Handbook Council Europe

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The opinions expressed in this work are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reect the official policy ofthe Council of Europe.

The text of this publication may be reproduced on condition that the full title of the source, namely the Councilof Europe, is cited. If it is intended to use any part of the text for commercial purposes or to translate it into a non-official language of the Council of Europe, please contact the Public Information and Publishing Division, Directorateof Communication (F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex or [email protected]).

All internet sources cited in this reference were accessed in August and September 2013.

Division of Electoral Assistance and Census

Democratic Governance Directorate

Directorate General II - Democracy

Council of Europe

Strasbourg

France

http://www.coe.int/t/dgap/eap-facility/

Cover and layout: Service for the Production of Documents and Publications (SPDP), Council of Europe

and European Humanities University Council of Europe 2013


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Reporting on Elections

Council of EuropeHandbook for Civil Society

Organisations

Editor: Marie-Carin von Gumppenberg

Contributors: Giorgi Chkheidze, Sinisa Bencun, Igor Gaon, Marie-Carin von Gumppenberg,Lela Taliuri

Strasbourg/Tbilisi 2013


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Foreword

In any country democratisation is a process with several steps. One important step is elections, and electionreports provide important indicators as to in which direction the democracy in a given country is heading,and to what degree human rights and rule of law are respected. Therefore, election reporting is crucialfor the further development of democracy. It provides a public record of what has been observed andserves as a reference for future elections. While providing pre-electoral assistance in several member states,including in countries which are part of the Eastern Partnership Facility, the Council of Europe learned fromcivil society organisations about their need for a tool kit on election reporting.

In order to comply with this request from domestic election observers, the Council of Europe has prepared ahandbook written within the framework of the Eastern Partnership Facility, a programme funded by the EU

and implemented by the Council of Europe in cooperation with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, theRepublic of Moldova and Ukraine. The aim of this handbook is to inform domestic observers regarding bestpractices on how to gather election-related information, how to report on election issues and how to assessto what degree the elections are held in compliance with domestic legislation and international standards.

This book is the result of a pilot project, sponsored by the Kingdom of Norway, implemented in Georgiain 2012 and 2013 under the title Enhancing Election Monitoring Reporting Capacity of Georgian Non-Governmental Organisations. In September 2012 the Council of Europe deployed an expert to Georgia toadvise ve leading Georgian election observation organizations on how to develop high quality electionobservation reports. The expert organised a two-day training session for representatives of the NGOs

on effective election reporting based on good practices. The expert subsequently worked with eachorganisation individually to develop a format and structure for election observation reports, tailored tothe aims and needs of each individual organisation. In February 2013, building on the rst phase of thepilot project, the expert returned to Georgia to provide extensive feedback to the NGOs on their nalelection reports written after the 2012 Parliamentary Elections. After this experts visit, the NGOs requestedthe Council of Europe to develop a practical manual on domestic election reporting. To full this requestthe Council of Europe in cooperation with domestic and international experts prepared this handbookReporting on Elections; Council of Europe Handbook for Civil Society Organisations.

The handbook serves as a guideline for domestic observers. It explains step by step how an election reportis written, how it is structured, which language is used, what to include and what not to include in thereport. The handbook focuses on both interim and nal reports published by the core team.

The handbook is divided into three parts: Introduction; Reporting on Elections and Annexes. The main partof the book Reporting on Elections is composed of nine chapters: What kind of reporting are we talkingabout?, How do you plan your reporting?, How do you structure an election report?, Why is properobservation planning so important in election reporting?, How does observer performance inuence thequality of your reporting?, How do you report on election violations?, Which language should you use inelection reports?, How do you assess the information against international standards?, and How do you

formulate recommendations?.


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In the annexes, the domestic observer can nd a list of key phrases, references concerning electionobservation and international standards, as well as the OSCE/ODIHR Code of Conduct for Observers andthe Venice Commission Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters.

This publication can serve not only as a reference for domestic election observers, but also for governmentalofficials, political parties, election officials, voters and civil society organisations who plan to report onelection activities. It could also be useful as a training tool for future domestic election observers.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the experts who kindly contributed to thishandbook, in particular: Marie-Carin von Gumppenberg, Lela Taliuri, Sinisa Bencun, Giorgi Chkheidze, andIgor D. Gaon.

Our gratitude goes also to the European Commission and the Kingdom of Norway who supported thisproject.

Francois FRIEDERICHHead of Division

Directorate General II DemocracyDirectorate of Democratic GovernanceElectoral Assistance and Census Division


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IntroductionWhy are elections so important?

More than ever before, citizens around the world are taking part in elections as voters, candidates andobservers. Elections are an essential step in creating a legitimate authority which reects and protectsthe interests of citizens. Of course, generally, one democratic election does not guarantee a change in thepolitical culture of a society, but holding elections on a regular basis in compliance with Europes electoralheritage is seen as an indicator of a developing democracy.

Democracy is an on-going participatory process of forming opinions and taking decisions on issuesaffecting the larger community while at the same time respecting minority rights, and elections are onepart of this process. Long-term efforts must also be undertaken to build an inclusive democratic societythat respects human rights, administers justice fairly, and encourages full citizen participation in publicand political life. If elections are held in a free, fair, transparent and democratic manner, they will help topromote the societys democratic values and a respect for universal human rights.

Why is domestic election observation so important?

Assessments of election observers are crucial in determining whether an election is considered genuinelydemocratic. These assessments are powerful tools in promoting democratic procedures, political rightsand good governance. And these assessments are done either by domestic and/or international observergroups. Of the two groups, domestic observers have a comparative advantage.

Domestic observer groups outnumber the international observers; they can deploy their people all over thecountry, while international observers cover only some areas. Domestic observer groups know the politicalculture, the language and the territory; they view many things that may pass unnoticed by internationalobservers. They as well as the international observers are educating the voters and promoting the ruleof law.

Domestic observer groups can specialise in certain aspects of election observation, while the internationalobservers cover the election process as a whole. They can more efficiently than the international observersverify the voter roll, observe the complaint process, document instances of intimidation and human rightsabuses, and watch the media. In addition, domestic observers remain in the country after internationalobservers are gone and continue working on improving the electoral process.


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Professionalization of Domestic Election Observers

In the last two decades domestic election observation has become far more sophisticated, and its scopeof activities has expanded. Media, political parties, and election administrations are coming under closerscrutiny and more systematic observation. Increasing attention is being paid to the accuracy of voter-registration lists, and audits of electoral registries have become the norm rather than the exception.Electoral laws as well as campaign rules are subjected to more in-depth analysis. Womens participation in

electoral processes has become a key issue.As in the past, the presence of observers at polling stations remains the centrepiece of the observationefforts. But there have been signicant changes in how observers are deployed, in how they collectinformation, in what they report on, how those reports are analysed and in what they recommend. Theseshifts reect two trends: a greater appreciation of the importance of the political climate and the politicalculture and a keener understanding of the need for more systematic evaluation of the quality of theelectoral process. The introduction of benchmarks has made it easier for observers to evaluate election-dayactivities, including the opening and closing of polling stations; the performance of polling-station officialsand party representatives; the procedures for securing ballot boxes; the voter-identication protocols; themanagement of unregistered voters, and the counting of the votes and reporting of results.

In the past few years, indicators for evaluating the electoral climate around the polling stations havebeen developed, and violations are now being documented more carefully and accurately. In addition,quantitative tools have been rened: parallel vote tabulations or quick counts have become faster andmore accurate as a result of more nely honed statistical-sampling procedures along with better technology,improvements in observer training, and renements in analysis. Such vote counts are now normal practice.

