ELECTORAL REFORMS

“Elections are the essential root of democracy. They are now almost universal.” As Kofi Annan
indicates in Deepening Democracy: A Strategy for Improving the Integrity of Election Worldwide

 an equitable, transparent and fair electoral process is the foundation for the strengthening of a
healthy democracy.
 electoral process must be undergirded by two fundamental standards:
 credibility
 integrity
 other features, such as respect for the rule of law, political plurality, transparency,
accountability and the professionalization of electoral management bodies, among others, are
necessary

Suggested Reforms with Case Studies

Professionalism of Electoral Management Bodies: The Australian Case

 electoral management bodies (EMBs) at the national and sub-national levels have many
strengths, including a long-established culture of a non-partisan, professional public-sector work
ethic; career opportunities for EMB staff; and the competent management of boundary
redistributions, party registration and public funding regimes.
 budgets of Australian EMBs are quite substantia
 In a healthy democracy, there will most often be tension between the independent operation of
a fair electoral system and political players who want to maximize their results within the
system.
 Independence of EMBs
 Financial and administrative
 Though budget should be reviewed by an independent authority or at least by a
parliamentary committee.
 Parliamentary oversight of electoral administration
 Transfer of expertise
 adequate professional electoral administration expertise
 nine separate electoral commissions, each with permanent, full-time administrations
 For example, commissions provide pre-polling facilities for out-of-state voters, specialist
staff, and share information and resources
 legislated responsibility to provide international electoral assistance where requested
when it is approved by the Australian Government.
 Marginalized groups and women
 fostering the adequate representation of marginalized groups and women
 provision of public funding in Australia has been complemented by greater transparency
mechanisms to monitor the flow of political money
 relatively weak form of transparency, as disclosures occur well after an election,
 administration of party registration and political finance regimes is a distinct regulatory
responsibility of an EMB,
Institutionalizing Credible Elections in Nigeria

 1966 coup d’état was an aftermath of the election-related crisis, and led to 14 years of military
rule,
 Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO) was established in 1976 to conduct elections to states’
Houses of Assembly, the National Assembly, offices of the state governors and the office of the
president
 Phases and implementation mechanisms of electoral reform:
 Review and planning phase
 ensure the enforcement of the law on transparent and open party financing
 undertake constituency delimitation
 monitor the implementation of gender-sensitive provisions
 broaden the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools in
future elections
 Institutional reforms and reorganizations
 rewards and sanctions regimes were also updated to motivate staff and
optimize their efficiency
 aggressive training for its existing personnel, including BRIDGE training for its
staff in collaboration with the EU, International IDEA and the UN Development
Programme’s
 ensured adequate financial resources for its Electoral Institute to continue its
training for staff while strengthening partnerships with local academic
institutions and international organizations
 to make the institute competitive and effective, the INEC management openly
advertised for senior positions, and qualified candidates were selected after a
competitive process
 Strengthening gender and communication strategies
 working closely with registered political parties to secure their support in
increasing women’s participation and ensuring strict compliance
 a new communications policy/strategy, which ensured the establishment of a
Citizens Contact Centre, Hotlines were established and well publicized, and
social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and BlogSpot
 Procurement reform
 manual that provides clear rules and enhances transparency and accountability
in the procurement process
 Implementation phase
 Integrity of the voter register
 continuous voter-education exercise that targeted existing and prospective
voters, particularly secondary-school students, some of whom will become
eligible to vote in the 2015 elections
 in addition to current-affairs programmes in the media to enhance the
familiarity of the people with the electoral process
 close cooperation with civil society, and comprise part of the proactive
measures to ensure adequate citizen participation
 Use ICT such as electronic verification through CNICs to ensure voter
authentication
 Robust consultation with electoral stakeholders
 considers CSOs as strategic partners in its effort to ensure credible elections,
organizing forums to get their feedback
 Regular consultations have also been undertaken with representatives of
political parties, the media, development partners and security agencies to
ensuring the collective ownership of reform measures
 constituency delimitation as a prerequisite for enhancing representation in
decision-making, embarked on extensive consultations with stakeholders
 in order to sensitize them to the objective of the exercise and enhance its
transparency
 Political representation and inclusiveness
 elections toward increasing the representation of women and marginalized
groups, it recognizes the need for enhanced reform to ensure that these issues
are institutionalized
 organized joint sensitization training for female party leaders to enhance their
mobilization skills.
 retreat noted that some political parties waive fees for women in order to
encourage their participation.
 effective monitoring of political finance in the country through a collaborative
effort with the INEC to publish newsletters on progress in the area of party
financing
 planning to operationalize an alternative dispute-resolution mechanism for
elections that focuses on dispute prevention, resolution and management
 Enhanced institutional and financial autonomy for the INEC
 reform platform is its operational and financial autonomy
 enjoys a comfortable degree of operational autonomy, but it lacks the power to
ensure compliance with rules and take certain decisions in the electoral process
 lacks the authority to disqualify candidates from participating in elections, and it
cannot cancel the result of elections
 responsibilities are vested in the judiciary, which is often slow and manipulated
by politicians.
 include the power to disqualify candidates (subject to judicial review),
disqualification of convicted electoral offenders from voting for ten years
 Prosecution of electoral offenders
 Law were let off the hook after the elections, as their offences were deemed
‘political’ rather than ‘criminal’.
 situation was compounded by a lack of robust judicial structures and law-
enforcement frameworks, and inadequate resources to ensure the speedy trial
and conviction of violators, as well as the influence of their political ‘godfathers’
in securing their release
 political actors felt that they were increasingly able to engage in acts capable of
disrupting elections without fear of prosecution
 failure of the police to provide enhanced security features for the balloting
process and for the security of lives and property.
 commission has proposed the creation of an Electoral Offences Commission
with the authority to investigate and prosecute breaches of relevant electoral
provisions
Political Finance: The Case of Poland

