Quote
"Whether an election administration is composed of multi-party representatives or non-political representatives—whether it is ad hoc or permanent – there is often some contradiction between the ideal of an independent body and the reality that an election administration will never be entirely free of some government influence. The election administration should be structured to protect it from government influence through: legal guarantees of independence…; budgetary independence…; the appointing body (members…may be nominated by the executive, Parliament, judiciary, or political parties in the process. The official appointing body, whether it be the executive, Parliament or judiciary, should just confirm that the nominations are in line with the law, but should not have the right to hand pick an election commission through repeatedly rejecting nominations. The important point is that the source of the nominations comes from a balance of interests); terms of appointment (the independence of the election commission is best guaranteed when an individual is appointed for some reasonable length of time, as they do not have to depend on each government for reappointment, the duration of appointment for the election administration is ideally longer than the term of office of the appointee)."
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Summaries
- Election management bodies should be impartial and should not discriminate in the performance of their public function.
- The state should establish an independent and impartial election body.
- The composition of the election commission can vary, but the principles of independence and impartiality should be upheld.