As a result, domestic election observers now have at their disposal instruments that are more wide-rangingand more differentiating than ever before and hence are more powerful. As election observation hasbecome more systematic, observers have become increasingly adept at developing and deploying multiplestrategies for detecting and deterring the subtler efforts of electoral manipulation and theft. They and onlyto a lesser extent the international observers are now the principle safeguards of the electoral process.

Increasing inuence of domestic election observers

While becoming more professional, domestic observers became more inuential. Election observation wasonce almost the exclusive domain of international and interregional organizations. In the last ten years,however, there has been a surge of interest among domestic groups in observing elections in their owncountries.

Internationally driven election observations, such as those undertaken by OSCE/ODIHR, the UN, the EU,PACE and the Congress originally relied primarily on their own resources, personnel, and accumulatedexpertise. However, with domestic election observer groups increasingly becoming more and moreprofessional, the international community started to rely more and more on their expertise. As a result,even international observations became more and more domestically driven. Domestic election observergroups not only provide the infrastructure and logistical support for the international observers, but alsofull other important tasks: As domestic observers are more familiar with the situation on the ground, they assist the international

observers by providing information about the electoral process from the very beginning (even beforethe international observers come in) and in detail;

As domestic observers have the mandate not only to observe but also to actively participate in theelectoral process, they and not the international observers follow-up on election violations andimplement projects to improve the electoral process.

Many observer groups have become so professional that they have started to observe elections in theirown countries even without external assistance; this is a signicant step in democratic achievement. Thecitizens now own the electoral process as they take part in elections not only as voters and candidates butalso as observers. In this way they contribute to transparency of the electoral process, to changes in thepolitical culture and the citizens trust in the elections.


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What are the outstanding issues?

While many domestic observers have become more professional and as a consequence more inuential,there are still some outstanding issues. Domestic observers could increase their professionalism and theirindependence if they would pay more attention to the following:

Domestic observers could to a greater extent integrate international election standards in their electionobservation methodology;

They could adhere more strictly to a code of conduct, committing them to stay impartial in theirobservation and to report only about facts and gures and not about rumors and gossip;

Domestic election watchdogs could report not only on key ndings, but also assess them againstnational and international standards and come up with recommendations for the improvement offuture election processes.

However, the neutrality and objectivity of the domestic observers is frequently being challenged especiallyduring highly competitive elections. Often the observers on the ground are intimidated, harassed and/orbribed, and some are even prosecuted. They are hindered in fullling their work as observers: excluded

from polling stations: physically threatened; and/or their friends and family members are given severewarnings.

Certainly, domestic observers should not risk their or their family members lives. However, they can tryto adhere to the principles of neutrality and objectivity while carrying out their tasks. These tasks startwith dening the observation methodology, continue with watching the accuracy of their ndingsand their compliance with international standards, and conclude with presenting reports in a clear andunderstandable manner. Only if they stick to these principles do they gain the trust and condence of thepublic and become powerful watchdogs which make a difference in the electoral process.

To this end, domestic observers need more in-depth training on their tasks, on the purpose of objectiveelection observation and on reporting. To achieve this, a highly specialised observation methodology and

a thorough training plan are required; codes of conduct setting out the main rights and duties of domesticobservers, based on neutrality and objectivity, should become standard.

Election observation has a vital role in ensuring that elections are in compliance with the principals ofEuropes electoral heritage. Domestic observers are not there only to recognize and pay attention tofraud, to alleviate electoral deciencies and/or to deter fraud and abuse; they are also present to offerrecommendations on how to improve elections and the political process as such. As elections are not aone-off event, domestic observer groups should make a rm commitment to stay involved, not only byobserving consecutive elections, but also by staying engaged in-between elections. And the internationalcommunity should assist them by supporting projects focusing on educating voters, improving voter lists,building the capacity of election management bodies, and/or revising the electoral code.

References:

University of Oslo/Norwegian Centre for Human Rights: Manual on Human Rights Monitoring (2008).Chapter 9; Election Observation Handbook

New Tactics in Human Rights/Election Monitoring (2009)

OSCE/ODIHR (2010): Election Observation Handbook

OSCE/ODIHR (2003): Handbook for Domestic Election Observers


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Reporting on Elections


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What kind of reporting

are we talking about?Decide what you want to achieve with your reporting!Before you start observing, decide how you want to use the information that you will gather. Which type ofreporting are you aiming for? Do you want to report in order

To document what happened and/or

To analyse the information you gathered, come up with ndings and formulate recommendationsfor the future?

You may wish to do both: you may wish to document the violations and to come up with recommendationfor the improvement of future electoral processes. Pre-Election Day and Election Day reporting enable youto comment constructively on the process; while post-election-day reporting focuses on the analysis ofthe elections a whole. You might wish to release your reports at suitable moments or on a regular basis.Whichever method is used, a domestic observer group should aim to produce a preliminary statementand nal report after the election. These will be its denitive assessments of the electoral process. (ODIHRdomestic election observation handbook, p. 115)

Differentiate between internal and external reporting!

Reporting is an essential part of election observation, and there are two different types of reports: internal

and external ones. The rst are written by observers in the eld, the latter are produced by the core team. As a Long-Term Observer (LTO), you produce weekly reports that will be a basic information source

for the Core Team (CT), using a form and structure based on CT needs. In case you are observing orparticipating in a specic event during the pre-election period, such as rallies and candidate forums,you write instant event reports.

As a Short-Term Observer (STO), you report several times during Election Day (E-Day reporting) usingpre-dened forms.

As Core Team you analyse the STOs and LTOs reports and include the relevant, accurate, complete andobjective information into your interim reports, press releases, preliminary statement and nal report.

Pre-election reports

weekly reports by the Long-Term observers,

event reports and interim reports compiled by a Core Team

Election Day reports

STO/mobile team reports on polling station performance,

STO/mobile team reports on specic issues such as opening of polling stations and incidents,

STO text message reports on E-Day procedures and/or election results

core team reports about parallel voting tabulation (PVT)

Post-election reports:

Core Team statement on the preliminary ndings and conclusions,Core Team nal report

The handbook focuses on interim reports and nal reports published by the core team.


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Put an emphasis on your interim and nal reporting!Interim Report(s)

At the very beginning of domestic observation, you should decide whether to publish interim reportsor not. This depends on your election observation goals and objectives, and the timeframe of yourobservation mission. The overall goal of interim reports should be improvement of the on-going electoralprocess as a whole. If you want to exercise inuence on the election stakeholders before E-Day, if you wantthe election stakeholder to feel watched and held accountable, if you want to report publicly on all positiveand negative trends in the election process, then you should denitely decide to publish interim reports.

Depending on the timeframe you might wish to issue more than one interim report. The rst interimreport could be more of a general nature covering issues such as national legislation and the focus of yourobservation (e.g. structure of the election administration if you cover the election administration). You shouldpresent more concrete data and information on the election process in the subsequent interim reports, onceyou start receiving information from the eld. Then you can present individual cases as well as statistical data.

The purpose of interim reports is to give an indication of the issues the EOM is considering, to underscore some of thepositive elements and observed shortcomings, to serve as a tool for continuous dialogue with the authorities, to enhancethe transparency of its work and to provide an opportunity for the authorities to address any critical issues in the run-up toElection Day.

Source: ODIHR Election Observation Handbook, 2010, p. 49

Final Report

The nal report provides an analysis of the whole electoral process covered by your election observation.It should contain more statistical data than information about single incidents. Depending on the scope ofyour observation and the resources you are engaging, your report will include a number of topics coveringlegal framework, election administration, voter and candidate registration, election campaign, media,

E-day, tabulation, and/or dispute resolution. Often nal reports are published months after the elections.When they are published so late, they are no longer of interest to the wider public due to practical reasons:three months after the elections you can no longer inuence past electoral processes - you can onlyinuence future electoral processes. So, the nal report focuses on long-term goals: how to improve electionlegislation and procedures; how to reform the administration; and/or how to train election observers. Allthese issues are laid out in the conclusions and recommendations that you present in your nal report.

