Background

In 2005, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) published Getting to the CORE: the Cost of Registration and Elections, which provided a first comparative analysis of the cost of elections throughout the world. This innovative project diagnosed the financial tools and methods to assess the costs incurred by Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) in different political and development environments. At the time, this study provided the most comprehensive comparative view of the cost of electoral events in small and large stable, transitional, and post-conflict countries.

Almost ten years later, however, much of the data in the original CORE study has become obsolete, and the original dataset gathered for the 2005 study was quite limited. Yet the demand for relevant data on the cost and sustainability of electoral processes has never been higher than now. Both the UN and IFES, for example, as well as the wider international electoral assistance community, are constantly being asked to both advise national counterparts on credible budgeting processes, and to justify assistance project budgets, most of which are determined by the respective costs of the elements of the electoral process they wish to support. The Secretary-General, meanwhile, in his most recent address to the General Assembly on the UN’s work in support of elections worldwide,[1] noted that “I remain concerned about the potential for international assistance to lead to the introduction of technologies and systems that may be too costly for receiving countries to maintain in the long run. The General Assembly echoed the need to observe sustainability and cost-effectiveness in providing United Nations electoral assistance in its resolution 66/163. “

In order to follow up on the significant achievement of the CORE project, therefore, and in light of the recommendations of recent studies and the latest comments of the Secretary-General, it is proposed to carry out two main tasks. Firstly, to extensively collect more comprehensive and up-to-date data on the various costs related to the specific components and sub-components of an electoral process, from a wider base of countries, archiving them in a standardized and user-friendly format for easier retrieval. Secondly, as the various electoral processes can be implemented using various models and choices of technologies, data relevant to these models and solutions will also need to be collected. This research approach will enable a cost analysis of various solutions while keeping a number of variables constant. 

The ultimate goal of the project would be to create a widely available, updateable, searchable, digital platform that consolidates the most relevant information regarding the cost of elections and electoral institutions around the world.  This in turn will allow users of the platform to easily:

• Perform cross-country research;
• Analyze and compare the costs of elections related to specific components of the electoral processes (e.g. voter registration, boundary delimitation, polling, results management);
• Identify international best practice on budgeting and spending across the electoral cycle, and;
• Disseminate the findings of ‘CORE II’ to be used as widely as possible by electoral stakeholders (e.g. EMB´s, donors, and election experts).

The sharable database will accumulate, in a disaggregated manner, electoral costs incurred around the world, including countries that receive international electoral support. It will provide qualitative and quantitative information from which a series of analytical papers on CORE can be commissioned. These papers will specifically focus on key components of the electoral process that regularly require international support and are of strategic importance to the credibility of the election. In addition, these papers will serve as ‘show pieces,’ clearly displaying the usefulness of the project to EMBs, practitioners and scholars alike thereby increasing future data sharing. The project’s website will be freely available to practitioners, academia, policy-makers and the general public interested in the cost of elections.

In order to achieve this vision it is necessary to:

• Develop a new methodology to continuously collect the financial information related to the cost of electoral processes and elections globally;[2]
• Define the relevant election costs indicators, electoral process variables, political elements, and democratic structures that require analysis;
• Establish a data sharing agreement with other organizations that have already collected relevant information on the topic which could complement the project;
• Develop the digital platform that provides the users with an intuitive, graphic, searchable, digital and approachable format with complete information on the cost of elections and electoral institutions;
• Establish an advisory group of election and financial experts to review and guide the project through its various stages, in particular while developing the methodology and analytical tools;
• Develop a series of papers that address key areas of interest emanating from the collected information.

Through the use of the database, users should be equipped, in some way, to answer a series of questions, such as, and for example:[3]

• What are the cost implications of changing from one electoral system to another?
• What are the main factors (percentage) affecting the average cost per voter in a post conflict election?
• What are the average costs of conducting a boundary delimitation exercise, under the various models?
• What are the anticipated security costs of elections that take place in a post-conflict environment versus a peaceful environment?
• What are the average costs per voter that apply under the various voter registration systems implemented?

In most countries, the costs of elections are not borne by the electoral management body alone, as large sums are also allocated to, and expended by, other state institutions, such as the state security forces, the justice and courts systems (for electoral dispute resolution), schools and education services (for use as polling stations), etc. Significant additional costs are also spent by civil society, on voter education and domestic observation activities that are often partly state-funded. Then, of course, there are the large amounts of money spent by the electoral contestants, on their campaigns, including the funds they spend on through electronic, print and social media, which are often estimated to represent multiples of the amounts spent on the holding of the elections. In countries with public party funding models, this also needs to be considered. In some countries, including those assisted by the international community, foreign donors pay for large parts of the direct budget, even if the national partners cover large amounts (if not all) of the diffuse costs spent on use of schools, etc.

