Electoral-Management-Reference-Model-v.1.0

concepts that promote the ability to share and re-purpose systems among jurisdictions with
similar needs and interests.
The white paper was accepted and adopted by the chief electoral officers in November 2004 and
a working group, with a technology representative from each participating jurisdiction, was
established. An intensive period of collaboration followed and this culminated in the
development of a common base from which shared development of systems could begin to take
place. In June 2006, the ETA’s Working Group published a report outlining the elements of a
Common Data Model for electoral information systems. At the July 2007 Conference of
Canadian Election Officials, the CEOs agreed that the ETA had achieved its objectives and the
ETA was concluded. A Technology Committee was established at that time to maintain the
Common Data Model and continue the valuable collaboration initiated by the ETA.
2.3 Stakeholders
In the course of delivering their mandates, electoral agencies interact with a wide range of
external stakeholders. Figure 4 presents seven broad groupings of external stakeholders. In all
cases, the flow of information is back and forth between the stakeholder groups and the agency.
For instance, while electors and political entities are the two main recipients of electoral agency
services, they also provide information to the agency in the form of elector registration
information, financing reports, deregistration applications, etc. Electoral agencies depend on an
array of service providers for specialized services required, often on a temporary basis, during an
event.
The quality of interactions with political entities and electors is particularly important to ensuring
free and fair elections. Electoral agencies must ensure that every political entity and elector is
treated equally and fairly. The mass media plays an important role in assisting electoral agencies
to ensure that complete and accurate information is accessible to the electorate.
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April 9, 2010