The nal report provides an overall assessment of the electoral process. In particular, the report provides a missionsconclusions on the process in its entirety, and on the extent to which the event was conducted in accordance with OSCEcommitments and other international standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation. Moreimportantly, it also provides concrete and constructive recommendations for the host country authorities on how the

process might be improved or brought more closely in line with OSCE commitments.Source: ODIHR Election Observation Handbook, 2010, p. 95

Be aware that your reports go public!

The main difference between the election observers and the core teams reports is the fact that the core teamproduces reports for the wider public, while the STOs and LTOs are only for internal use. In public reports, mistakesare not allowed. Once published, these reports become a source for different election stakeholders such asmedia, political parties, NGOs, and the international community there is no opportunity for correction. Eachsentence, even each word, needs to be weighed, with a projection of reactions and consequences that mightresult from different target groups. All information must be accurate before it is released to the public. Otherwise,your ndings can fail at the rst step, which can jeopardize the credibility of the entire observation project.

Be aware of your target audience!


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Please make sure you are clear to whom you are writing the report! Who is your main audience? To whomare you addressing the report: to the government as a whole; specic state institutions; the political parties;the broader public; or the international community?

A list of questions is important both for reaching the target audience and structuring your report. If yourmain target is a specic state institution, like the state election commission or the parliament, you shouldfocus on the issues that are in the jurisdiction of these institutions like the improvement of specic elections

laws, rules and/or regulations. In your report all your ndings, conclusions and recommendations shouldthen be linked to specic provisions of election law that you wish to be changed. Or, if you want to addressthe international community in your report, you focus on international standards and point out issues suchas EU recommendations in the light of accession processes, and/or other international partners requeststowards the country that are directly or indirectly related to elections.

Mostly, your reports will be addressed to all or most of the listed subjects, so you will have to make itbalanced, interesting, useful and plentiful for a wide audience.

Consider how you can reach your target audience!

In which languages will you publish your reports?

Take into consideration the specic environment of your country as well as your available resources. As aminimum, you should produce your report in the official language(s) of the country. Also, if you can publishthe reports in the minority languages (if any), and commonly used other languages in your country andregion, it is a denite plus. If you plan international distribution, an English version of the report is a must.

How will you distribute your reports?

Each interim report should be followed with a press release with extraction of key ndings from the report.Have in mind that the media will usually copy-paste the information from the press release, very few willgo deeply into the report. For the nal report, you should decide if it is convenient to make a press releaseas well. In general, you should access all channels of communication for distribution, using all available ITand other tools.

Reports could be made public the following ways: Press releases make it no longer than one page; Press conferences carefully choose the date, time and place; prepare E-packages for everyone,

including the report, press release, and other relevant documents; Email during your observation mission create specic mailing lists for government officials, political

parties, media, international community, and NGOs; adjust your e-mail cover letter for each targetgroup, and attach your reports to the email;

Internet distribute your information on your own and other web pages, as well as through socialnetworks;

Working groups at governmental/ambassadorial level try to reach out to existing working meetingsof international organisations and embassies.

When distributing the electronic version of your reports, always use formats that are widely common andprotected from content change, like pdf!

Depending on your resources, consider developing small brochures where key ndings from the reportwill be adapted and distributed to ordinary citizens, using graphic and other tools that will make them easyto read and to understand. For example, if you want to target youth, adjust the style and focus on ndingsabout youth in the election process.


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How do you plan your reporting?

Identify your election observation scope well in advance!

Before you start with your observation activities, become clear on what you want to observe! Do you wantto focus on the performance of the election administration, on the use of administrative resources, on themedia coverage of the elections or on individual cases?

After having made the decision about the scope of your election observation (e.g. election disputes), take alook how these issues were handled during the past elections: what were the main problems in the previouselections (e.g. beatings of party activists), and what were the most important ndings (e.g. inconsistenciesin the legislation) and recommendations (e.g. creation of a taskforce to settle the election disputes)? In

addition take a look at the current election environment: what are currently the main interests/concerns ofcitizens (e.g. intimidation of teachers)?


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Scope of your election observation

Legal and institutional framework

Which and how do the laws regulate the elections? Are the laws in compliance with international standards? Are thereproblematic provisions? How and when were the laws drafted and adopted?

Election administration

What is the structure and composition of the election administration? What is the procedure for nomination and selectionof the election officials? Is the election administration generally viewed as independent and impartial? Are the meetings ofthe election administration open to accredited observers? Does the electoral administration enjoy public condence? Arethey able to work on the basis of consensus, trust and collegiality? How is the training and the certication for the electionofficials organised? Are there a strategic plan and an election time table?

Registration of candidates

Is the right of citizens to stand for election respected? Is the registration of parties and candidates conducted in an open,transparent, fair and non-discriminatory manner?

Voters lists

Who compiles the voters lists? How complete and accurate are the voters lists? Is there public trust in the voters lists? Isthere any independent institution auditing the voters lists?

Political environment

Who participates in the elections? Is there any obstacle for those who are competing? Is equality of opportunity guaranteedby state authorities for parties and candidates? How is the election campaign organised? Is the atmosphere calm withouttension, pressure and intimidation?

Political party, candidates and election campaign funding

Is the campaign funding of political parties and candidates transparent? Is the funding of the election administrationtransparent?

Media environment

Is the media complying with the media legislation? Are parties and candidates receiving sufficient airtime to convey theirpolitical messages? Is the electorate receiving adequate information to enable them to make a well-informed electoralchoice? Do the main broadcast channels (public and private) present a balanced view of political issues? Are media freedomand independence respected? What impact has social media on the election process?

Womens participation

Are there any obstacles to womens participation in elections as voters and candidates? Does the election law haveinstruments for guaranteeing women representation on the party lists, a so called female quota? How do the media treatwomen candidates with or without stereotypes? Are women going to the polls equally as men?

National minorities

Can national minorities participate in the elections? Are there mechanisms to enhance their representation? Do nationalminorities have equal opportunities in receiving voter education and information? Do they have an opportunity to be partof the election administration? Do they have equal access to information about the elections?

Election observation

Who is planning to observe the elections: international and/or domestic groups, partisan or non-partisan groups? Are thereany long-term observers? On e-day are there mobile or/and stationary short-term observers? Will they cover the entireterritory or not? For which period of time are the observers deployed? Do they have access to the election administration atall levels?

Post-election developments

How was the procedure of the tabulation and announcement of results conducted? Did the election commission stick toall deadlines as stipulated in the law? Were there any serious complaints challenging the election results? How were thecomplaints handled? Were there any cases that ended up in the court? Were elections repeated in some of the districts?


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Choose which international standards you would like to refer to!

Whichever decision you take about the scope of your election observation, identify the internationalstandards that are relevant for your election activities. The rationale behind this is the following: you arenot only to assess your ndings against the national legislation, but also against international standards.

Key principles of international standards are laid out in the Venice Commission Code of Good Practice inElectoral Matters and the OSCE Commitments: The Venice Commission Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters outlines the following ve principles

as Europes electoral heritage: universal, equal, free, secret and direct suffrage. Furthermore, it stipulatesthat elections must be held at regular intervals and that conditions for implementing these principlesare the respect for fundamental rights, regulatory levels and stability of electoral law, proceduralguarantees, and the electoral system.

