The organization of elections is a complex undertaking for any society. It requires the broadest social mobilization and implementation of various electoral activities, while complying with strict procedures and deadlines. Therefore, many things can—and often do—go wrong due to deficient laws, logistical hurdles, technical and human errors, or unethical actions taken by key electoral actors, to mention a few. When risks materialize, they can generate stresses, shocks or crises that can undermine the integrity of the electoral process. 

This Guide outlines key process-related (endogenous or internal) risk factors that undermine electoral integrity, either as a cause or contributing cause. Combined with the partner Guide on external risk factors, which covers context-related risks, it provides a more complete overview of electoral integrity risk.

Details

Publication date
10 September 2024
Language(s)
English
Author(s)
Sead Alihodžić, Erik Asplund, Ingrid Bicu and Peter Wolf
Number of pages
94
ISBN
978-91-7671-774-5 (PDF)

Contents

Abbreviations

About this Guide

Customization

The legal and institutional framework

1. An unfit electoral system

2. Unfit electoral legal framework

3. Inadequate regulatory framework for political party financing and campaigns

4. Unfit legal and institutional framework to deal with emerging challenges

5. Inadequate EMB design and composition

6. Inadequate mechanisms for the resolution of electoral disputes

Planning and preparation for the implementation of electoral activities

7. Inadequate electoral administrative policies, rules and regulations

8. Inadequate electoral management processes

9. Inadequate funding and budgeting processes for elections

Training and education

10. Poor training of election officials

11. Inadequate training and education of electoral stakeholders 

12. Poor voter information and education campaign

Registration

13. Problematic voter registration

14. Problematic registration of political parties and candidates

15. Problematic accreditation of domestic and international observers

Electoral campaign

16. Unequal media access, party visibility and favouritism

17. Provocative use of media by political parties and candidates

18. Provocative political party and candidate rallies

19. Provocative and violent actions by political parties

Voting operations

20. Insufficiency, destruction and loss of sensitive and non-sensitive materials

21. Problematic special voting arrangements

22. Problematic election day operations

23. Problematic ballot counting and result tallying

Verification of election results

24. Poor management of election results

25. Poor management of the final round of electoral appeals

26. Rejection of the election results

References

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Electoral Risks: Guide on Internal Risk Factors

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