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OAS-led Quality Management Standard on Electoral Processes Officially Approved by ISO

The first ever international quality management standard for electoral processes, developed under the leadership of the Organization of American States (OAS), was officially published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) on February 14th, 2014.

The Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, expressed his satisfaction with the publication of the ISO standard which will allow electoral bodies on a global level to be certified against the standard. “The promotion and defense of democracy is a fundamental pillar of the OAS, and for that reason we in the Organization work persistently to improve electoral systems, an essential part of any democracy,” he said.

“The publication of this standard, product of an initiative of the OAS and its work and collaboration over several years with other international organizations ratifies once again that our work on electoral issues is in the vanguard globally,” said Insulza, who added that the standard constitutes “a push to continue consolidating new and improved procedures and practices on electoral issues in the Americas.”

The standard ISO/TS 17582:2014 is important for electoral bodies because it applies the time-tested quality management system of ISO 9001 to a specifically electoral context, specifying how such quality principles apply to eight processes that are fundamental to any election: voter registration; registration of political organizations and candidates; electoral logistics; vote casting; vote counting and declaration of results; electoral education; oversight of campaign financing; and resolution of electoral disputes. The foundation of the standard is the establishment of quality as the foundation of electoral services and the satisfaction of the electorate as the focal point of electoral administration.

Electoral bodies that choose to adopt the standard stand to benefit in a number of ways. ISO/TS 17582: 2014 promotes high standards of organization, efficiency and management throughout the electoral cycle. It also provides a flexible structure that encourages the continual improvement of electoral services in order to respond adequately to the diverse challenges presented by the organization of elections. By certifying against ISO/TS 17582:2014, an electoral body publicly declares its commitment to transparent electoral processes, thereby building public confidence in the services that it provides.

The Organization of American States was the catalyst for the creation of a certifiable international electoral standard. The new norm, developed in conjunction with a group of electoral authorities from the region, places the Organization at the vanguard of efforts to build institutional capacity and promote the professionalism of electoral authorities. Since the initiative began in 2011, ISO/TS 17582:2014 passed through several rounds of revision and commentary from ISO member bodies on six continents, as well as experts from the OAS Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation, International IDEA and the Venice Commission.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-053/14