II ~I ~ ~II~ ~~ ~II ~ ~II - IFES

IFES Pre-electionAssessment: Burundiunderstand it, and by understanding the process, have confidence in the fairnessof the operation; and• create economies wherever possible in election administration costs.Election CensusThe election census should be initiated following the announcement of the date of the elections.An alternative is to perform this exercise a pre-set number of days prior the presidentialelections. In any event, it is important that enough time be given for a proper completion ofthis task. Good elections depend on a good voters census.The current law requires that the elector present him/herself to government offices located inthe ehef lieu of the district or at the zone of the commune to be registered. He/she mustpresent his/her identity card or any other piece of identification. An alternative to thisapproach, which might result in a more compete registration of the voters, is a door-to-doorcensus. A period of revision should be established for those that were initially missed, whichwould provide a more accurate count, and also accommodate the many that cannot presentthemselves to the chef lieu or zone of the communce to register. The IFES team stresses theimportance of prior training for the census takers.It was not clear to the IFES teaam if a national list of electors is prepared in Burundi. Theteam's finding indicate that a voters register is prepared locally and that elections are conductedon the basis of this register. The voters register records the following data: name and surname,name of the eoUine, age, sex, and electoral card number. If a list is not to be prepared andthe register itself is used at the polling station, it is imperative that the register provide extracolumns to permit the election officials to mark "voted" for each of the various elections forwhich the register will be used. As a single register will possibly be used for a series of local,municipal, legislative (two rounds) and presidential (two rounds) elections, perhaps six extracolumns could be provided. Procedures for the production of this document, or for a national•voters list, whould be reviewed. Somne technical assistance in the automation of this process32