Referendum Resource Officers in the 2007 Ontario Referendum on Electoral Reform

On October 10th, 2007, Ontarians overwhelmingly rejected a proposed change to their electoral system in a province-wide referendum on a new mixed-member proportional (MMP) system. Many commentators and academics blamed this failure of MMP on the quality of Election Ontario’s public education campaign, which was comprised of advertisements, an information hotline, a website, and public outreach activities. Elections Ontario’s public outreach element contained a unique program of grassroots education through local liaison officers. Elections Ontario chose to hire one Referendum Resource Officer (RRO) for each electoral district, who was tasked with providing referendum information through presentations and public meetings in their communities. This paper examines the feedback of one-third of these RROs collected through telephone and email interviews. Many of these RROs felt that the referendum education program fell short of its aim to provide local education on the referendum question and made suggestions as to the reasons behind the shortcomings of Elections Ontario’s referendum education campaign. They commented that their work was not supported by appropriate timelines, budgets and materials. In addition, many were displeased with the restrictions placed on RROs in efforts of keep the Elections Ontario campaign neutral. This case study supports previous referendum education and voting research that demonstrates that referendum education campaigns should not only provide timely and accessible information, but also encourage debate in order to provide citizens with the competence needed to make their “big decision.

Cyber Elections in the Digital Age: Threats and opportunities of technology for electoral integrity

Elections are essential for delivering democratic rule, in which ultimate power should reside in the citizens of a state. This introduction argues that the management and contestation of elections have now entered a qualitative new historical period because of the combined development of new technology and broader sociological developments. The era of cyber-elections is marked by: a) the new ontological existence of the digital b) new flows of data and communication c) the rapid acceleration of pace in communications d) the commodification of electoral data and e) an expansion of actors involved in elections. These provide opportunities for state actors to incorporate technology into the electoral process to improve make democratic goals more realisable. But it also poses major threats to into the running of elections as the activities of actors and potential mismanagement of the electoral process could undermine democratic ideals such as political equality and popular control of government. The article argues that this new era therefore requires proactive interventions into electoral law and the re-writing of international standards to keep pace with societal and technological change

Ireland has moved to improve electoral integrity – other countries should follow suit

On 13 July, Ireland passed an Electoral Reform Bill aimed at improving the country’s electoral integrity. Harsh Vasani, Toby S. James and Holly Ann Garnett assess the likely impact of the bill and the potential lessons other countries could draw from it

Are polarised elections the hardest to deliver? Explaining global variations in electoral management body performance

Electoral management, understood as the application and implementation of electoral rules, is a critical part of democratic governance. But there are often concerns about the quality of electoral management and the performance of electoral management bodies around the world. Despite recent advances, there remains a need for new systematic evidence on the quality of electoral management and analysis of the factors that lead to poorly- or well- run elections. This article therefore maps out global variations in the quality of the public management of elections using a new cross-national dataset and measure. It then explains variations by evaluating the relative importance of bureaucratic culture, the autonomy of electoral authorities, political polarisation in the electorate and the capacity of electoral management bodies. The results provide support for the importance of each of these factors. The effect of political polarisation is an important finding as it is a new threat to elections

Who runs elections and how can they be improved? independence, resources and workforce conditions are essential for good election management

In new research published today about how elections are run around the world, Toby S. James, Leontine Loeber, Holly Ann Garnett and Carolien van Ham find that organisational independence matters for well-run elections, and that election management could be improved with more resources, improved working conditions for election employees – and a better gender balance in electoral management bodies

Inclusive voting practices: lessons for theory, praxis, and the future research agenda

Inclusive voting practices have been defined in this special issue to refer to policy instruments which can reduce turnout inequality between groups and mitigate other inequalities within the electoral process. This concluding article reflects on the lessons learnt from the empirical studies about (a) how citizens come to be excluded at the ballot box; (b) which electoral processes are effective at bringing about greater inclusion; (c) what the wider effects of inclusive voting practices are; and (d) why such policies instruments not undertaken by the state. It argues that there are major lessons for the theorizing of democracy, as well as policy and practice in elections worldwide

Introduction: the case for inclusive voting practices

The voter turnout gap has plagued many elections around the world, with differential levels of participation between groups having the potential to effect election results and policy outcomes. Despite this, there has been little empirical or normative theorization of the interventions that can be used redress the turnout gap and other inequalities within the electoral process. This article defines the concept of inclusive voting practices to refer to policy instruments which can reduce turnout inequality between groups and mitigate other inequalities within the electoral process. This is anchored in a strategic-relational theory of structure, agency and political change. Different state responses are conceptualized and the normative case for an interventionist rather than repressive or laissez-faire approaches is set out. A research agenda is set out which is taken up in subsequent articles in this special issue

Electoral management and the organisational determinants of electoral integrity

Achieving the ideals of electoral democracy depends on well-run elections. Persistent problems of electoral integrity in transitional and established democracies have prompted a burgeoning literature seeking to explain the determinants of electoral integrity around the world. However, the study of the organisations responsible for managing the electoral process has been limited to isolated national case studies. This article opens up an interdisciplinary and international research agenda on the global study of the organisational determinants of electoral integrity. It defines the concept of electoral management and provides a framework to understand how electoral management body (EMB) institutional design, EMB performance and electoral integrity are related. Findings from new data derived from cross-national surveys of EMBs are described, providing new insights into how elections are managed worldwide

Election staff training: Tracing global patterns of institutionalisation

The safe delivery of elections is a pivotal international issue in an era of widespread concerns about global democratic backsliding. Despite this, there remains little research on the training provided to electoral officials – those responsible for delivering elections and democracy on the front line. This article introduces the concept of electoral training institutionalisation, which refers to the extent to which training is embedded into electoral processes by electoral management bodies. It then presents original data from a survey of electoral management bodies to give an overview of the global provision of training. An original index of training institutionalisation is developed from the dataset. These data are analysed to identify the patterns of training. The results suggest that training institutionalisation tends to be associated with the overall quality of democracy and economic development. Deepening the embeddedness of electoral training is recommended as a step towards the strengthening of electoral democracy