters;
- accuracy of ballot issue and count processes;
- impartiality and integrity of voting processes.
Individual Staff Learning Outcomes
In defining learning outcomes, the focus is on individual-oriented outcomes on a practical level:
- what competencies to perform particular tasks must training develop in specific staff;
- what situations must training provide them with the capacities to deal with.
In most situations there is not the need, time, or resources to transfer detailed knowledge of theoretical concepts. Required outcomes must apply a practical balance between understanding of the reason why an action is done in a particular way and having the ability to apply procedures correctly.
As an example, for voting station managers, what is required of training may be that they can demonstrate that they:
- know, are willing to comply with, and are aware of how particular actions may be judged in terms of the staff code of conduct;
- are able to set up a voting station according to approved layouts in a manner that will ensure efficient service to voters;
- are able to use all voting station materials and equipment;
- are able to prepare the voting station for opening according to required procedures;
- are able to apply the correct procedures for voter identification, issue of ballots, and marking and casting of ballots;
- can manage voting station personnel and materials accountability and security issues;
- know the rights and responsibilities of representatives of political parties or candidates and other observers in voting stations;
- can deal effectively with typical examples of problems and challenges likely to arise in a voting station;
- can complete all required voting station documents and reports accurately and efficiently;
- are able to close the voting station and package material according to the defined procedures;
- know communications requirements;
- can apply staff management techniques.
Where voting station managers are also responsible for ballot counts at their voting stations, their training will need also to relate to;
- accuracy of ballot counts;
- rules for determining valid or invalid ballots;
- preparation of result records;
- methods of transmitting count results.
For other voting station staff, there may be a standard set of learning objectives. Where there are significant differences in staff functions (see Staff Categories and Duties), and it is more effective to sub-categorise staff for training, there may still be core objectives for all staff, to which specific objectives are added for the individual staff categories with higher level or more specialised functions.
It is important to define performance indicators and targets against these objectives that are acceptable and practical expected levels of achievement. For example, one of the training performance targets for polling officials who will be involved in establishing voter eligibility could be that, at the conclusion of training, a certain percentage of these staff can correctly find and mark a given percentage of a sample of voters on a voters list. Much as elections should be perfect, it is reality that not all staff can be trained to be perfect. Knowledge assessment techniques (see Knowledge Assessment) need to be integrated into training to enable assessment of whether adequate competencies have been achieved by each voting operations official.
Staff Target Groups for Training
Identification of who is to be trained, their numbers, and locations is the other major foundation of voting operations training planning. These should be derived realistically from voting location determinations (see Locations of Voting Sites) and staffing/recruitment needs calculations (see Voting Station Staffing Levels). In looking at target groups for training, the realistic starting point is all voting operations staff. Regarding voting station and count officials, it is also realistic to base the training focus on an assumption of zero procedural knowledge. To try to determine separate training groups according to levels of knowledge already acquired is a needlessly complicated and possibly detrimental approach. More experienced and knowledgeable trainees in groups are of assistance to trainers in group participation activities.
Consideration has to be given to whether all voting operations staff should be considered as a single group for training, or whether trainees can be usefully split into subgroups, according to levels of responsibility and functions. This latter method can generally be a more effective way of conducting training. Staff only receive training in the skills they need to have. Information retention can be improved, as all information is totally relevant to their tasks and length of training sessions can be minimised. Such an approach would see, for example, all voting operations officials receiving training in basic procedures, with additional training modules being provided to those with particular specialised or supervisory functions. (For content of training sessions for voting operations staff, see Training Session Content.)
District Election Managers
Where district election managers or local election commission members with legal responsibility for an election's conduct in an electoral district are recruited as temporary staff for an election (and thus will require intensive training), their training needs are both broader and occur earlier than those of other voting operations staff. They are an obvious separate target group for election period training. (Training for management staff of electoral management bodies is discussed at Training Programme.)
Voting Station Managers
Voting station and count managers, and any roving voting station supervisors, would also form a separate target subgroup. Training for their responsibility levels requires different content and often different approaches from that for other voting operations staff. Staff designated second-in-charge of voting stations and count centres could also be included as part of this group, as they will be the reserves who may find themselves in a managerial role during voting hours and the count. In terms of coverage of these subgroups, it is generally essential that 100 perecnt face-to-face training coverage is achieved.
Temporary Administrative Staff
With regard to other voting operations staff, further categorisation can be useful. Temporary staff engaged to assist with the administration of voting operations--for such tasks as assisting with staffing, materials supply and packaging--may be recruited for a single task, or multiple tasks. Depending on the complexity of their tasks, their training may be as effectively accomplished by on the job briefings and guidance as formal training sessions.
Voting Station Officials
Further refining of target groups among voting station officials can also provide some benefits. Categorisation could target separately those staff:
- who do not have any responsibility for contact with voters or responsibilities for ballot material--for example if staff are engaged merely to assist with material packaging or voting station/count centre set-up (for these staff a briefing immediately before commencing duties may be sufficient training);
- whose functions are routinely procedural--such as checking voter identity, issuing ballots, guarding ballot boxes, crowd control (the bulk of voting station staff); for these staff, face-to-face sessions are highly preferable, but there may be some ability to target less than 100 percent of these staff for face-to-face coverage and still maintain quality (all such staff need to be provided with training materials, and demonstrate satisfactory knowledge of procedures);
- whose functions require broader knowledge and greater exercise of judgment--for example, those who are acting as education or information officers; additional training for these staff in backgrounds to procedures, alternative voting methods, voter registration issues, and the like is required for them to provide an effective service (it is highly desirable that 100 percent of these staff are provided with face-to-face training);
- who are to be engaged as count officials--voting station officials also engaged to count ballots will require additional specific training in ballot count procedures; where separate staff are employed for the count, their training can be limited to specific count-related duties (given the critical nature of accurate ballot counts, it is highly preferable that 100 percent of these staff are provided with face-to-face training);
- who are recruited to provide special voting facilities--where any of these facilities have different procedures, such staff should form a separate target subgroup undergoing training in the procedures relevant to their duties.
Training Participation Incentives
Another issue to be dealt with is how to ensure that voting operations staff actually participate in their intended training. The most effective, and essential, method is to make employment conditional on satisfactory completion of the required training, be this through attendance at training sessions or proof of self-training through completion of workbooks or other home exercises. This is a negative incentive. It can usefully be augmented by positive monetary or status incentives, tailored to the specific environment. Examples of these include:
- an attractive payment structure for training;
- conducting training in attractive locations;
- presentation of formal certificates or some other positive status reinforcement on successful completion of training;
- integration of voting operations staff training with accredited general education programs through recognised educational institutions.
