Understanding and explaining outbreaks of election-related violence is a complex task; predicting whether forthcoming elections will turn violent, which factors may underlie or trigger violence, and what can be done to prevent violence is even more difficult. One way to address the problem is to empower those who have immediate responsibility to prevent and mitigate election-related violence, such as electoral management bodies, security sector agencies and other state and non-state agencies.

The Electoral Risk Management Tool (ERM Tool) is designed to empower people to ensure peaceful and credible elections. The software aims to build the capacities of users to understand, analyse and mitigate electoral risks. Specifically, the ERM Tool can build users’ capacity to understand electoral risk factors; collect and analyse risk data; design prevention and mitigation strategies; and record the results of actions. 

The software is accompanied by three Guides. The Internal Factors Guide is a support document to the ERM Tool. In conjunction with the External Factors Guide, it provides guidance to the users of the ERM Tool in identifying electoral risks in a given country and electoral context.

Details

Publication date
22 August 2018
Language(s)
Author(s)
Sead Alihodzic and Erik Asplund
Number of pages
92
ISBN
978-91-7671-211-5 (PDF)

Contents

Acknowledgements  

About this Guide  

Phase 1: The legal and institutional framework  
Introduction
1. Contested electoral law  
2. An unfit electoral system  
3. Inadequate electoral administrative rules  

Phase 2: Planning and implementation  
Introduction
4. Poor performance of the electoral management bodies 
5. An inadequate system for the resolution of electoral disputes  
6. Inadequate operational planning 
7. Inadequate funding, financing and budgeting  
8. Inadequate electoral security arrangements  

Phase 3: Training and education  
Introduction
9. Poor training for election officials  
10. Lack of training for political parties and media  
11. Lack of training of security sector agencies  
12. A poor voter information campaign  

Phase 4: Registration  
Introduction
13. Problematic voter registration  
14. Problematic registration of political parties and candidates 
15. Problematic accreditation of domestic and international observers 

Phase 5: Electoral campaign  
Introduction
16. Unequal media access and favouritism  
17. Provocative use of media by political parties  
18. Provocative party rallying  
19. Provocative and violent actions by political parties

Phase 6: Voting operations and election day  
Introduction
20. Insufficiency, destruction and loss of sensitive and non-sensitive materials  
21. Lack of transparency of special and external voting  
22. Problematic election-day operations  
23. Problematic ballot counting and result tallying  

Phase 7: Verification of results  
Introduction
24. Poor management of election results 
25. Poor management of the final round of electoral appeals 
26. Rejection of the election results 

References  

About the authors  

About the ERM Tool  

About International IDEA  

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Electoral Risk Management Tool: Internal Factors Guide

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