The OSCE Commitments emphasize the following principles: periodic, genuine, free, and fair elections,universal and equal suffrage, voting by secret ballot, and honest counting and reporting of results.

For instance, you chose to focus on the following international standard: Public resources should not be

used unfairly for the benet of one candidate. Then the report should contain reference to this standard inthe way that your report will have a chapter named Use of administrative resources containing a generalassessment of this issue, and concrete facts reported by your observers, e.g. Infrastructure projects of localauthorities that were nanced from the municipal budgets were presented as personal achievements ofcandidates in the following regions (provide examples); Public buildings and premises (mostly theatres),public transport vehicles and football stations were often used for endorsing candidates or political partypropaganda, (provide examples); The local administration organized campaigning events for the localruling parties, (provide examples);The opening of the school year was used for campaigning, (provideexamples).

Structure your reports before you start observing!

Dont start writing your report when the elections are over! The earlier you start, the better! You do bestwhen you start structuring your reports before you start observing! Have a table of contents ready! Findbelow the basic structure of any election report:

Basic structure of an election report

Introduction : mentioning main focus of election observation, e.g. use of administrative resources

Methodology : recruiting experts, training observers, e.g. about all aspects of the use of administrative resources);deploying them to strategically important places (e.g. mayors offices)

Main part : outlining the relevant legislation, presenting the main trends/violations, e.g. in the eld of use ofadministrative resources

Findings and recommendations : focusing on the compliance of all relevant stakeholders with the internationalstandard, e.g. use of administrative resources


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Decide which information you need for your interim and/or nal reports. Based on these decisions, youassign and train your team members.

Before the conduct of an observation programme, consideration should be given to a range of possible ndings.Brainstorming should be done well in advance to determine how possible situations might be reported. A variety ofscenarios should be identied, along with the relative likelihood of each outcome. By thinking about these issues at the

beginning of a monitoring exercise, and by periodically reviewing strategy and tactics, a domestic observer group will bebetter prepared to effectively use the information collected.

Source: ODIHR Handbook for domestic observers, 2003, p. 116

Start writing your report well in advance!Once you have decided about the scope of your election observation activities and the structure of yourreports, you can start writing!

The rst interim report usually contains basic data about the legislative framework, the election systemsand the election subjects. As this basic data is known from the very beginning, you can write it down even

before you receive your rst reports from the eld. The same goes for the nal report. Most of the nalreport you can write before the Election Day. You can describe your main focus of election observation,explain your election observation methodology, outline the relevant legislation, present the main pre-election trends/violations and even come up with rst ndings and recommendations.

Plan the timing of the publication of your reports well in advance!Make a reporting plan in advance, including the number of reports, dates of release and key persons incharge for each activity.

The number of reports, their public announcements as well as the dates of their release, depend on different

factors: the length of the observation period, the reporting capacities of your observation mission, and theelection calendar.

The release of interim reports can be linked to key events within the electoral calendar, like the end of voteror party registration or the deadline for dispute resolution. They can also be released independently fromthe electoral calendar, within a certain period of time (e.g. every three weeks or every second month).

Final reports, a full and overall assessment of the elections, should be released about six weeks after theelectoral process is completed, but no later than three months after Election Day.

The release of your reports can be combined with several ad hoc stand alone press releases. These pressreleases can be in fact small reports, usually targeting specic issues such as a sudden change of legislation,major election incidents or important court decisions.

To receive maximum media coverage, you might consider announcing the publication of your reports inadvance and combining the release of your report with a press release summarizing the most importantndings of the report.

Consider the length of your reports!Your reports should never be too long! No reader even if he/she is the most interested one is going tolike going through hundreds of pages. Limit yourself - think twice which information is really importantand which can be left out! For example, do you really want to list all election cases, or is it sufficient tolist only the most important ones? Do you really want to go into detail or only concentrate on the main

tendencies? In general, interim reports dont exceed 10 pages and nal reports 50 pages (using custommargins and font size 12). You can always list statistical data in the annexes of your reports for advancedusers and those who want to go deeper and receive additional information, for example on election cases,election results, or court decisions.


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How do you structure anelection report?What does a report look like?

Use a clear scheme to present the information to the readers!

You might choose from a variety of formats to organize your information for readers. Most recommendedis a combination of the following structures:

Description: Describe what happened: when, where, to whom. The details help the reader understandthe circumstances.

Chronological Order/Sequence: Describe the events in sequence from the very beginning to the end.Use words that signal the chronology of events, such as rst, then, next, nally, and specic dates andtimes.

Compare/Contrast: Use comparisons to describe to the reader the changes in the election code, theprogress made in regard to previous elections, the increase/decline of incidents.

Problem/Solution: Based on your analysis and key ndings, present recommendations for furtherimprovement of the electoral process.

Structure your report!

Whichever report you write, always structure your election report the following way:

Basic structure of any election report

Title page: Present the most important information about your report: the title of the report, theelections the report is covering (presidential, parliamentary, local), the reporting period, the title ofyour organisation including logo, the date when the report was published.

Table of contents : Provide an overview of the sections of your report and their page numbers.

Introduction : Mention the main focus of your election observation (election administration, campaignnance, E-Day procedures etc.), the international standards you are referring to, and the type of reportyou want to publish (interim report, nal report).

Methodology : Outline your observation methodology: the recruitment of experts, the training ofobservers, their deployment to strategically important places, the technology you use (e.g. for ParallelVote Tabulation PVT).

Main part : Provide an overview of the relevant legislation and present the main trends of the electoralprocess you are covering with the report. Insert headings and sub-headings which reect the contentsof each section.

Findings and recommendations : Summarize your report! Outline your ndings briey with no newarguments or evidence. Refer to international standards! Based on your ndings outline suggestions/recommendations for bringing the elections further in compliance with international standards.

Information about your organisation : On the last page sum up the history of your organisation, yourmission/vision and outline the sources of funding for your election observation activities.


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Indicate the period your report is covering!

On the front page, but also in your report, state which period you are covering! Usually, interim reportscover a period from two weeks to two months; while nal election reports cover the whole observationperiod.

Have a table of contents! All your reports should be formally structured into sections. These sections are reected in the table ofcontents that gives an overview of the sections, so readers can easily identify the parts of the reports thatare interesting to them.

Insert headlines!

Break down your text into sections with each section having a clearly dened headline! All titles andsubtitles should give the reader clear guidance on what to expect from the respective section; headlinesshould be neutral and should not give any assessment about the conduct of elections.

Find the balance between text, charts and pictures!

Put the most important information in writing! Dont use too many visual aids such as graphs and charts.While a pie chart or bar graph could visualise raw data, it should never go without explanatory notes thattell the reader why that data matters: showing the number and the period of time when incidents occurred,demonstrating the media coverage political contestants got during prime time, comparing PVT data withofficial election result.

You may also consider inserting pictures, however, dont overuse! Your report should state the facts mainlyin writing. If you use pictures, consider carefully which pictures you insert into your report. Be aware of dataprotection/privacy rights of other people. (See: CoE (1980): Convention for the Protection of Individuals

with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data)


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What does the nal reports look like?

In nal the report, the key elements of any election report should be included: executive summary, table ofcontents, introduction, conclusions, recommendations, and information about the organization.

In addition the following issues could be covered:

Possible Structure of a Final Election Report

Title page

Table of contents

Executive summary

Introduction and acknowledgements

Political background

Analysis of legislative framework Analysis of the voter registration process and/or the results of any voter list audit

Election administration

Observation of candidate registration

Observation of the election campaign

Monitoring of the media

Participation of national minorities, participation of women, voting of people with disabilities

Observation of voting, counting, and tabulation

Official results and commentary

Resolution of complaints and the efficiency of the system of adjudication

Findings and recommendations

Information about election observation organisation

However, you are not bound to the above mentioned structure. If you decided to focus on specicaspects of the election process, then you could limit your nal reporting to these aspects.

