OVERVIEW

The result of the cooperation will be a country-by-country collection of comprehensive and uniform information on various aspects of the electoral process which allows for comparative analysis.

Objective:
As an objective, the partners aim to provide a resource which assists those involved in administering and evaluating the electoral process, offering consistent data which can be compared on a country-by-country and region-by-region basis. EPIC will offer the information necessary to compare and analyze electoral approaches, assisting electoral officials in evaluating and recommending reforms that meet their particular national requirements and reflect international norms for good election management practices. The EPIC partners are committed to ensuring that this project does not duplicate work that is already being done in the field of elections.

Topics for Consideration:
Among the range of topics that will be covered, the project partners intend to include comparative information on the following twelve topics: electoral systems, legislative framework, election management, boundary delimitation, voter registration, polling operations, voter education, parties and candidates, vote counting, elections and the media, elections and technology, election integrity. These topic areas run parallel to those of the Administration and Cost of Elections (ACE) Project. EPIC will be designed in such a manner so as to complement the substantive text of the ACE Project, providing primary research consistent with ACE topic areas.

Project Plan Document:
The Project Plan reflects the principles of this MOU and provides implementation details, which serve as a detailed road map for this project. The Steering Committee is granted authority to approve changes to the Project Plan, including changes based on recommendations from the Project Management Team during the life of this project. The initial Project Plan is attached as Annex A of this MOU.