 Need for a legal basis to ensure and monitor political finance

 Obligations and procedures for the disclosure of political finance
 Electoral committees
 only committees can conduct activities related to raising and spending funds,
 required to submit statements on donations and bank credits that they receive,
as well as revenues and expenditures.
 registers must indicate the name and place of residence of each donor
 a detailed history of the committee’s bank account must also be attached to
allow a comparison between the submitted documents and the bank records
 Political parties
 Each party must submit an annual statement of sources of funds, including bank
credits, and expenditures incurred through the so-called Election Fund
 Based on these rules and regulations, transparency is adequately safeguarded.
 First, there is substantial access to political entities’ finances
 Yet excessive reporting requirements may not necessarily produce positive results. In some
circumstances, they may contribute to undue interference by the state into the affairs of
political parties.
 social oversight is most effective ‘when citizens have knowledge of political finance’
 state institutions should endeavour to increase transparency by shaping the disclosure
system in a way that empowers social oversight over political finance—and not just
bureaucratic oversight
 Electoral campaign finance regulations
 There are also other restrictions and limitations that go beyond the sources of funds. For
example, every election employs a specific formula that determines the upper ceiling of
permitted expenditures. I
 importance of an evaluation mechanism that could suggest timely remedies for
shortcomings should be acknowledged.
 Institutional supervision of electoral finance
 can truly only be effective oversight over political finance when nonstate institutions are
also involved: civil society organizations and political parties also have a role to play.
 Political finance regulations are complex and almost always cause unwanted effects or reveal
unexpected deficiencies over time
 state bodies that monitor or supervise (or have the right to sanction noncompliance) political
finance regulations must be guaranteed impartiality, fairness and the necessary competence.

