Electoral Systems

A growing body of knowledge exists on election assessments and election monitoring. To monitor the electoral process is crucial and safeguards integrity; it protects the viability and honesty of election administration, as well as the participation of political parties, candidates and interest groups. Monitoring may be conducted by the media, political parties, and/or national and international election observers.

Increasingly, a store of toolkits and methods for conducting post-election reviews and pre-election needs assessments is available. Post-election reviews are being used more and more by Election Management Boards to assess the adequacy of the legal and management structures of elections and their performance in delivering acceptable elections. A post-election review report analyzes what worked well, what did not, and why. 

Assessments that have a broader focus than the election day provide an opportunity to tackle a range of electoral and development challenges that will ultimately affect the quality and perception of electoral processes.The ongoing emergence of international electoral standards, as codified by key international civil society and multilateral organizations, provides the most important basis for development of electoral assessments. However, these are yet to be translated into a comprehensive assessment instrument that can be used globally.