Gender and Election Observation Women and Elections

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Gender and Election ObservationWomen and
Elections
The National Democratic Institute
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INTRODUCTIONS/ GROUND RULES

• Introductions
• Ground rules
• Ice breaker exercise

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GENDER AND ELECTION OBSERVATION OBJECTIVES

• To identify potential gender issues related to
  the electoral process
• To increase knowledge of how to incorporate
  gender aspects into election observer trainings,
  materials and reporting

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GENDER AND ELECTION OBSERVATION TOPICS

• Pre-election monitoring
• Observer team composition
• Training for observers
• Short-term observers
• Domestic observers
• Observer reporting

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KEY TERMS

• Election Observation
• Short Term/Long Term/Domestic Observation

• Gender Analysis
• Family/Proxy Voting
• Gender-based electoral violence

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ELECTION OBSERVATION

• Conducted by parties, NGOs, the media,
  government, international organizations
• Can be domestic or international
• Partisan or non-partisan

• Why observe elections?
• Part of checks and balances
• Encourages transparency
• Assesses quality of elections

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TYPES OF ELECTION OBSERVATION

• Long Term Observers (LTO)
• Short Term Observers (STO)
• Domestic Observers

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GENDER AND ELECTION OBSERVATION

• Seeks gender equity for men and women
• Voters
• Candidates
• Election administrators
• Observers

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WOMEN AS VOTERS

• Fundamental right
• Can face physical, logistical, social and
  cultural barriers

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PRE-ELECTION WOMEN VOTERS

• Voter registration process
• Disaggregate registration data by sex and region

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PRE-ELECTION VOTER EDUCATION

• Analyze voter education programs
• Determine particular voter education needs

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PRE-ELECTION WOMEN CANDIDATES

• Gender analysis of election coverage
• Coverage of women candidates

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PRE-ELECTION ELECTION ADMINISTRATION

• Women in election administration
• Leadership and decision-making roles

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PRE-ELECTION ELECTION ADMINISTRATION

• Assess election administrations gender awareness
  and responsiveness

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PRE-ELECTION

• Gender analysis of electoral dispute
  resolution/complaint mechanisms
• Utilize womens organizations

• Civil Society Groups Can
• Be a resource on the context for women s
  participation
• May have information/ statistics on womens
  participation

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EXAMPLE/ EXERCISE

• Morocco pre-election assessment of 2011
  parliamentary election

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SHORT-TERM ELECTION DAY OBSERVERS

• Polling station atmosphere and security
• Number of women on polling station committee and
  sex of the chairperson
• Representation of women among party poll-watchers
• Women voters level of understanding of the
  procedures
• Sex-disaggregated voter data

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SHORT-TERM ELECTION DAY OBSERVERS

• Voters turned away
• Protections for secrecy of the vote
• Instances of family or proxy voting
• Instances of gender-based electoral violence
• Compare voter rates at the central and regional
  levels

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DOMESTIC OBSERVATION

• Domestic groups positioned to identify obstacles
  for women
• Trainings and materials should
• highlight the importance of womens
  participation in elections
• provide a basic understanding of how to observe
  gender-related issues and possible irregularities

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DOMESTIC OBSERVATION

• Incident report forms should include relevant
  questions on gender issues
• Questions should be added to the checklist

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COMPOSITION OF OBSERVER TEAMS

• Gender balance of team members
• Include a gender expert

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Ensure someone is designated as
the gender focal point on the team.
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TRAINING FOR OBSERVERS

• Highlight importance of gender in the training
• Identify potential barriers and how to monitor
  these issues
• Include background information on womens
  participation

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TRAINING FOR OBSERVERS

• Include questions for monitoring throughout
  process and Election Day
• Training materials
• LTO weekly report templates
• Election Day observer checklists

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INTERVIEWS WITH KEY STAKEHOLDERS

• What is the level of womens involvement in
  previous elections?
• What are the similarities and differences between
  previous elections and this one?
• What percentages of women are registered and vote
  in comparison to men? Is there a difference? If
  so, why?

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INTERVIEWS WITH KEY STAKEHOLDERS

• What are womens voter participation rates? How
  do they compare to mens?
• Are there unique barriers to womens electoral
  participation? Have there been any threats unique
  to women?
• Previous voter education and outreach programs?
  By whom?

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INTERVIEWS WITH KEY STAKEHOLDERS

• Who are the key actors in election monitoring?
• Is there a coalition?
• Are women/
• womens organizations
• involved?

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OBSERVATION STATEMENTS

• Participation of women as voters, candidates
• Number of women elected (vs. previous elections)
• Number of women in election administration
• Gender-related security incidents

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GENDER AND ELECTION OBSERVATION REVIEW

• Pre-election monitoring
• Short-term/election day observers
• Domestic observation
• Observer training
• Observer Reporting

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• Questions?
• Feedback?