
This Guide provides an inventory of United Nations jurisprudence relevant to electoral processes. It organizes and cross-references international law applicable to elections in order to make it accessible to national and international stakeholders.
The guidelines aspire to near-global applicability and focuses explicitly on national accountability and ownership, an essential tool for electoral management bodies and national stakeholders engaged in electoral reforms. The focus on UN treaty obligations is meant to promote consistency, objectivity, impartiality, accuracy and professionalism in drafting and reviewing legal frameworks for elections.
The guidelines include tables of jurisprudence and checklists, which facilitate review of how far national legal frameworks comply with UN treaty provisions and jurisprudence on elections.

Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Part A. Rationale and Methodology
Section I: The New International IDEA Guidelines
Section II: The Sources: UN Charter-based Bodies and Instruments
Section III: The Sources: UN Treaty-based Bodies and Instruments
Section IV: International Obligations for Elections: The Building Blocks
Part B. Electoral Components and Tables of Jurisprudence
Part C. Checklists
Conclusions
Annexes