Published Article

ABSTRACT

The study sought to strategically assess the composition, roles and functioning of an electoral management board (EMB). Regular EMB member meetings help develop agreed policy directions, review EMB performance and provide guidance on policies to EMB secretariat staff. The level of detail considered will depend on the extent to which the role of implementing policy is delegated to the secretariat or chief election officer. An EMB’s activities generally require both the determination of policy and the implementation of major administrative and logistics operations. Where the Governmental Model of electoral management is used, both of these functions are undertaken by civil servants, who are employed by one or more bodies of the executive. While members of the executive branch of government, such as ministers may also take an active role in EMB policymaking under the Governmental Model, it is more common for the head of its secretariat, who may be termed director of elections or have a similar title, to be responsible for policy. It is not usual for governmental EMBs to have members; rather, they are composed entirely of secretariat (public service) staff. An exception is the Czech Republic, where EMB members are appointed from the executive branch. The study concluded that fixed and secure terms of office for EMB members allow for institutional confidence and renewal. Staggering EMB members’ terms of office minimizes disruption and helps retain an EMB’s institutional memory. One of the recommendations made was that EMB members need to have sufficient status to entitle them to respect from their counterparts in other sectors of society, and constitutional or legal guarantees of their conditions of service and security of tenure sufficient to enable them to act without fear or favour.

KEYWORDS: Composition, Roles, Functioning Electoral Management Board