Have a main message!

Clearly dene your main message by indicating the international standards against which you are assessingthe elections. You should state which specic international standards are met, partially met or not met, you

are not to judge whether the elections were valid or not.


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Your nal report should reect the extent to which the electoral process was carried out in a mannerthat enjoyed the condence of the candidates and the electorate, as well as the degree of political willdemonstrated by the authorities to conduct a genuine democratic election process.

The two rounds of presidential and municipal elections met most OSCE commitments and other international standards fordemocratic elections. The constructive role and discreet, but reassuring, presence of the police contributed to the conduct of

peaceful election days. Overall, these elections were administered in a professional and transparent manner. Some problemswere evident, such as allegations of intimidation of voters in the pre-election periods.

or

The parliamentary elections were competitive, transparent, and well-administered throughout the country, althoughcertain aspects require attention. On Election Day voters were able to freely express their choice in a peaceful atmosphere,despite some irresponsible claims of irregularities by political parties.

or

The parliamentary elections marked an important step in consolidating the conduct of democratic elections in linewith OSCE and Council of Europe commitments, although certain key issues remain to be addressed. The elections werecompetitive with active citizen participation throughout the campaign, including in peaceful mass rallies. The environment,however, was polarized and tense, characterized by the frequent use of harsh rhetoric and a few instances of violence. Thecampaign often centred on the advantages of incumbency, on the one hand, and private nancial assets, on the other,rather than on concrete political platforms and programs.

Assess the current elections against previous elections!

When assessing an election, you might also consider the degree to which these elections were animprovement over previous elections. You could do this by referring to previous reports issued byinternational organizations and domestic observer groups; by comparing facts (e.g. number of candidates,incidents during Election Day, election results); by reporting on changes (e.g. changes in the election-related legislation, in the election system, in the training of election officials, in the handling of complaintsby the authorities).

Give a summary of your key ndings at the beginning!

In the beginning you may wish to write a summary of the most important issues/cases of the electoralprocess. This is what most of your audience will read.

Below is an overview of key phrases used in the summary:

The Constitution and Unied Election Code was last amended.

The elections were administered by a three-tiered election administration comprised of

The voters lists were administered byCandidate registration was overall inclusive and transparent

The election campaign was conducted in a highly polarized political environment

The distinction between state and party was frequently blurred

Generally, the media provided voters with a diverse range of political views, allowing them to make amore informed choice

The complaints and appeals procedures were recently simplied and claried to some extent...

Election day was generally calm

The tabulation process at DECs was assessed positively by the observers

Approximately 800 Election Day-related complaints and appeals were led, alleging a range ofirregularities in voting, counting and tabulation of results


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Provide an analysis of your observations!

Final reports provide an analysis of all aspects of the electoral process that have been observed, they shouldnever provide simply an enumeration of single cases!

You should avoid the following enumerations:

Alleged bribery of voters in Dusheti by Zurab Otiashvili

On 27 August this year, the Mtskheta-Mtianeti Information Center reported alleged voter bribery by Zurab Otiashvili.According to the report as well as the news published on the official website of the Dusheti Municipality,

Alleged bribery of the Poti voters by Tengiz Sarishvili

On 6 and 11 September this year, Information Agency Info 9 published two stories on its website about the meetingsheld by Tengiz Sarishvili, a candidate of the United National Movement to Membership of Parliament under direct electionsystem, in the Election District no. 70 in Poti

Alleged bribery of the Lanchkhuti voters by Gia Goguadze

On 20 September of the current year, in its information program at 15:00 hrs, Channel 9 showed a story depicting voterbribery in the Election District no. 61 in Lanchkhuti by Qetuna Tsintsadze, representative of Giorgi Goguadze,

A nal report should always contain a summary of the cases, i.e. providing information about the numberof cases and their adjudication. Single cases are only to be mentioned if they are outstanding/detrimentalto the electoral process.

The following way cases could be mentioned:

The Prosecutors Office opened investigations in seven cases of suspected vote buying. In two of these cases decisions toseize property and detain suspects appeared to have been taken on questionable legal grounds

Another case involved M.K., who was arrested for suspected vote buying in July, prior to the calling of the elections. While

still in detention, he became a candidate To the knowledge of the election observers, none of seven of these cases of alleged vote-buying were adjudicated on meritand no suspects were convicted for vote-buying

Come up with recommendations!

Through recommendations you can make your views known and suggest a line of action. Recommendationsprovide suggestions on how the overall process or elements of the process might be improved. They areoffered with a view to enhance the conduct of elections in the country and to bring them fully in linewith Venice Commission Code of Good Practice, OSCE commitments and other international standards fordemocratic elections. (see also the last chapter of this handbook)


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Why is proper observationplanning so important in electionreporting?Invest time and resources in your planning phase!

Observation of elections is a serious project which demands serious work, knowledge and professionalism.It involves people, money, logistics and politics. In order to organise an effective observation, as a rststep, domestic observers and organisations should prepare a work plan. The plan should be exible andadjustable to the unexpected situations that might occur during the course of activities. The work plan isthe list of objectives, goals, activities and expected outcomes. It is very important to include anticipatedhuman and nancial resources as well as a timetable.

When approved, the work plan serves as a guide to actions to be taken in order to reach the objectives,written so as to be transparent to anyone, inside or outside the implementing group, in describing thoseobjectives, and outputs, and justifying the actions to be taken. Before preparation of the work plan theorganisation should take into consideration the type of election, since the type of election can have a criticalimpact on the election observation methodology. Different approaches may be required, depending onwhether an election is presidential, parliamentary, local or a national referendum. Therefore the rst stepis a needs assessment.

Conduct a needs assessment!

Conduct a needs assessment in order to determine what aspects of the election process need attentionand should be prioritised as observation subjects. Consult a broad range of sources to get a balanced viewof the situation; take a regional approach into account. Write down the most important ndings of yourneeds assessment! Take into consideration: Previous election observation reports in order to understand the extent to which recommendations

from previous election observation activities were implemented; The recent amendments to the election legislation; Interviews with key stakeholders: Election Commission and other relevant government authorities;

political parties; prominent legal and media experts; specialized NGOs (focussing on womens rights,national minorities, human rights, anti-corruption issues);

Interviews with international observers.

Analyse your own capacity!


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What are the appropriate scope, scale, and timing of observation operations?Scope: For what type of observation is your organization qualied? In which eld have you gained expertise?Possible focus areas include an analysis of the legal framework; formation, effectiveness, and impartialityof the election administration; complaints and appeals processes; registration of parties and candidates;voter registration; the election campaign, including the media and campaign nance; Election Day; thereporting of election results; and litigation of court cases.

Scale: The type of election can have a critical impact on election observation methodology and be asignicant factor in observer deployment during the pre-election period. Different approaches may berequired, depending on whether an election is presidential, parliamentary, local, or a national referendum.How much money do you have available? Do you have adequate nancing? How many observers can yourecruit? And what kind of observers do you need? (partisan/non-partisan, mobile/stationary STOs, LTOs/Coordinators, core staff ) How many? Do you want to cover the whole territory, or focus on representativeareas or a single region?

Timing: Which phase of the election process will you observe: the whole election period or only the E-Day?

