Mr. Charles O’Donnell was the principal of Holy Child Primary School in Creggan, Northern Ireland from 1990 to 2008. Mr. O’Donnell has a teaching certification and taught in another Creggan school, St. John’s, for the first part of his career. In his role as principal of Holy Child, Mr. O’Donnell assumed leadership in the community and after his school was selected as a polling place, was active in elections. At the time of the interview, he was retired and living in Creggan.

At the time of this interview, Humayun Kabir was a secretary of the Bangladesh Election Commission Secretariat.  He joined the commission in 2007, shortly after it had undergone a significant restructuring exercise in response to the postponement of the 2007 Bangladeshi election.  Prior to joining the Election Commission he was the managing director of the national insurance corporation, Sadharan Bima Corp.  He also worked as joint secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, as deputy secretary of the Cabinet and in various capacities at other Bangladeshi ministries.

At the time of this interview, Kunzang Wangdi was chief election commissioner of Bhutan.  In that capacity he set up and ran Bhutan’s first democratic elections.  Prior to his appointment as commissioner in 2005, Wangdi served as auditor general of Bhutan’s Royal Audit Authority.  He was also director of the Royal Institute of Management.  Wangdi began working for Bhutan’s civil service in 1977.  He received a bachelor’s degree in English from St. Stephens College in India and completed a master’s degree in public administration at Penn State.

At the time of this interview, Peter Eicher was an independent consultant on elections, human rights and democracy. He worked for the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, heading elections missions, providing election advice and preparing handbooks and reports on elections in various countries.  He started his career as a foreign service officer with the U.S. State Department.  After retiring from the department, he took up the deputy director position at the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.  In 2005 he began working with the U.N.’s Electoral Assistance Division, working first on the 2005 Iraqi elections and later on the 2008 Bangladeshi election.

At the time of the interview, Steve Surujbally was the chairman of the Election Commission in Guyana. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in veterinary science, and was a practicing veterinarian.  He was appointed chairman of the Election Commission after stints with other government agencies, including the Ministry of Agriculture. Surujbally also was a columnist, writing both satirical political articles and response articles in veterinary science.  

At the time of this interview, Calvin Benn was the deputy commissioner of national registration and deputy chief election officer of operations at the Guyana Elections Commission.  He became a full-time employee of the commission secretariat in 2000, having served the organization since 1975 in various part-time positions.  He previously taught and worked for the the Ministry of Education.  His experience with administration of elections in Guyana includes local, district, and national elections.  He oversaw the continuous registration process as well as a house-to-house registration verification exercise. 

At the time of the interview, Tony O’Doherty was a community activist in Londonderry/Derry, Northern Ireland.  For years, he played a key role in helping limit clashes between Catholic nationalists and the Protestant-linked police on Election Day.  He was one of the founders of the Central Drive Community Center, which provides social services to residents of the impoverished Creggan Estate housing project.  Before becoming involved in community activism, O’Doherty was a professional soccer player with various clubs in Northern Ireland and at the international level.     

At the time of this interview, George Sarpong was the executive secretary of the National Media Commission in Ghana.  His extensive experience included involvement with media issues relating to elections through his capacity as the executive director of the Youth Network for Human Rights and Democracy, working with youth to increase capacity to participate in democratic discourse, and on issues to prevent violence in elections.  He served as a member of the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers, coordinating media activities, and consulted regularly on media, media monitoring, and governance issues for multiple organizations.  He also was involved in elections in Sierra Leona, Cameroon and Liberia.