ELECTION WATCHDOGS 5/30/17 11:29 AM team also interviewed electoral stakeholders, including candidates (though not Manigat) and several civil society organizations (Organization of American States 2011). According to the Mission’s report, the audit teams also employed several measures to ensure the appropriate management of evidence throughout the investigation, including keeping signed chain of custody and spot check records, and storage of sensitive materials using tamper-evident seals in the locked tabulation center when the investigation was not in progress (Organization of American States 2011). As a final note, the audit process did not include a clear right of appeal. The Haitian government was under significant pressure from the United States and other major donors to accept the OAS recommendations. Ultimately, the CEP announced that it would adhere to the OAS analysis and Manigat and Martelly would advance to the second round of elections. As in Afghanistan, the 2010 Haitian post-election audit largely did not meet the principles detailed in this chapter, and the methodology and neutrality of the process and its outcomes are clearly in doubt. Although the OAS Mission’s operations were not open for observation by external actors, it appears that generally measures were taken to ensure appropriate control and management of evidence, as per our fourth standard (although the array of evidence reviewed was limited to a sub-set of tally sheets, Election Day incident logs, and stakeholder interviews). The audit was, however, led by an international actor lacking both a prior legal mandate and predetermined audit processes and procedures; used a statistically—flawed methodology and suffered from a lack of uniformity as the triggers for an audit of a polling station were adjusted mid-stream; and did not include a clear right of appeal of the results, given the politically-charged nature of the final outcome. Kosovo (2010) The 2010 snap election in Kosovo – triggered by the unanticipated resignation of the President (Kuebler 2010; Bolsover 2010), the collapse of the governing coalition, and a vote of no-confidence in parliament – offers a useful foil for Afghanistan and Haiti (BBC News 2010; Friend 2010). These assembly elections were of particular importance as the first national elections held without substantial management by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Unlike in Afghanistan and Haiti, ownership of the audit process also remained with the domestic authorities. Although the election was troubled by widespread allegations of fraud and malpractice, investigations were conducted on the basis of specific, pre-determined mechanisms in the domestic law – both administrative and criminal – and not as a result of a political agreement. The audit in this context included recounts, review of official tally sheets and results forms, complaints investigation and adjudication, and criminal prosecution. 17

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