International Foundation for Electoral Systems and Democracy International cess. However, the audit process should not require the presence of outside observers. According to universally accepted international standards, international observation missions should remain independent and impartial and should only serve the interest of building confidence in the election’s integrity or documenting its weaknesses. Including election observers as a requirement of the audit procedure dictates a part of the observation methodology and can threaten the essential independence of the observation mission. 58 In Afghanistan’s recent audit, the IEC required that one international observer be present at each audit station before IEC officials could begin auditing ballot boxes, based on a political requirement from one candidate team as a precondition for participation in the audit. While the motivation to ensure transparency of the process was important, this requirement significantly influenced the structure of the international observation missions, albeit not their findings. Audit site logistics. Depending on the scope of the audit, an EMB may have the audit officials travel to multiple locations or have all the ballot boxes transported to a central location. Audit managers should consider the stakeholders that should be present and their ability to access the locations where audits are to be performed. At a minimum, each site will need to have sufficient space for auditors, observers, and the ballot boxes; adequate security; and a relatively clean, comfortable environment. As discussed, as a result of the political agreement between candidate teams in Afghanistan, the IEC and UN went to great lengths to secure transportation of all ballot boxes to warehouses in Kabul and to ensure adequate audit site arrangements that could facilitate the participation of auditors, candidates, and observers. Accreditation. When it comes to making decisions regarding the types and number of organizations and individuals to accredit, the EMB needs to consider the space available, the competitive (and possibly disorderly) dynamic between candidate camps, and the available resources for the accreditation procedure. A slow accreditation process can be an obstacle for getting external stakeholders involved in the audit. The procedure for accreditation should take into consideration any time and material limitations and the start-up timeline for the audit. The number of candidate agents to be accredited requires careful consideration. In Afghanistan, to ensure transparency the IEC initially set no limit on how many candidate agents could be accredited or present at the audit site at one time, but the flood of agents from both candidates engendered a frenzied rumor mill that escalated minor doubts to serious accusations of fraud or misconduct. Security concerns after a few violent confrontations led the IEC and its advisers to reduce the number of agents permitted at the audit site. In Haiti, the OAS expert verification mission established transparency as a goal for its audit operations. The mission was careful to establish a thorough process to ensure consistency and quality control among members conducting the audit, but no observers or candidate agents were present during the audit process. VII. Conclusions and Recommendations This paper has outlined numerous considerations in the preparation for and conduct of election audits. At minimum, the following principles should serve as a guide for electoral bodies considering the use of audits: 17