Support document to the Electoral Risk Management Tool The Guide on Internal Factors is a support document to The Electoral Risk Management Tool. This document, combined with the Guide on External Factors, is intended to guide the user of the Electoral Risk Management Tool through a broader check- list which can be useful for identifying electoral risks in a given country and electoral context. Guide on Internal Factors The ERM Tool is designed to empower those who have either the mandate or interest to ensure that elections are peaceful and credible. Intended users are electoral management bodies, security sector agencies, civil society and other state and non- Guide on Internal Factors state actors. The ERM Tool aims to build the user’s capacity to Violence Internal to Electoral Processes of Election-related The Guide on Factors understand, analyze, and mitigate electoral risks, in particular those that may turn violent. The Guide on Factors of Election-related Violence The ERM Tool is integrated into a software application that Internal to Electoral Processes provides three interactive modules (learn–analyse–act) which can be used in combination or as stand-alone resources. International IDEA INTERNATIONAL IDEA September 2013, Stockholm Strömsborg SE-103 34 Stockholm Sweden Tel: +46 8 698 37 00 Fax: +46 8 20 24 22 Email: [email protected] Website: www.idea.int Support document to the Electoral Risk Management Tool Guide on Internal Factors The Guide on Factors of Election-related Violence Internal to Electoral Processes By Sead Alihodžić Desk research by Erik Asplund This guide benefited immensely from the comments and reviews made International IDEA’s gender and diversity experts, Rumbidzai Kandawasvika-Nhundu and Julian Smith, other International IDEA colleagues, and numerous interns who helped with the initial research. Production of the Guide was overseen by Lisa Hagman from International IDEA’s Publications office. Special thanks go to Ilona Tip from the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa, Richard Atwood from the International Crisis Group, and Sarah Bernasconi and Holliger Pascal from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs for providing comments and suggestions on how to improve this guide. International IDEA © International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance 2013 The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) publications are independent of specific national or political interest. Views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of International IDEA, its Board or its Council members. Applications for permission to reproduce or translate all or any part of this publications should be made to: International IDEA Strömsborg SE-103 34 Stockholm Sweden The Guide on Factors of Election-related Violence Internal to Electoral Processes Contents Acronyms and abbreviations .................................................................................................................................. 4 About the Guide on Internal Factors ............................................................................................................... 5 1. The electoral legal framework .......................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Contested electoral law ........................................................................................................................... 8 1.2 An unfit electoral system ...................................................................................................................... 11 1.3 Inadequate electoral administrative rules .................................................................................. 13 2. Planning and preparation for the implementation of electoral activities ........................... 15 2.1 Poor performance of the electoral management bodies ................................................... 15 2.2 An inadequate system for the resolution of electoral disputes ..................................... 17 2.3 Inadequate operational planning .................................................................................................... 19 2.4 Inadequate funding, financing and budgeting ...................................................................... 21 2.5 Inadequate electoral security arrangements ............................................................................. 23 3. Training and information .................................................................................................................................. 25 3.1 Poor training for election officials ................................................................................................... 25 3.2 Lack of training for political parties and media ................................................................... 27 3.3 Lack of training of security sector agencies .............................................................................. 29 3.4 A poor voter information campaign .............................................................................................. 31 4. Registration .................................................................................................................................................................. 32 4.1 Problematic voter registration ............................................................................................................ 32 4.2 Problematic registration of political parties and candidates ......................................... 34 4.3 Problematic accreditation of domestic and international observers ......................... 37 5. Electoral campaigning .......................................................................................................................................... 39 5.1 Unequal media access and favouritism ........................................................................................ 39 5.2 Provocative use of media by political parties .......................................................................... 42 5.3 Provocative party rallying .................................................................................................................... 44 5.4 Provocative and violent actions by political parties ............................................................ 46 6. Voting operations ..................................................................................................................................................... 48 6.1 Insufficiency, destruction and loss of sensitive and non-sensitive materials ....... 48 6.2 Lack of transparency of special and external voting .......................................................... 50 6.3 Problematic election day operations .............................................................................................. 52 6.4 Problematic vote counting and tallying of the results ....................................................... 54 7. Verification of election results .......................................................................................................................... 56 7.1 Poor management of election results ............................................................................................. 56 7.2 Poor management of the final round of electoral appeals ............................................... 59 7.3 Rejection of the election results ........................................................................................................ 61 Inernational IDEA 3 The Guide on Factors of Election-related Violence Internal to Electoral Processes Acronyms and abbreviations EDR electoral dispute resolution EMB electoral management body FPTP First Past The Post (electoral system) International IDEA International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance SSA security sector agency 4 Inernational IDEA The Guide on Factors of Election-related Violence Internal to Electoral Processes About the Guide on Internal Factors The purpose of this Guide The Guide on Internal Factors is a support document to International IDEA’s Electoral Risk Management Tool. Factors presented in this Guide mirror the list of factors of election-related violence internal to electoral processes (hereafter referred to as internal factors) as presented in the Knowledge Resources module of the tool (see the tool overview chart below). This format makes it easy to print and share. This document, combined with the document on external factors, is intended to guide the user of the Electoral Risk Management Tool through a broader checklist which can be useful for identifying risks of election-related violence in a given country and electoral context. Overview of Electoral Risk Managment Tool Knowledge resources Antalytical instruments Prevention and mitigation Guide on Context Guide on User Internal Overview Action Points External Manual Factors Factors Methodology The Electoral Risk Management Tool – overview of support documentation The users of this Guide This document is intended for individuals involved in the context overview1 and tool customization exercises.2 It is envisaged that the user’s organization will share a copy of this Guide and other support documents with its staff, partner organizations and external specialists involved in the project to ensure that discussion and contributions are focused. Methodology for identifying relevant factors Internal factors are election-specific