IFES Practitioner Brief on Alternative Dispute Resolution in Elections • El Salvador: The Attorney General’s Office deploys trained mediators to guide voters on how to report potential violations and promote dialogue and peaceful resolution of problems on Election Day and during the count process. 57 • Kenya: CSOs formed a broad-based network with the EMB and other state agencies for conflict prevention and resolution, known as the Uwiano Platform for Peace. 58 • Burundi: A traditional system called Bashingantah or “Council of Wise Men” to resolve election disputes was reported in the 2010 elections. 59 • Niger: Committees of the Wise, made up of traditional and religious leaders, worked on inter-party dialogue during the 2020 elections. 60 Judiciary or quasi-judicial models The judiciary could also implement a mediation system for election disputes. This could allow for a formalized process that is faster and more approachable to members of the community. But our research has found only rare examples of successful use of ADR mandated by election judges in elections. • Senegal: Selected judges from an ad hoc commission supervising the tabulation of results act as mediators when addressing polling and counting disputes prior to the announcement of preliminary election results. • Kenya: The Political Parties Dispute Tribunal refers to mediation as the first step for resolving disputes on party nomination or inter and intra party disputes. • Indonesia: Bawaslu, an election supervisory body with adjudication powers over administrative disputes and election offenses, introduces mediation as a first step upon receiving complaints for some pre-election disputes (nomination of candidate, party registration, and campaign disputes). Our research identified only limited use of ADR in election processes in Central and Eastern Europe. One explanation may be that many of these countries have tight deadlines for administrative review or adjudication of election complaints before the EMB and before the courts. 61 ADR is often used to avoid lengthy judicial proceedings and to provide a quick remedy. It is not prevalent in Western Europe, either, which could be due to the generally lower degree of conflict around elections and stronger law enforcement. However, mediation and El Salvador Attorney General’s Office, Report on Election Day 2018. Also, see the case study in the annex. Guide for Civil Society on Sustaining Peace through Elections. (2019). European Commission Supporting Democracy Programme. https://media4democracy.eu/wp-content/uploads/documents/Toolkit_EN/Guide-sustaining-peace.pdf; The IFES EVER and PAVE programs work on capacity-building and training local CSO partners in preventing electoral violence.; Uwiano Platform for Peace. (n.d.). About Uwiano Platform for Peace. https://nscpeace.go.ke/108/about.php 59 Kovick, D. & Young, J.H. (2011) Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms. In C. Vickery (Ed.), Guidelines for Understanding, Adjudicating, and Resolving Disputes in Elections (GUARDE) (pp. 227–258). IFES. https://www.ifes.org/publications/guidelinesunderstanding-adjudicating-and-resolving-disputes-elections-guarde; Union européenne Mission d’observation électorale rapport final: Burundi 2010 - Elections communales, présidentielle, législatives, sénatoriales et collinaires 2010. (n.d.). https://www.eods.eu/library/FR%20BURUNDI%202010_fr.pdf 60 Committees of the wise in Niger’s general election (in French). (2020, December 6). Africa-Press. https://www.africapress.net/niger/homepage-french/elections-generales-au-niger-le-comite-des-sages-appelle-toutes-les-parties-a-oeuvrer-pour-deselections-apaisees 61 Kosovo, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, referred to in the European Commission for Democracy Through Law (Venice Commission) Report on Election Dispute Resolution, 2020, https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.aspx?pdffile=CDL-AD(2020)025-e 57 58 23