Electoral Administration and Building Institutional Excellence

STRENGTHENING ELECTORAL ADMINISTRATION AT THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION FOR SIERRA LEONE (ECSL): BO CITY

The Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) recently completed a four-day, customised BRIDGE modular workshop on Introduction to Electoral Administration and Building Institutional Excellence. The workshop was held in Bo City in the Republic of Sierra Leone from 3 to 6 March 2025. This BRIDGE workshop aimed at strengthening the capacity of staff in the ECSL’s district offices. The workshop was funded by the European Union (EU) through Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI), and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA).

Among the participants, 4 of whom were women, were District Election Managers, Assistant Election Managers and Voter Education and Training Officers. The overarching objective was to explore and share sustainable strategies aimed at achieving institutional excellence in electoral management. Through the BRIDGE methodology participants enriched discussions as they provided real-world scenarios from administering elections in different districts of the country, and shared practical solutions to what were often common challenges.

Key areas of focus included:

1. Electoral standards and the significance of international obligations and good practices.
2. The nature and purpose of the legal framework, the hierarchy of laws and how it is applied in the electoral context.
3. The main principles of electoral systems design, including advantages and disadvantages of the main systems.
4. The various models of Election Management Bodies, their functions and guiding principles.
5. Opportunities for promoting equal access to electoral processes.
6. Elements, enablers and building blocks of institutional excellence and
7. Sustainable strategies for building institutional resilience.

Participants expressed interest participating in similar workshops in the future committing to applying the BRIDGE methodology in their activities.

The workshop was facilitated by Titi Pitso, Gibrilla Murray Jusu, and Tomsie Dlamini.