Institutional Reform to Broaden Representation in Korea: The Cases of Minor Parties and Women

 Representation of minor parties

 include increasing the National Assembly membership
 two-ballot system: one for the district vote and the other for the party-list vote
 allows Korean voters to express their separate preferences for district
candidates and party-list candidates, paving the way for minor parties to
represent themselves more effectively in the National Assembly
 left-leaning DLP was able to obtain seats in the National Assembly
 Women’s Representation
  women’s citizen groups played an important role in amending the National Party and
National Election Laws
 women were also greatly favoured by the mandatory 50 per cent quota for women for
the party-list nomination
 overall share of women in the N.A increased
 recommendations can be made for newly emerging democracies
 First, one of the most effective ways to enhance minority participation is to introduce a
proportional system
 Second, any reform to enhance minority participation entails legal changes. Reforms are
only stable if they are mandatory and codified in national law
 Finally, the nomination process within each party should be transparent and
democratic. This requirement is particularly important for the nomination of women
 coupled with gender quotas and zipper lists—improved women’s political participation
 Zipper lists ensure that female candidates are not relegated to the bottom half of
candidate lists

http://www.eods.eu/library/loader.pdf
- last page recommendations if anyone interested

PAKISTAN

History of Electioneering in Pakistan

 One of the basic features of democracy is to have free and fair elections after a regular interval
 Objectives Resolution states that 'the state shall exercise its powers and authority through the
chosen representatives of the people'
 Even when elections were conducted- they lacked fairness and transparency thus putting a
question mark on the legitimacy of the people who were returned to the Parliament.
 GE 2013 showed the distrust of people of Pakistan on its electoral system and ECP- its
transparency, impartiality and independence.
 ( pg 14 table )

The Proposed Reform ( PILDAT REPORT )

Constitutional Amendments

 Constitution of Pakistan 1973 has clearly specified the functions, responsibilities and powers of
the ECP in its Chapter 8th

 CEC has been curtailed and replaced by a selection process through a Parliamentary Committee.
 Commissioner is elected for a five years term. She/he can resign from the office but cannot be
removed from the office 'except in the manner prescribed under article 209' for removal of
judge
 the Constitution shall be amended to remove the bar that the CEC must be from the judicial
branch of the Government
 set an age limit for a person to be appointed as a CEC of Pakistan. The age limit should be
between 40-65 years of age. To ensure effectiveness and efficiency
Improving the Role of Returning Officers and Polling Staff

 ROs and DROs play a very prominent role in making the whole election process credible for the
nation as well as for the political parties and individuals contesting the elections
 First model from the judiciary. Sitting judges
 Second model, civil bureaucracy. However criticized since they can be easily influenced
 Third model i.e. the ECPmodel that calls for appointing the ROs and DROs from the permanent
staff of the ECP.
 Although has a positive side of impartiality attached to it but it is not only costly but will
also render the permanent staff of ECP useless after the elections are over.
 concluded that we should continue with the Executive Model for the appointment of returning
officers with slight changes to it
 DROs are the 19 scale civil servants that can be easily influenced by the candidates but if
senior bureaucrats from above rank 20 are appointed it becomes difficult to manipulate
them
 Moreover, the RO's and DROs shall be properly trained for a week and shall be
extensively briefed about the SOPs
 Second most critical role is that of the polling staff (presiding officers and polling agents etc.)
 short-term basis and is selected from the civil service (usually from the 6 provincial education
department
 Suggests that the appointment of teachers shall be purely based on merit
 polling officers belonging to one district shall be appointed in another district
 Aforesaid point can only be workable if the ECP is made powerful i.e. by recruiting the right man
as ECE and by giving ECP the direct powers to take action against the foul playing by the polling
staff as well.

Financial Campaigning

 often said that 'money is the mothers' milk of politics'

 Increased use of tv ads, social media and the spread of private television channels have opened
new avenues for the political parties and candidates to reach out to voters.
 In Pakistan, the ROPA 8 (1976) and the Political Parties Order 2002 mainly deals with the
campaign finance laws
 The ECP sets a limit on candidate spending i.e. 1 million rupees for provincial assembly seat ad
1.5 million rupees for national assembly seat.
 Candidates are required to submit details of their election expenses after elections but the law
doesn't provide for a defined procedure for scrutiny
 the bar is quite unrealistic and may encourage the candidates for 9 a foul play or to face an
electoral defeat otherwise
 no clearer laws on party funds being spent on television advertisements as there was no proper
mechanism to make the political parties( especially sitting govt ) accountable for the political
campaigning through television ads
 a dire need for some clear laws for monitoring and auditing of the party funds that are spent on
television advertisements.

