Chapter 4: Case Studies Related to Training of Arbiters in Election Complaints Finally, at the end of each training project, the trainees are asked to fill out evaluation sheets with feedback and recommendations on TEPJF’s work. The organization of these training activities in such a range of countries does have practical limitations. The language barrier is the most obvious issue, although the Electoral Court has been successful in working around this challenge. In Eastern Europe, for example, the Court hired two simultaneous interpreters to translate from Macedonian to English and from English to Spanish. But language is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to disparities in trainings; there is always a need to take into consideration other factors such as the history and the culture of a particular country, as well as legal traditions and customs. However, legal differences actually provide a lesser problem when compared to the gaps, ambiguities or incoherencies that may exist in the legal framework of a particular democracy. Nonetheless, unlike some other areas of law, there seems to be a consensus on international electoral principles being developed. International Workshop of Electoral Administration for the Electoral Commission of the Republic of Macedonia and the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina (February 2010) TEPJF co-organized an international workshop attended by the Electoral Commission of the Republic of Macedonia and the Central Electoral Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The workshop addressed electoral complaints adjudication and electoral justice, as well as a discussion on a comparative perspective of electoral systems, electoral authorities and democratic governance, voting from abroad, electoral materials during its organization, logistics, and voting mechanisms, civic education, electoral training and civil service in electoral bodies, and modernization and electoral technology. Though resources are often an issue in electoral reform, financial resources are usually not a constraint for the Electoral Court. The TEPJF is well-resourced to implement these international trainings and also shares costs with the OAS, UNDP and the actors requesting training. Moreover, all training sessions take place in Mexico, where there is an extensive infrastructure for training in electoral matters. Of course, these trainings provide the Electoral Court and the Mexican government with benefits as well. International trainings on electoral justice and electoral 169

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