James Wallace

Director of Training and Procedures
National Elections Commission
Focus Area(s)
Elections
Interviewers
Nealin Parker
Country of Reform
Liberia
Town/City
Monrovia
Place (Building/Street)
NEC
Country
Liberia
Date of Interview
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Abstract

In this interview, James Wallace describes his experiences as the Director of Training of the National Elections Commission of Liberia during the country’s 2005 elections. Wallace discusses the preparations undertaken by the commission prior to the elections, including boundary delimitation, civic education and voter registration. As Liberia was just emerging from a civil conflict, there were a number of obstacles that made these processes particularly difficult. And because of this extraordinary situation, extraordinary methods had to be employed, including, for registration purposes, the use of language and accents as a means for officials to identify individuals as being Liberians, as well the use of a vouching system in which prominent Liberians could vouch for the citizenship of fellow community members. Wallace emphasizes the importance of community involvement throughout voting processes, through consultations with local leaders during boundary delimitation and in educating the electorate. He goes on to describe the logistics behind polling centers and the breakdown of responsibilities of workers as well as the mechanisms, both technological and logistical, employed to prevent fraud. Wallace concludes by emphasizing the importance of teamwork, openness to criticism and innovation to success for anyone with similar responsibilities.

Full Interview

Profile

At the time of this interview, James Wallace was the Director of Training of the National Elections Commission of Liberia.

Keywords
election commission
training programs
election management body
polling supplies
voter education
voter fraud
Not specified