Election Dispute Resolution (EDR) Processes

 effective election dispute resolution processes is integral to guarantee the integrity and
legitimacy of an electoral system.
  can reduce campaign violations, ensure that voters' rights are protected and can also reduce
post-electoral violence
 UNDP has categorized the elections disputes into two categories
 complaints (issues related to pre pol and polling day violations)
 disputes (challenges the 10 outcome of the elections)
 A 'single official process', for the management and resolution of electoral complaints by the
citizens and candidates, regarding different phases and aspects of the electoral process
 clear system of filing administrative complaints to the ECP and petitions to Tribunals in 11 order
to avoid overlap of jurisdictions

Installation of Biometric Devices

 NADRA databases the foundation of the electoral rolls and the ECP has already computerized
the results process in general elections
 it is true that the biometric devices (EVMs and EVIDS etc) can also be subject to abuse but it has
now become inevitable to install the technology gradually
 Installation of EVIDs
 EVIDs identify the voters by scanning their fingerprints at the day of polling
 help inhibit personation and multiple voting although costly
 has successfully been employed in African countries like Ghana and Kenya
 since in Pakistan the question has been raised on the impartiality of the individual's
performance as polling personals, the EVIDs might act as a tool to restore publics' confidence in
the whole election system

 government must make serious efforts to hold a national census

 only after census that we can move towards reviewing the delimitations of national
constituencies
 To maximize the voter turnout, ECP shall run voter awareness campaigns before every
election
 In colleges and universities, a practice of mock elections shall be done before every
election to make young people more aware of their right and duty
 Overseas Pakistanis shall be facilitated by allowing them to vote through postal ballots
or EVMs
 citizens who are not residing in cities/towns where their votes are registered shall also
be facilitated through postal ballots or EVMs
 If a successful candidate in any constituency fails to get 51% of the votes there should
be a run-off election between the two top candidates so that a candidate with a real
majority should be declared victorious
 Holding intra party elections are not only part of different political parties' manifestos
but also a legal requirement.
 however no valid verification mechanism for ECP to evaluate the intra party
elections
 instead of 33% reserved seats for women, there shall be a system of separate
electorate. Since quota distributed amongst family members status quo
 Increase the number of polling staff and make them permanent
 Election tribunals to decide cases within a stipulated time period- 4 months
  System of appointing caretaker govts should be reviewed.

Electoral rolls

 voters should simply be registered in the FER at the present address which
appears on their CNIC issued by NADRA
Separate polling days

 Controlling political parties and government officials is bound to be easier

than an infinite number of criminals bent upon harassing voters, creating
violence and jeopardizing the sanctity of the electoral process.
Timelines

 ECP, its partners in the election process and the judiciary come under
immense pressure to complete a substantial number of tasks within a very
stringent time frame ahead of polling day

None-of-the-above (NOTA) option on the Ballot paper

 voters argue that they are often compelled to vote for the lesser of evils
 it is undeniably consistent with democratic norms to provide for a NOTA
option on the ballot paper
 also defeat the arguments of citizens who refuse to cast votes on the ground that
there is no viable option and also perhaps ultimately encourage candidates to
serve the electorate better, knowing full well that voters now have the option to
vote for NOTA.
One constituency per candidate

 several candidates filed their nomination forms in multiple constituencies

 One of the recommendations in the Final Report of the European Union
Election Observation Mission for Pakistan was that “Candidates be limited to
running in only one constituency in any election, for clarity to voters and to
remove the need for subsequent by-elections.”
 ECP had to conduct by-elections in 41 constituencies only three months after
the 2013 general elections
 will delay the formation of a government and prolong political uncertainty.
 Third, when candidates file nomination forms in different constituencies, it
can potentially lead to contradictory decisions by the ROs or the High Courts
 Fourth, it is also arguable that a candidate will serve the electorate better if he
is restricted to only contest elections in one constituency for there will be a
sense of commitment and loyalty.