BREAKOUT 2 Electoral Fraud & Manipulation : Report back GEO 2013, Incheon, Republic of Korea 15 October 2013

Presentation outline Three cases drawn from Latin America (Guatemala), Africa (Mali) and Eastern Europe (Romania) Magnitude Perpetrators and their motives How to fix the problem? Conclusion

Type of fraud and manipulation (1) There exist various electoral malpractices resulting from limited skills or knowledge, errors, low work standards, inadequate legal and regulatory framework or ill-thought or implemented processes and procedures However, fraud and manipulation are intentional acts aimed at unduly influencing the electoral outcome. More specifically: –Fraud: illegal alteration of the process or the outcome of an election (direct) – e.g. changing figures on result sheets –Manipulation: illegal interference with an electoral process (indirect) – e.g. gerrymandering, changing govt spending

Type of fraud and manipulation (2) Fraud and manipulation can take several forms, such as (not exhaustive): Omission: not doing something (e.g. not enforcing the law) Commission: deliberately doing the wrong thing to achieve a desired outcome (e.g. gerrymandering) Coercion: using violence or intimidation to force someone to behaving in a certain manner Corruption (e.g. misuse of public resources or vote- buying) Deception (e.g. giving false or misleading information to a prospective registrant) Destruction (e.g. ballot papers to affect election result) Unequal treatment (of candidates, parties or voters)

Magnitude (1) Fraud and manipulation are very serious problems with potentially grave consequences on the society They take place in both developing democracies and in long standing democracies In long standing democracy fraud and manipulation often go unnoticed because of the greater trust stakeholders have in the process, the system and the actors These malpractices tend to be more widespread in post-conflict societies

Magnitude (2) Where “no go areas” exist, the possibility of fraud and manipulation is the highest Electoral malpractices don’t only take place on E-Day: Voter registration and the compilation of voters’ roll; Electoral campaigns Voting, counting, tabulation, transmission and announcement of the results; as well as Election dispute resolution, in particular where the judiciary and public administration are partisan Use of technology makes some types of fraud very sophisticated and therefore more difficult to detect

Perpetrators of fraud and manipulation and their motives Fraud and manipulation are carried out by government officials, representatives of political parties, EMB officials, security officers, voters and judges These malpractices are mostly carried out by representatives and agents of the incumbents with the motives of keeping power, increasing their share of power or whipping out the opposition However, opposition parties are not angels. They too tend to resort to malpractices in order to access power or get the result of an election that they have genuinely lost invalidated.

How to fix the problem? No one size fit all No quick fix Reforms (electoral, institutional and procedural) Long Term election observation Improve election monitoring techniques and methodologies by political parties for them to substantiate their claims of fraud and manipulation Civic education Develop appropriate anti-fraud and anti- manipulation strategies Fraud being a crime, there is a need for criminal punishment.

Conclusion: “how to reduce effectively and in a sustainable manner fraud and manipulation”? Development or use of Election standards to help improve to detect electoral malpractices Reducing these malpractices will require efforts of all actors: –Without EMB integrity, there cannot be electoral integrity –Need for government, opposition and parliament’s political will towards the consistent holding of high-quality and fraud and manipulation-free electoral processes; –Electoral fraud & manipulation should be treated as serious crimes by security forces and the judiciary; and –Candidates, political parties, citizen & international, media and observers shall contribute to electoral scrutiny Create trust in elections through increased transparency, openness, equal treatment of stakeholders and fairness.