Updating the electoral register 465. There is an increasing trend to secure the electoral rights of citizens to the full by making provision for the electoral register to be updated during the electoral period. In addition, it should be possible to challenge the improper inclusion or exclusion of a person on the register. In this respect, there are two issues which are intimately interrelated but constitute different actions during preparations for election day: challenges to the general publication of the electoral register and individual challenges to the list of electors. The right to make the first type of challenge is generally conferred on political parties, while voters with an interest in the matter are normally entitled to bring the second type of challenge. Registration of candidacies, or nomination of candidates 466. Even though political parties play a central role in most electoral regimes, individual candidates are essential. (Some electoral systems provide for the possibility of independent candidates who are not nominated by political parties.) The registration of candidacies, or nomination of candidates, is thus an essential element of any election. Candidates must meet the eligibility requirements; this is reviewed by the EMB and, if its conclusion is challenged, by the EDRB. Decisions on polling officials and the placement of polling stations 467. Decisions on the appointment of polling officials and the placement of polling stations, both of which are part of the remit of the EMB, are essential to the holding of elections and referendums. The purpose is to ensure that votes are cast and counted by an official body made up according to the requirements of the law and in a place or places fixed according to the law. In some systems citizens are chosen at random and provided with training to work as polling station officials. In others they are proposed by the political parties or are civil servants. 468. The composition of the polling station officials varies from system to system and reflects the tradition and specific experience of each country. In a number of countries, for example in Eastern Europe, political parties’ representatives continue to be responsible for, or entrusted with, receiving and directly counting the votes. In other countries, their involvement is increasingly being reduced to overseeing these activities and ensuring that 157 7. Basic elements of EDR systems so on. Other matters addressed in challenges include the procedures for counting and tallying the votes received, the distribution of elected seats, the declaration of the results, the certification of the validity of the election, and the publication of the election results.