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III. Who Needs It?
We wouldn't even be talking about training unless we had someone in mind whom we think needs it. From the top of the pyramid where you are, it may seem like a sea of people need to be trained; and you are probably counting the days before your election and wondering how you are going to manage. No matter how much time you have, it never seems enough. The trick is to think in terms that are more manageable.
A good place to start is with the people closest to home. That's right.... your own subordinate election commissions:
 Polling Station Election Commission members who will prepare the polling stations, process the voters and count the ballots on election day; and,
Territorial Commission Members who will coordinate and supervise them and who will be responsible for summarizing the results.
A number of these people will not be newcomers to the election process. Most likely many of them have served on election commissions before.
 That's the good news!
But, now for the not-so-good news. 
Some members will undoubtedly be new. And, even for those who have worked on elections before, experience shows that sometimes it just as hard to un-train old hands as it is to train new ones for the first time. That is because what they thought they knew from before, may not be what you need them to know now. A lot may have changed since the last time subject or local elections were held.
Your next election may be the first election for Governor of the Oblast ever!
The election law you'll be working with may be the first one ever written and enacted by your local elective body of state power. (Because it's their first, its bound to have a few rough spots, and it probably leaves a few questions unanswered. The answers...well, they have left those to you.)
The boundaries of your constituencies for election of Deputies to the bodies of state power in your subject may have changed.
You may be utilizing the State Automated System for your local elections for the first time.
And, while the presidential elections may have been good experience, some of the rules that your commission members got used to may not apply to your subject and local elections. (Remember the Absentee Certificates?) In other ways the reverse may also be true; in Subject elections voter services may be available that were not allowed during the election of thepresident..... advance voting, for instance.
So, even though there will be some rules and practices that will only have to be refreshed for you subordinate commission members, there will definitely be some areas in which they will have to learn new or different procedures.
What this all means is that you probably shouldn't take too much for granted. Any thoughts that training may not really be necessary this time is probably just wishful thinking.
Anyway, you are only talking about two groups. Right?
Well, if your Subject is typical, it means that you probably have about
30 Territories, each with approximately 12 members with deciding vote (and as many members with deliberative vote as there are candidates;)
1200 Polling Stations, each with approximately 12 members with deciding vote (and as many members with deliberative vote as there are candidates.)
Now, we don't want to alarm you, but that adds up to a little bit more than a baker's dozen!
In fact, not counting the members with deliberative vote, you have identified 14,760 officials who all have to be trained!
Election Official Training Practices in
the United States
At the 1994 Trilateral Conference on Electoral Systems: Canada-Mexico-United
States, information was shared about a survey of 227 jurisdictions in the U.S. It showed that training exercises for election officials was an integral part of overall election preparations.
- 98% conducted training immediately prior to service.
- 73% conducted training before every election.
- 15% engaged in training exercises once or more each year.
- Over 80% gave training through oral presentations, 30% used slides and 19% used video tape in their training programs.
- Over 50% indicated that training classes were two hours or longer.
- 42% gave classes that were 60 to 90 minutes in length.
And Is There Anyone Else...?
Your past experiences have probably already told you that it isn't enough for election commission members to understand the procedures. Elections are a people's process. You and your associates are the facilitators. You prepare the mechanisms that let the citizens exercise their rights as voters and express their will through the ballot box. You are the cog in an ever spinning wheel of candidates, electoral and other public associations, campaign organizations and mass media who v/ill all have their own views as to how the system should work. Some will know quite a lot; some will know almost nothing; most will think they understand know more than they actually do.
As you look back on past elections, how much do you think misinformation impacted your elections and the public's confidence in the process? How many complaints were filed by candidates and their representatives because basic rules were misunderstood? And, how did the resulting controversies affect the morale of commission members and staff caught in the crossfire?
The voters deserve a smooth election.....one devoid of confusion and controversy that seem to nip at the heels when rules and procedures are misunderstood or misapplied. So do the candidates. And so do you, and all the other election officials who will be volunteering their time and their energy to serve them all on election day. To pave the way (and to make your job easier, too) it is important that a number of other election
participants should also understand how the process works. Your favorite football team probably wouldn't be your favorite football team for long if only half the players understood the rules!
In order to pull the team together, ask yourself whom, among the many players participating in the election, you wished were better informed.
What questions get asked over and over again, and by whom?
Which participants do you wish had more trust and confidence in the process?
From whom would like to receive fewer complaints that you know could be eliminated if they had a better understanding of the procedures?
Here is the not-so-good news.
Your list of people who need some kind of instruction just got considerably longer.
Now it probably includes:
Candidates (or their authorized representatives;)
Authorized representatives of electoral associations (and other nominating organizations;)
Observers; and,
Representatives of mass media who will covering the elections, and facilitating candidate campaigns.
Now for the good news!
Although the list is longer, it doesn't necessarily mean a lot of extra work.
Later in this booklet there will be some ideas as to how to play piggy back with other training that you are already doing, and how to make certain training materials do !! Double Duty.
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