This Guide provides an inventory of United Nations jurisprudence relevant to electoral processes. It organizes and cross-references international law applicable to elections in order to make it accessible to national and international stakeholders.

The guidelines aspire to near-global applicability and focuses explicitly on national accountability and ownership, an essential tool for electoral management bodies and national stakeholders engaged in electoral reforms. The focus on UN treaty obligations is meant to promote consistency, objectivity, impartiality, accuracy and professionalism in drafting and reviewing legal frameworks for elections.

The guidelines include tables of jurisprudence and checklists, which facilitate review of how far national legal frameworks comply with UN treaty provisions and jurisprudence on elections.