Guidelines for Understanding, Adjudicating, and Resolving Disputes in Elections Several years of successful BRIDGE implementation for over 350 participants in Nepal has solidified the programs’s place in Nepal’s EMB training process. To wit, Nepalese Election Commission Joint Secretary, Shyam Sharma, noted that “the BRIDGE program has become central to the Election Commission’s training strategy. The Election Commission Staff come from the government civil service and by and large have generalist backgrounds. To carry out our work effectively, it is essential to build the skills of our staff…and the BRIDGE curriculum in terms of the content and methodology plays a key role in achieving this.”2 C. Training Course Structure A sample course structure is outlined below. Each session should be designed to achieve one or more of the objectives listed above. For each session, a session plan should be written to provide trainers with an outline of what the session should cover and how the training objective(s) should be achieved. The list of sessions in the text box below illustrates how many different topics could be covered during a training course for EMB members on election complaints adjudication; however, it is not an exhaustive list. For example, it may be necessary to address alternative dispute resolution (see Chapter 6: Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms) or how to best work with antagonistic complainants. These are topics that could be Election Commission Structure – This session would provide an introduction to the national election commission and its departments and responsibilities. The national, regional and provincial structure of the election commission is discussed. Roles and Responsibilities of the EMB – This session would provide an introduction to the role of the EMB in handling electoral complaints and how those responsibilities relate to other roles of the EMB (i.e. voter registration, polling station operation, etc.). Introduction to Laws and Regulations – This session would cover the key articles of the Constitution, Electoral Code and election commission regulations pertinent to complaints. Katie Ryan, IFES, BRIDGE Training by the Snow-Capped Himalayas, available at http:// www.ifes.org/Content/Publications/News-in-Brief/2010/Dec/BRIDGE-Training-by-the-SnowCapped-Himalayas.aspx, 2010. 2 144