Guidelines for Understanding, Adjudicating, and Resolving Disputes in Elections who are not legal experts. There may be a lawyer or two on the EMB, but most, as noted above, are representatives of political parties, teachers, civil servants or community members. The task of training citizenbased EMBs is different from that used for EMBs consisting of lawyers or judges, as members will often lack the legal training at the heart of an evidence-based electoral complaints adjudication process. iii. Training should be grounded in procedure Related to this concept is the need to build respect for the process and to train EMBs to follow procedures precisely and consistently. Consistency and fairness is the best way to eliminate even the perception of bias. Generally, it is when an EMB’s action or decision varies or diverts from the procedural rules that one side can argue that an advantage was given to an opposing party or candidate. EMBs need to be reminded that their actions, investigations, hearings and decisions are subject to review and can and will be appealed to a higher authority. Hearings are usually open to the public or, at the very least, to the adversaries in a complaint. EMBs need to be careful to follow procedures diligently, which helps to ensure a fair and judicious process. iv. Time for training is limited As noted above, there is often very little time in which to conduct the training. EMBs at the local levels or at the polling station level are often not appointed until the election period begins. In most countries this might be as much as 60 days or as little as 20 days before an election event. This means that training programs have to be ready for implementation at the moment EMBs are formed. Additionally, EMB members are often immediately busy with other election responsibilities such as verifying voter lists or demarcating an election precinct. Finding time to train members during this busy period is often one of the biggest challenges. v. Stakeholders should be engaged Any training program needs to be coordinated with and include the other key stakeholders in the election complaints adjudication process. Stakeholders might include representatives of the political parties, officials from the local administration and/or the local or national courts. If a training program is designed in collaboration with stakeholders, it allows for their 142