INTRODUCTION
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
The purpose of these guidelines is to support election management bodies (EMBs) to assert, protect, and promote their independence as they carry out their mandates in collaboration with other public institutions.
Although they may have different structures, compositions, and legal mandates, all EMBs are expected to provide genuine opportunities for all eligible voters to cast votes and be counted. EMBs operate in a range of environments – from autocratic to broadly democratic – with threats to their autonomy and authority emanating from different sources. They must plan for quotidian challenges as well as potential crises, including severe weather and natural or climate disasters, pandemics, or armed conflict that may have a near- or long-term impact on election administration. In both normal circumstances and crisis situations, EMBs often share election-related duties with other public institutions, stewarding the electoral process while navigating a complex set of relationships and interdependencies. Although they have not received much attention to date from the election community, these interdependencies can have implications for the ability of EMBs to meet widely accepted democratic principles, including independence and impartiality.
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