Come up with a clear action plan! After the needs assessment, you should develop an action plan. If you represent several civil society groups,all groups should be represented at the meeting, so that everyone shares and has a common understandingfrom the beginning of the project. During the meeting you should decide on the following:

Objectives: What do you want to observe in the election process and what do you hope to achieve? (e.g.promoting public condence, deterring and detecting irregularities, improving election legislation,furthering trust in the voters lists, promoting womens participation as candidates and voters)

Goals: What are the goals you want to pursue after having chosen the overall objective? (e.g. detect errorsin the voter register, hold parties accountable to the code of conduct, report on election-related violence,increase voter understanding of the election process, observe Election Day processes, advocate for a new

election law) Activities: What are the concrete activities you want to undertake? (e.g. radio campaign for electionlaw reform, audit of the voter register, survey of selection of election commission members, targetedobservation of Election Day proceedings, Parallel Vote Tabulation, monitoring of post-election complaintsand appeals)

Expected Outcomes: What specic impact should your activities have? Which goals and objectives wouldyou like to accomplish? (E.g. better informed voters, higher turnout, a report on the Election Day process, alist of violent incidents and how they were addressed by authorities)


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Once the objectives, goals, activities and expected outcomes have been dened, they should be organizedinto a planning strategy. The planning strategy should include realistic goals and objectives, within areasonable amount of time and available resources.

Prepare your schedules!

Once objectives, goals, and activities are dened, come up with a draft timetable of all election activitiesand tasks. Only when you have all activities incorporated into the timetable will you see how realistic yourobjectives and goals are, and how they can be achieved. Make sure to include the following information inthe timetable:

Election Calendar: Tie your observation activities to electoral events.

Fundraising Deadlines: Dont forget about sticking to deadlines for submission of project proposals todonors.

Training calendar: Take your time and train your observers properly on what to focus on when observingand how to ll out the reporting forms.

Reporting Schedule: Develop a plan outlining who should submit which kind of information and at whattime to incorporate it into your reporting. Think of appropriate deadlines (e.g. for LTOs submission twiceper week).


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How does observer performanceinuence the quality of yourreporting?There is a clear link between election observers performance and the quality of your report!

The more knowledge your observers have about the electoral context, the better they know their tasks andduties, the better they understand their code of conduct, the better they are trained in crisis situations andthe better they can report about the election process. The more factual and accurate their information, thebetter you could make reference to it in your report.

Carefully select your observers on the ground!Carefully consider how to select the observers you need for your observation activities. You will have torecruit and coordinate a large number of volunteers. The most efficient way is to identify credible civilsociety groups in each region that might be interested in taking part in your monitoring efforts as a coalitionpartner. The following questions might arise: Is your organisation based only in the capital, or do you have offices and contacts in the regions? Do you have a volunteer database from previous activities? Do you have a database for new volunteers? Do you have partner organizations in the regions which will work with you? If, yes, have you trained

them sufficiently? How will you coordinate the volunteers?

Clearly dene the tasks and duties of your observers!

Determine which approach you will follow! Will you just observe the electoral process and/or follow upwith complaints and taking them to court? Whatever decision you make, it will have consequences foryour observer proles. Do you need just short-term observers who know E-Day procedures, or do you needlong-term observers who have in-depth observation experience as well as reporting, logistical, humanresources and management skills? Or would you require lawyers with experience in ling and following upcomplaints and appeals?

Dene clearly the tasks and duties of your observers before the elections, on E-Day, after the elections!


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Intensively train your observers!

Hold mock elections. Use role plays and other interactive methods. Give them specic cases they have tosolve. Let them ll out reporting forms. Make them aware what and what not to focus on. Use standardforms to be used by all observers so that ndings can be properly collected and easily processed. At theend, organise nal exams and choose the observers.

During the training sessions you might convey how to properly conduct their work. There are severalprincipals which you should respect during your work:

Stay impartial, independent and objective! Be discreet! Discuss election issues only with your colleagues. Refrain from any biased statement in

relation to any political party, any candidate, or any issue in connection to the elections. Be in continuous dialogue with all election stakeholders. Do not wear or display anything which could be considered as identication and support to any

political party or candidate. Properly investigate allegations. Base your conclusions on well documented, factual, and veried

evidence. Report only on self-established facts. Do not accept any gifts or favours from any election stakeholder; it could be regarded as undue

inuence taking. Stay out of political tensions and conicts. React appropriately: rst and foremost, do not put yourselves

in dangerous situations. Dont take sides. Gather facts from all stakeholders.

Dont disrupt or interfere in the election process! (e.g. by directing election officials ). If you notice irregularities, inform the election officials, but do not tell them what they should do. Do not make any prediction on election results. Do not express your personal opinion on the validity

of the elections. Comply with the instructions given by polling station officials. If you are dissatised with any officials

instructions, document them. Do not physically assist in the voting or counting process. Do not use photographic, video or recording equipment at the polling station without permission of

the officials in the polling station. Avoid any form of confrontation with the officials in the polling station.


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Sign a code of conduct with your observers!

Your observers should follow well-established election observation standards such as principles ofneutrality, impartiality, professionalism, respect for the laws of the country, and respect for the organizationinstructions; they must sign a code of conduct to commit themselves to proper election observation.Sanctions should be foreseen and enforced in case of breach of this code of conduct.

In a joint effort, more than 125 non-partisan election observation organizations agreed on a statement ofprinciples and a code of conduct commemorated in April 2012 at the United Nations in New York.

Code of Conduct for non-partisan election observers and monitors

Maintain strict non-partisanship, by remaining politically neutral in all activities concerning the election process (includingobservation, monitoring, voter education, exit polling and any other activities), by refraining from expressing publicly anypreference for or against any candidate, political party, group, movement or other association seeking public office, or thosesupporting or opposing any referendum initiative (including when reporting factually about violations of laws, regulationsand electoral rights by parties, candidates or referendum groups), and by rejecting all favors offered or threats issued by anyof the political contestants or their agents;

Work independently of government in support of a genuine democratic election process, without regard to who wins or loses,and employ the best practices, methodologies and techniques, in light of non-partisan principles and suited to nationalconditions, in order to observe and monitor the various elements of the election process throughout the election cycle andthe related political environment or apply best practices, methodologies and techniques to specic elements of the electionprocess;

Maintain strict adherence to the principle of nonviolence , call on all involved with the election process to do the same and takeany practical steps possible to reduce the potentials for election-related violence;

Respect the countrys constitution, laws , regulations and international obligations consistent with holding democraticelections, promote respect for electoral related rights, and call on others involved with the elections to do the same;

Respect the roles of impartial election authorities at all levels and at no time interfere unlawfully or inappropriately in theadministration of the elections , as well as seek diligently to work in cooperation with impartial election officials, and followlawful instructions from them or other appropriate authorities concerning protection of electoral integrity;

Help to safeguard the rights of voters and prospective voters to exercise their electoral choice freely and without improper

discrimination, unreasonable restrictions, interference or intimidation, which includes promoting respect for the secrecy of theballot, the rights of eligible persons, including women, youth, indigenous peoples, members of national minorities, personswith disabilities and other traditionally marginalized populations, to register to vote, to receive in languages they understandsufficient, accurate information in order to make an informed choice among the political contestants and to engage in otheraspects of the election process;

Help to safeguard, with strict impartiality, the rights of political contestants to be elected, without improper discriminationor other unreasonable restrictions on their ability to receive legal recognition or to meet other requirements for ballotqualication, on their ability to freely campaign for support of the electorate, on their ability to communicate their politicalmessages to the public or to exercise their rights to association, peaceful assembly and movement, on their ability tomonitor all elements of the election process and to seek effective remedies, as well as to enjoy their right to security ofperson;

Cooperate closely with other election observers and monitors from non-partisan citizen organizations that endorsethe Declaration of Global Principles for Nonpartisan Election Observation and Monitoring by Citizen Organizations andcooperate with international election observation missions;

Report impartially, accurately and timely all observations and ndings, both positive and negative, with sufficientdocumentation of all serious problems to permit verication of the events, and with sufficient documentation ofpositive aspects of the process to provide an impartial and accurate picture of what took place ;

Provide sufficiently high quality training for all observers and monitors to allow them to understand this Code of Conduct, signthe accompanying pledge with full appreciation of its meaning and provide reports that meet the standards of this Code ofConduct.

