ELECTION WATCHDOGS 5/30/17 11:29 AM Training and consistent application of standards and procedures Effective training dovetails with the requirement for predetermined standards and procedures and is necessary for enabling the accountability and compliance linkages discussed throughout this volume. Even if a regulatory framework is established ahead of an audit, officials and investigators responsible for conducting the audit should be properly trained to reduce the risk of inconsistencies in how the standards are applied. Audit investigators must fully understand their mandate, how to implement audit procedures in a consistent manner, and the importance of doing so impartially. They should also understand the provisions of their code of conduct and what compliance and enforcement mechanisms are in place should they violate their duty of care. Again, effective training can be challenging where capacity may be low, or where an audit is taking place under both time and political pressures. However, this step is key to garnering the trust of political parties, contestants, and the general public in the audit and its results. The Inter-Parliamentary Union, a global organization of parliaments established in 1889, has agreed that states are obligated to “ensure that those responsible for the various aspects of the election are trained” (Inter-Parliamentary Union 1994; 2015). The necessity of adequate poll worker training and compliance to rules of election management is explored in depth in chapter 8 in this volume; similarly, a lack of adequate training on an audit process can greatly hamper the ability of audit investigators to conduct their duties. The public must have confidence that the standards and procedures put in place for an audit will be applied consistently across polling stations, and for individual ballot boxes, results sheets, and ballots. Candidates, political parties, audit observers, and other stakeholders (including the general public) also need to be educated about the audit process. It is critical for audit managers to think carefully about the role various groups will play and how they can be enlisted to support the process and outcomes. Deficiencies in training and education leave the system vulnerable, particularly with regard to candidate interaction with an audit process, where it is critical to emphasize the rules around observation to avoid interference. This can make the process even more challenging for EMBs and international stakeholders, as seen in Afghanistan’s 2014 presidential election where disagreements between candidate teams in the audit warehouse were frequent. While political disagreements among even trained candidate agents may be inevitable, emphasizing and enforcing rules and procedures are important mitigating steps to limit these conflicts. Principles for managing evidence As the U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights has affirmed, the “purpose of an investigation should be to secure independent evidence.” (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human 6