Helpdesk Research Report www.gsdrc.org helpdesk@gsdrc.org Cost of elections in fragile states Brigitte Rohwerder 21.01.2014 Question Please provide a comparison of how much national elections (Presidential and Parliamentary) have cost per capita in fragile states since 2000. Contents 1. Overview 2. Case Studies 3. References 1. Overview This report provides a comparison of how much national elections (Presidential and Parliamentary) have cost, financially, in various fragile states since 2000. Where possible these costs have been broken down against the various elements required to run successful elections such as training, civic education, security, election commission staffing, production of ballot papers etc. There is limited literature available on this topic. One expert commentator stated that the costs of elections for fragile states are very difficult to come by, especially in relation to the breakdown of costs. A lot of the information that is available only provides the cost of certain elements of the election, mainly in relation to voter registration. In addition, there appear to be inconsistencies in the costings provided by the available sources. There was no information available on the amounts spent by candidates and political parties. Some countries have formal spending limits but these are often not even close to what is actually spent through hand-outs etc., especially in fragile states (expert comment). The most comprehensive source currently available is “CORE: A Global Survey on the Cost of Registration and Elections”, produced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). It is a guide to election processes relating to registration and cost of elections around the world, including examples from conflict-affected and fragile states (Guatemala, Iraq, Haiti and Afghanistan). It explains the types of costs, what needs to be in place before an election, and provides a comparison of how much this has cost or was projected to cost. UNDP and IFES are planning an update to the CORE Report in a form of searchable database related to cost of