Source: http://www.gndem.org/sites/default/les/declaration/Declaration_of_Global_Principles_0.pdf


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How do you report on electionviolations?Be clear what it is you want to report about!

Your core team as well as your observers in the eld will receive a lot of election-related information. Beforeyou start your observation, you should be clear which information is important for your reporting andwhich is not! Are you focusing on violations of the election legislation, violations of national legislationother than the election legislation or on election disputes that you are defending before court?

What are you reporting about?

Reporting on violations/disputes of the national legislation : pre-election regulations (e.g. registration and campaigningof the election subjects; use of administrative recourses; operation of the election commissions; media; elections/campaign

funding); E-Day procedures (e.g. opening/closing, vote count and tabulation); post-E-Day procedures (e.g. multiple ballotstuffing, allowing non-registered voters to vote, violations of the vote count procedure, illegal rejection of E-Day complaints,violation of the results summarisation procedure);

Reporting on violations/disputes based on legislation other than the election law: e.g. public service legislation(campaigning restrictions for public officials); administrative code (regulations on the usage of administrative recourses bycentral and local officials); criminal and quasi-criminal law (misdemeanours or administrative violations entailing nes oreven short-term imprisonment)

Reporting on your own complaints/disputes (which might include both or only one of above categories of violations/disputes)

Notwithstanding which decision you take, be clear about which stages of the election process you arecovering: pre-election, E-Day and/or post-Election Day: Pre-election disputes might include cases of vote buying and violations of campaign funding. Often

they are vaguely regulated by law, something that constitutes a challenge for election observers togather information, to document the cases and assess the information.

E-Day and post-E-Day disputes are mostly cases that are led with the election administration and/orthe courts. The election legislation often regulates these cases, making it easy for election observers todocument the cases and to follow the proceedings.


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Be clear about a possible conict of interest!

Unlike international election observers, you might decide to exercise your right to submit complaints. Ifyou are exercising such a right, then understand that you might have a conict of interest: on the one sideyou are litigating complaints, and on the other side you are reporting about cases that you are litigating.Being aware of this conict of interest, you should try to ensure objectivity in your reporting. Always adhereto the principles of impartiality and accuracy. This can be done the following way: Develop separate forms for cases that you just report on and for cases that you are following up; Have separate staff members working on your own cases and others cases that you are covering; If possible, do not limit your reporting only to the complaints you are following, but also try to cover

other complaints of the election districts you are observing.

Be proactive when gathering information!

Be pro-active especially when covering pre-election disputes. Search for information. Reach out to electionsubjects, media and other institutions on a regular basis in order to identify cases and gather informationabout them. Set up teams of media analysts screening traditional and new media with the aim not onlyto monitor the media coverage of the contestants but also to learn about potential election disputes.If you have limited access to information, especially in the case of non-election code violations, rely ondefendants, their lawyers and political subjects to gain access to the needed information.

Carefully gather information about election disputes!Create your own election dispute table!

Before gathering information from the eld, create your own database about the election disputes thatyou intend to cover, these may be cases that you just document or cases that you follow-up on. Suchdatabase will determine whether legal redress can be achieved and will assist the process of cataloguingand tracking legal disputes. An analysis of this data will enable an assessment of the role, fairness, andefficiency of the authorities charged with the adjudication of election disputes. (OSCE/ODIHR Handbookfor Domestic Election Observers, 2003, p.35)

Your database could be structured as follows:

The election dispute table should include

description of the act of failure to act which permits complaint;

persons/institutions likely to be accused;

adjudicative body;

manner of complaints should be submitted;

time limits;

procedure of complaints consideration (within election administration and/or within the judiciary); mechanisms ofenforcement;

penalties and remedies.

Source: OSCE/ODIHR Handbook for Domestic Election Observers, 2003, p.43

Train your observers how to gather complaints!

In order to receive proper and accurate information from your observers, you are advised to train themhow to gather complaint information properly. Your observers should not only be familiar with the relevant

national legislation and international standards, they should know not only how to gather all relevantinformation, how to ll out complaint forms and to report about incidents/complaints, but also shouldadhere to a strict code of conduct when conducting this work.


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The principles of the code of conduct are described below:

Code of Conduct for Complaint Information Gathering

Condentiality and the protection of those who le complaints is a top priority.

Be as objective as possible. Contact and speak with all sides involved (i.e. complainant, defendant and the adjudicativeauthority).

Meetings on complaints should be conducted with two observers whenever possible.

For complaints which have been led with an institution, a copy of the documentation should be obtained wheneverpossible.

If an election commission or court session is holding a hearing on an election dispute, try to attend but ask for permissioneven if the hearing is public. The person to address with a request to attend is usually the presiding judge or chairperson. DoNOT approach the parties at the hearing and remember that you are a neutral observer.

Source: ODIHR: Resolving Election Disputes in the OSCE Area, 2000, p. 23

Properly document single cases!

To document an election violation, use the election administrations complaint form for observers or yourown complaint forms that you have developed in order to cover all cases. You should have forms for electionlegislation-related cases, for cases covering other legislation than the election legislation and for cases thatyou are following-up on. Be sure that your complaint form and the general observation forms provide thesame information for your database. Consider developing separate forms for pre-election, E-Day and postE-Day proceedings.

In general, your forms should contain the following information:

Documenting a violation

Who: Obtain all names, affiliations and functions of the persons involved and contact details where possible. Who iscomplaining? (e.g. voters, candidate, party representative). Who is committing the alleged violation? (e.g. another party,local authorities, mass media). Who will hear the complaint?

What happened: Take detailed notes and track the exact timing of the story. Ask for as many specics as possible (i.e.names, exact place, date, witnesses). Determine and obtain when possible any tangible evidence such as copies of writtendocuments, videotapes, and newspaper articles. When it happened? (Be as precise as possible)

Where: Where do you [other election actor] le the complaint? Court or Election Commission? When a complaint has beenbrought to a court or an election commission, ask for a case number assigned by the court or commission dealing with thedispute. When the court/adjudicative body will discuss it.

Source: OSCE/ODIHR Handbook for Domestic Election Observers, 2003, p. 48.

Follow a clear structure when observing judicial/court proceedings!

When observing judicial/court proceedings, take into account major principles of the organization of the justice in your country; there might be different kinds of approaches: in one case the judge might be anarbitral trying to ensure the fairness of the proceedings by basing his/her judgments only on evidencepresented by the parties; in another case the judge might be inquisitorial, actively collecting and evaluatingevidence from all involved parties.

In either case, for you it is important to receive answers to the following questions when following judicial/court proceedings:


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Consider using the following list of questions to observe adjudication process:

Whether the complainant is able to present evidence to the court or election commission in support of the complaint,either through the submission of written documents or by oral testimony;

Whether other interested parties are able to present evidence;

Whether the proceeding is conducted in public; open to all interested persons, including the media and members of thegeneral public; and whether any part of the proceedings is conducted in a closed session where observation is not possible;

Whether the adjudicating authority appeared to treat everyone fairly, including the complainant, witnesses, and interestedparties;

Whether, overall, the adjudicating authority appeared to be impartial;

Whether the adjudicating authoritys decision was consistent with other rulings in similar cases; and

Other observations, particularly the comments of the adjudicating authority, which support all conclusions reached by themonitor about the proceeding.

