Electoral Management Design Database

Principality of Andorra, Law on the electoral system and the referendum (as of 2014), accessed 11 April 2019

Article 27. Functions and composition of the Electoral Commission

1. The Electoral Board oversees the functioning of the electoral process in general, in all elections and referendums in the country, whether general or community, ensuring its objectivity and equal opportunities for all candidates or alternatives. The General Council shall provide the means necessary for the development of its functions, including the local need to meet, or expert technical assistance and allowances and bonuses of its members.

2. The Electoral Board consists of six members. Three of them have to be mayors of the Magistracy of Andorra, chosen by lot by the High Council of Justice.

The three remaining members must be lawyers or experts appointed by the Audit joint proposal of the parliamentary groups and the general directors not affiliated. You must also designate, in each case in the same way, the respective substitute members, who must be three other mayors and three other lawyers or experts.

OSCE, Principality of Andorra Parliamentary Elections, 7 April 2019, ODIHR Needs Assessment Mission Report, accessed 11 April 2019

“The election administration is decentralised and managed by three administrative structures: the Electoral Board, the government, and the parish authorities.

The Electoral Board supervises the elections, including regulation of different aspects of the elections, and ensures that candidates can compete on an equal basis. The Electoral Board is formed anew by each incoming parliament and consists of six members appointed for four-year terms, currently comprising four women and two men. Three members are randomly chosen by the High Council of Justice from among the judges of the first instance court, and three others are appointed by the speaker of the parliament based on the joint proposal of parliamentary groups. The High Council of Justice appoints the chairperson of the Electoral Board and her/his deputy from among the judicial appointees. The Secretary General of the parliament serves as the Secretary of the Electoral Board with an advisory role.

The Electoral Board meets on an ad hoc basis and its meetings are closed to the public as, according to the Rules of Procedures, its members shall make decisions behind closed doors and reach a decision by a majority of votes. The Electoral Board does not have its own website but its decisions are published in the official gazette.

The prime-minister calls the election and defines the official campaign period. The government administers several aspects of the electoral process, including the registration of national candidate lists, voter information, production of ballot papers and envelopes, administration of postal voting and the tabulation and announcement of election results. On 22 February, the government published the calendar of election-related activities and clarification of main procedures for the upcoming elections, including on verification of nomination documents for contesting parties, campaign finance rules and voting modalities.

The parish authorities are in charge of voter registration, registration of parish candidate lists, forming polling bureaus and setting up polling stations. Each of the seven parishes operates one polling station on election day. In polling stations, one or more polling bureaus are established, which administer voting and counting. The polling bureaus are composed of at least two members of the parish council and representatives of each candidate list registered in the parish. A member of the parish council acts as the chairperson of the polling bureau. The ODIHR NAM was informed that members of polling bureaus are usually trained by municipal authorities on the eve of the election day.”