Free and fair elections enhance the legitimacy of the elected authority, enhance political stability, and provide better chances for sustainable development. Assisting with elections puts into practice UK government policy on supporting good government and human rights.
A guide to assistance from UK Department for International Development (DFID), this paper is intended to assist DFID and Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff in deciding whether and how to offer assistance in the electoral process. It examines issues surrounding the decision to give assistance, gives detailed guidance on assistance during and between elections and looks at the role of monitoring and observing.
The highlights of this paper are:
- Elections themselves are only one part of the democratic process. Building an effective electoral system needs assistance before and between, as well as during, elections.
- Donors need to avoid being seen to support undemocratic or unsatisfactory processes. If basic conditions for free and fair elections exist, assistance should be provided. If not, it should be avoided. Where the situation is unclear, an imperfect election may nevertheless form the basis for future democratic processes and well-targeted assistance can improve the process.
- Donor-funded international election monitors, whose task is to determine whether the election is free and fair and whether the outcome reflects the view of the voters, can be a crucial disincentive to malpractice. Monitors can also help to train local election observers, and provide feedback to strengthen the electoral process before the next election.
The nature of assistance will vary: Countries with little or no experience of democratic elections may need a lot of help whilst others may just need help with logistics and monitoring. The objective should be to maximise self reliance as soon as possible. Assistance may include:
- Advice on the legal framework: Constitution, electoral law and campaign funding to ensure a fair electoral system that will produce a representative outcome.
- Helping to establish and maintain an independent, transparent commission to run elections and guidance on monitoring systems.
- Helping to produce a registration system which ensures that all parties, candidates and voters are fairly registered, particularly where parties or voters have previously been banned.
- Voter education: How to vote, the value of democracy, and voters’ responsibilities to participate in elections. Particular attention may need to be paid to previously marginalised groups.
- Parties may need help with effective campaigning, to encourage interest and a good turnout.
- Training for the media to ensure objective and equitable coverage of the election. Where there has been no tradition of providing analysis or challenging positions advocated by politicians, journalists may need training in these techniques.
- How to judge the outcomes in a local context, and what to do following an imperfect election.