Some of the wider public financial management issues that arise in this context, therefore, include the manner in which budgets are allocated to the EMB and other state agencies. Are EMBs funded through regular envelopes allocated by the treasury or finance ministry, etc.? Is the EMB funded within the annual national budgetary process, or through extra-budgetary means? Under the independent model of electoral administration, are the EMB budgets approved by parliament or a public accounts committee of the same? As most elections take place only once every number of years, are the budgets awarded using the incremental method, based on a percentage increase on the last budget, which may have been many years ago, or are they allocated through zero-based budgeting? Are there limitations imposed on electoral costs vis-à-vis the share of national income spent on health, education or welfare services, for example?

Analysis in this section could also include analysis of electoral costs against demographic data, socio-economic indicators, etc., and electoral costs against the Human Development Index rankings, anti-corruption rankings,[4] etc.

[1] “Strengthening the role of the United Nations in enhancing the effectiveness of the principle of periodic and genuine elections and the promotion of democratization,” A_68_301, 9th August, 2013.

[2] It is important to note that also receiving and analyzing technical and operational information relating to the cost of the broader components (and their sub-components), which provides some contextual background to the environment in which such costs have occurred, is likely to make the data more easy to interpret and effectively use.

[3] The proposed project advisory council would assist in these analyses. International donor representatives could also be included.

[4] Such as those compiled by Transparency International.

Duties and Responsibilities

In order to lead this research, therefore, UNDP, in association with IFES, plans to procure the services of a Senior Electoral Consultant, whose main responsibilities will include:

• Developing a new methodology to continuously collect and compare financial information related to the cost of electoral processes globally;
• Defining the relevant election costs indicators and democratic structures to be analyzed;
• Reaching out to other organizations that have already collected relevant information on the topic which could complement the project;
• Supporting validation and peer review process of the methodology among electoral practitioners and key organizations;
• Supporting substantive develop the digital platform that provides the users with an intuitive, graphic, searchable, digital and approachable format with complete information on the cost of elections and electoral institution with the support of a IT person;
• Supervising and verify quality, suitability and accuracy of preliminary data collection for future data collection and analysis;
• Drafting an ‘issues paper’ on the cost of elections.

Deliverables

• First version of the methodology to continuously collect and compare financial information related to the cost of electoral processes globally developed, (15 working days);
• Relevant election costs indicators, data sources, and organizations collecting relevant data identified; (10 working days).
• Validation and ‘peer review’ process completed (10 working days);
• Second version of the methodology developed, including the result of the validation and peer review recommendations, (10 working days);
• Model of a digital platform developed, with plans for an intuitive, graphic, searchable format (15 working days);
• Preliminary data collected and verified (40 working days)
• Draft issues paper developed (10 working days).

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional Competencies:

• Very strong communication and interpersonal skills, demonstrated ability to build trust;
• Excellent organizational and planning skills;
• Leadership, vision, ability to empower others and to manage their performance;
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in teams, delivering through and with others;
• Strong intellectual and operational capacity to produce highly technical documents relating to the field of elections;
• Demonstrated ability to multitask and work under pressure to meet deadlines;
• Sound knowledge of relevant UN rules, regulations, policies and procedures;
• Mastery of the relevant information and communication technology tools. 

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Advanced University Degree (Masters) in Political Sciences, Public Administration, International Relations or related field.

Experience

• At least 15 years of experience in electoral assistance or electoral administration;
• Extensive experience in issues related to the development or management of electoral budgets and analysis of costs of different components of the electoral cycle;
• Experience in developing electoral tools, platforms, or knowledge products in the area of electoral assistance or electoral administration;
• Experience in working in diverse electoral contexts (developing, post-conflict, transitional) and regions.

Language

• Excellent command of English. Excellent oral and written communication skills in English;
• Working level knowledge of other UN languages will be an asset.

Note:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.  The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 70 points:

• Experience in electoral assistance or electoral administration (20 points);
• Extensive experience in issues related to the development or management of electoral budgets and analysis of costs of different components of the electoral cycle (25 points);
• Experience in developing electoral tools, platforms, or knowledge products in the area of electoral assistance or electoral administration (15 points);
• Experience in working in diverse electoral contexts (developing, post-conflict, transitional) and regions (10 points).

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 30 points.

Application Procedures:

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain:

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position and a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work (if applicable). Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application;
• Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees;  (blank form can be downloaded from http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/operations/jobs.html); please upload the P11 in addition to your CV;
• Financial Proposal* - specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this announcement. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (number of anticipated working days, travel costs to New York for validation workshop, and any other additional costs). Additional travel, beyond to the one envisioned to New York for the validation workshop, will be covered separately according to UNDP rules and regulations in case this takes place.

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials. Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services).
 
Additional travel costs, if any, will be covered separately according to UNDP rules and regulations.
Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner. Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org.

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.

Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.