Whether the complainant and interested parties are represented by attorneys;

The extent to which the court appears to follow legal rules of procedure;

Time before the court makes a decision; andWhat information the court gives the parties concerning the right to appeal to a higher court.

Source: OSCE/ODIHR Handbook for Domestic Election Observers, 2003, p. 49

Carefully report about election disputes!

Refer to domestic legislation and international standards!

Before presenting your complaints information, refer to the national legislation and to the appropriateinternational standards. Against this background, you will be able to analyse the gathered informationand provide conclusion on the transparency, efficiency and fairness of the process. (For the basic setof international standards see OSCE/ODIHR: Resolving Election Disputes in the OSCE Area, 2000; andGuidelines on Elections, Adopted by the Venice Commission, at its 51 st Plenary Session, 2002.)

Ensure that the information you present in your report is complete, accurate and objective!

Complete information: Be sure that you have enough data for your report!

Beyond the details of the events and persons involved, the value of the information gathered for yourreport will depend on how complete your information is. If you are missing details, you should strive togather additional information in order to properly report on the cases. You could do this by interviewingwitnesses, by asking for additional documentation from the police or the hospital, or if permitted, byexamining electoral records (such as protocols, voter list extracts, PEC log book, spoiled, unused and evenvoted ballots, and equipment and materials, such as stamps).

Of the numerous specic allegations examined by the observers, several were clearly found to be credible, including anumber of veried cases of pressure exerted by local officials on opposition supporters, including in particular teachers, todesist from campaigning.


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Accurate information: Base all conclusions on your personal observations or on clear and convincingfacts and evidence!

You should clearly distinguish between primary and secondary sources of the violations/ complaints thatyou are reporting about. Always make clear whether you did observe the facts on your own/through yourobservers or whether the facts were reported to you. In any case, always collect copies of the complaintsand other documents related to their consideration. This is the best method of ensuring accuracy.

Below you nd an example:

This case was reported by the media and became the subject of a police investigation.

LTOs reported intimidation of political party activists in all districts.

Objective information: Report both positive and negative ndings!

Be balanced. If you have negative ndings, be sure that you also report about positive ndings. Thesendings should strictly reect facts, never rumors or personal opinions.

You could present the facts the following way:

The CEC held frequent sessions which were open to observers, party proxies and the media, and generally operated ina transparent manner. It was active in technical preparations, adopting instructions for PEC members, training DECs andPECs, and conducting a large-scale voter information campaign. However, the CEC did not act in a collegial manner. Oncontentious issues, CEC members failed to act independently as required by law, and decisions were voted on along politicallines.

Properly analyse your election-related violations!Follow a well-established structure when you present your complaint information in the report!

If you present single cases, use the information of your electronic database.

Present the cases in the following way:

Analysis of election disputes

Legal Provisions: What laws prescribe the alleged actions? What are the relevant statutes and regulations (emphasis shouldbe placed on electoral and campaign laws, but also all other pertinent laws).

Adjudication : Was a decision taken? By whom and with what authority? Is the case being appealed? Was any administrativeaction taken? Is there a date and copy of the decisions?

Enforcement : Were decisions implemented? By whom? The defendant? A state body? Was redress obtained? Was itsatisfactory?

Source: OSCE/ODIHR: Resolving Election Disputes in the OSCE Area 2000, p. 24

In order to avoid enlisting too many cases, present an overview of the single cases in the annex of yourreport, by preserving the legally protected information public version of the database.

When summing up your ndings, categorize the cases you are covering! How many violations occurred when? In the pre-election period, E-Day or post-Election-Day period?

Which kind of violations occurred?


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o Formation of the election commissions;o Registration of the parties/candidates;o Registration of voters;o Illegal Campaigning (by parties or by state institutions);o Media Coverage of election subjects;o Harassment of media outlets/journalists;o Obstruction of Campaigning (by parties or by state institutions);o Violation of voting rights on election day;o Violation of the security of ballots;o Violations during counting;o Violations during aggregation/tabulation;

o Accuracy of the nal results, as declared.

How the election violations were handled? Was a complaint led? Was this complaint satised or rejected?

How the complaints were handled?How many cases were considered to require further investigation?

Among the complaints how many were sent by the election commissions to law enforcement agencies or other statebodies?Among cases requiring further investigation, how many were sent to the prosecutor?How many of these cases have been decided?What are the substantive grounds of the decisions by the election commissions?What are the substantive grounds of the decisions by the courts at each level?Are there institutional comparisons on the efficiency and extent of enforcement of the decisions?What are the substantive grounds for the appeals (especially with regard to the prosecutor)?What are the statistics on the total number of cases led with each institution?How many of the cases are related purely to the administration of elections and how many are tied to the structuralweaknesses of the legal and/or electoral system?Source: OSCE/ODIHR: Resolving Election Disputes in the OSCE Area 2000, p. 21

Were there disproportionally too many violations? Are the reported irregularities or violations isolatedincidents or do they form a systematic pattern that could pose a threat to the integrity of the election process?

Properly summarize your ndings!

Be short and to the point. Bring up numbers and gures.

A summary of your ndings could look like this:

How many violations occurred when?

In the course of the election day and after the elections, the observers took further legal actions on 223 violations atprecinct and district election commissions. 103 cases that involved gross violation of polling procedures were immediatelyeliminated; the observers issued verbal warnings and made corresponding entries in the PEC book of records. In theremaining 120 cases, the observers led complaints with election commissions: 67 complaints were led with PECs, 52 withDECs and one with the CEC. Two complaints were led in court.

How were election violations handled?

Out of the most important complaints, only one was comprehensively reviewed and upheld. A signicant part of thecomplaints was declared inadmissible for hearing by the CEC on merits. ... In addition to refusing the review of complaintsdue to procedural reasons, the CEC did not use its power to review on its own initiative any of the allegations concerning

the violation of law by precinct and district election commissions. Although courts generally carried out open hearings in aprofessional and thorough manner, some complaints were ruled inadmissible without sound legal basis, and some written judgments did not set out sufficient reasoning. In addition, the CEC and courts tended to stretch the law beyond reasonableinterpretation and without regard to its spirit in favour of the ruling party candidate and public officials.


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Which language should you usein election reports?Language matters!

Language matters, especially in election reports. As elections are politically sensitive events, which couldevoke serious tensions and conicts, if one party feels unfairly treated, election reports are as sensitive asthe events they report about. Reports could stir up tensions, if formulated in a biased way favouring oneside. Reports could also mitigate tensions if carefully formulated, based on facts and written in a clearmanner.

You should stay politically neutral in all your election activities, not only when observing the electoralprocess, but also when reporting about it. In your reports, refrain from expressing any preference for oragainst any candidate, political party, group, movement or other association seeking public office. Alwaysdemonstrate strict impartiality. Stay neutral!

The report should be concise, clearly written, and factual. It should avoid speculation and should report what has beenobserved and what has been reported to the monitor, carefully distinguishing between the two. If an allegation has beenmade, the monitor should indicate whether a further source has veried or substantiated the allegation.

Source: ODIHR Handbook for Domestic Election Observers, 2003, p. 17

A concise, clearly written and factual election report uses plain language; it has an effective structure (seeprevious chapter), but combines also good document design with clear and concise expression.

Use a simple design!

Organize the information in a sequence thats logical for the audience. For example, when reporting aboutelection incidents, then always report in the same manner, i.e. rst state the facts (what happened when,where, to whom?), then refer to the relevant legislation and nally assess the case against internationalstandards.

Use a layout that makes it easy for the reader to nd, understand and use the information