Russian Poll Workers Benefit From Reference Guide

by Leanne McDonald Fall 1996

During any election, precinct workers are the primary link between voters and the electoral process. Preparing individuals for this essential role in the Russian Federation, a country with over 93,000 polling sites across 11 time zones, presents a particular challenge. Recognizing this need, International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) in cooperation with the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation (CEC) developed an easy-reference guide for poll workers to be used during the recent Parliamentary and Presidential elections.

Training manuals for precinct officials had been provided during previous Russian elections, but were typically voluminous and poorly indexed, discouraging their use at crucial times. Instead, a slim manual modeled after the "what to do if..." format favored in the US was created for Russian poll workers.

The need for such a manual became evident during an IFES observation mission to Ekaterinburg during the 1995 gubernatorial elections. While the general administration of the elections ran smoothly, numerous instances arose where officials made arbitrary and inaccurate decisions. For example, at one precinct election officials became engaged in a heated dispute regarding whether to count or reject approximately 20 ballots of the nearly 800 cast. At midnight when one poll worker suggested that they seek assistance in the huge stack of instructions that had been issued, one man snapped, "We don't have time for that." If an easy-reference manual had been available for that election, simple guidelines would have readily resolved such questions in a uniform manner.

Following discussions between the CEC and IFES experts, the first version of the manual was finalized in the weeks before the December 17 Parliamentary elections. Over 100,000 copies were printed and distributed to every precinct before the election. Reaction to the manual was very positive. Throughout the election day, IFES observers saw the manual being referred to in a variety of situations. CEC Commissioner Olga Zastrozhanaya thanked IFES for its assistance in developing the manual and noted the many favorable comments she had re-ceived from regional and local administrators.

The next version of the manual was produced for the Presidential elections. Its development marked an important transition in the development of the CEC. Whereas the first version was based primarily on an IFES-developed product, the second grew from needs recognized by both the CEC and IFES. IFES had been following the entire training procedure for election officials during the Parliamentary elections and suggested some areas in need of special attention. These recommendations included: emphasizing the rights of observers and providing election commissions relevant instructions and training materials earlier in the election cycle. Another important recommendation was to reinforce the need to make a third copy of a document called the protocol available to observers and the mass media. The protocol, which includes results of the vote count and the distribution record of ballots, is a vital transparency mechanism. The availability of this document establishes written documentation for tracking the tabulation and compilation of election records.

The new manual, like the first, was in booklet form, but elaborated upon various scenarios in a narrative form broken down by category. The booklet also included diagrams addressing new areas such as polling site layout.

During the first and second rounds of the Presidential elections, IFES once again interviewed precinct officials concerning the type of training they received and the usefulness of the reference materials provided. Time and time again the precinct chairs referred to the manual. One chairwoman opened up the manual to show that she had underlined several passages for easy reference.

While federal elections in Russia appear to be over for the near future, the usefulness of this type of easy-reference manual has not ended. Not only would a similar manual be a helpful resource for the upcoming Russian regional and local elections, but the Ukrainian and Kazak Central Election Commissions have also displayed interest in developing such reference guides. The administration of democratic elections in the former Soviet Union provides enormous challenges to poll workers and election commissions, but these can be overcome by training and cooperation.

Leanne McDonald is a program officer for the Europe and Asia division at IFES in Washington, with program responsibilities for the Moscow office of IFES. The author wishes to thank Conny McCormack for her contributions to the article. 

International Foundation for Election Systems: 1101 15th St. NW, 3rd Floor, Washington, DC 20005; ph: (202)828-8507; fax: (202) 452-0804

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