Chapter 3: Complaints Adjudication Training for Election Management Bodies and Political Parties The most common evaluation techniques involve: • Questionnaires completed by participants at the end of a training session; • Pre- and post-training tests; • Follow-up interviews and studies including such activities as: - examining complaint decisions; - reviewing investigations; and - conducting focus groups with EMBs and judges, and with participating parties. Training EMBs in Election Complaints Adjudication A. Overview EMBs are comprised of a variety of different individuals with different experiences, skills, and motivations. In most cases, EMB members will not be election professionals, but will gain their experience on the job. Members of EMBs at the upper end of the hierarchy will usually serve for set terms of office while at the lower end of the hierarchy EMBs are often put in place immediately before an election and serve only until the election results are certified. In some countries, EMB members at the central level are appointed by the legislative body based on nominations submitted by competing political parties. Sometimes this manner of appointment can lead to an adversarial or competitive relationship among members. In other countries they are appointed from among judges. In a few countries, EMB members are civil servants who serve as professional election officials and work full-time coordinating and implementing election processes. At the polling station level, EMB members are recruited from among names submitted by local branches of the party, from public institutions such as public schools or local government offices or from among volunteers. School teachers are often chosen because they are respected in their communities and are seen to be fair and honest. As a result of this diversity, the first task of any training program, whether in election complaints adjudication or another part of election operations, is 139