Esta sección aborda, en términos generales y específicos, los arreglos o preparativos operativos más importantes para los administradores electorales interesados en conducir una elección de manera libre, justa y eficiente.
En gran medida, las tareas implicadas en la conducción de elecciones y los procedimientos utilizados para llevarlas a cabo tienen su origen en el plan estratégico, que ha sido examinado en Planeación Estratégica. De hecho, la operational planning, que ha sido examinada en Planeación Operativa, debe ser entendida, en primer término, como el recuento detallado de la serie de actividades que deben ser ejecutadas para lograr lo que se ha fiado en el plan estratégico. Desde luego, este hecho no hace que el plan operativo sea más facil de construir ni resulte menos importante; a cambio, indica que los arreglos operativos, tanto de carácter rutinario como en situaciones de emergencia, debe proceder y resultar consistente con las estrategias desarrolladas para administrar la elección.
Con frecuencia, las cuestiones que primero se confrontan al realizar los arreglos operativos se refieren al registro de los electores. La importancia del registro electoral deriva de dos factores. Primero, si el registro electoral no funciona debidamente y el organismo electoral es incapaz de llegar al proceso de votación con una lista completa y precisa de votantes, la confianza pública en todo el proceso electoral se puede perder muy rápidamente. Más aún, dado que el registro electoral suele ser una de las tareas mas laboriosas que enfrenta a administración electoral y consumir una porción significativa de los fondos destinados a las elecciones, una deficiente administración del registro electoral puede dejar a la autoridad con poco tiempo y dinero para completar el proceso electoral. Por estas razones, ACE le ha dedicado toda una sección a este tema, Registro de Electores, si bien Responsabilidades en el Registro de Electores aborda algunos de sus aspectos más críticos desde la perspectiva del administrador electoral.
Of course, the supply needs associated with the conduct of elections should also be among the
early operational considerations. Procurement of election materials is often an unavoidably
expensive undertaking; yet it is the duty of election officials as public servants to seek the best
value for the taxpayers' money and to continually seek means of lowering the long-run cost of
election administration. Thus, this section examines the following general supply issues:
Furthermore, in terms of specific supplies,
Desarrollo de Papeletas, Formularios y Procedimientos discusses the design, procurement,
distribution, usage, security and transparency, and recovery of ballots and other forms used in the
electoral process. To supplement this discussion, we have included a set of scanned sample
ballots and forms demonstrating some of the approaches taken to their creation in recent
successful elections.
This section also highlights several types of information-sharing activities of concern to electoral
administrators as they make operational plans and attempts to address, with respect to each type,
certain central principles such as complete information , well-timed information,
and appropriately targeted information. Aspects of voter information, both in general and
with respect to targeted audiences, which relate to the management function are the focus of
Actividades de Información al Votante. We also discuss the very important role that political parties, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), and electoral observers have to play in ensuring the fairness of and
engendering confidence in the electoral process and the need for routine and occasionally
extraordinary consultations. Finally, we discuss the operational considerations surrounding the
reporting of results to all of the above-mentioned recipients and attempt to provide some insight
into the differing needs and desires of each group (see Reporte de Resultados).
We also recognize that there are certain pre-election activities that, though they are not
necessarily delegated to the electoral management body, require consideration during operational
planning and can consume a significant amount of resources. For example, political party and
candidate registration, although often specifically defined in legislative or regulatory
provisions, may require some attention to ensure that they are accomplished in a non-partisan
manner; thus, these activities are discussed in Responsabilidades en el Registro de Partidos Políticos/Candidatos. Similarly, boundary delimitation, which
has received a thorough treatment at Delimitación de Distritos, is discussed briefly. Through this discussion, we
provide two primary sets of considerations for those managers involved, however tangentially, in
the delimitation of election districts or constituencies: those requiring examination to ensure the
fairness of an election and those concerning accessibility and convenience.
A related matter that is also discussed in this section is polling site selection (see Selección de los Sitios de Votación).
Electoral managers often are given a significant amount of responsibility for this task and
therefore have a greater amount of discretion than that afforded them for party and candidate
registration or boundary delimitation. In making decisions regarding polling sites, the primary
considerations we have discussed are voter-focused, such as the maximum number of voters that
can be handled at each polling station, the maximum distance traveled by voters, and the general
accessibility of each site.
Near the end of this section, there is also discussion of the operational needs of the election
manager during the period immediately following the elections. Among the most important of
these discussions are those that address the reporting requirements for electoral management
bodies, not necessarily in terms of election results but in terms of the EMB's performance in
achieving its goals. These reports, we admit, should include the successes and failures of the
EMB and perhaps suggestions for improving its performance.
