The Association of World Election Bodies, commonly referred to as ‘A-WEB,’ was established on October 14, 2013 in Song-do, South Korea. A-WEB is the first global organization of election management bodies, and the membership currently consists of 97 organizations from 94 countries. Under the slogan of ‘Democracy to Grow for All Worldwide,’ the A-WEB Secretariat provides training programs for election officials of member nations and undertakes country programs at the request of member organization, providing support during the election cycle to boost election management capacity.
Creation and Inauguration
The National Election Commission of the Republic of Korea first proposed the creation of a global election management body institution to the Association of Asian Election Authorities (AAEA) in 2010. After a series of Working Group meetings, a Charter was drawn up and the name A-WEB was chosen upon the suggestion of the Election Commission of India.
A-WEB was inaugurated on October 14, 2013. Over 400 participants from 140 election management bodies, international organizations and non-governmental organizations attended the ceremony in Song-do South Korea, where the Secretariat was established. 97 organizations gained membership into A-WEB.
A-WEB essentially has three main bodies. The Executive Board serves the executive function and meets yearly to make decisions on A-WEB’s general direction. It consists of up to ten member organizations and the Board must maintain a continental balance. The more members there are from a particular continent, the more members of the Executive Board should be from that continent. The Executive Board is headed by a Chairperson who leads the meetings of the board.
The remaining members make up the second body, the General Assembly. The General Assembly convenes once every two years and votes are important issues related to A-WEB and decisions made by the Executive Board. The General Assembly also elects the members of the Executive Board and confirms the induction of new member organizations.
Finally, the secretariat carries out the general administrative work of A-WEB and is based in the country where the Secretary General (elected by the Executive Board) resides. Currently the secretariat is based in Song-do, South Korea. Other member countries send secondee staff to operate the office.
Training and Country Programs
A-WEB currently undertakes most of its training programs in the secretariat main office. These training programs are broken into two broad categories; A-WEB’s own training projects and those in collaboration with other organizations such as the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KIOCA) and the Korea Civic Education Institute (KOCEI). In total, A-WEB has trained 622 election officials from 72 countries.
A-WEB also undertakes large-scale country projects at the request of member organizations. The first is in Kyrgyzstan alongside the country’s Central Election Commission. The program aims to introduce the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) election system into Kyrgyzstan elections scheduled on October 4, 2015. The other country program currently underway is in Kenya alongside the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, where A-WEB is working to develop election ICT and the capacity of the organization ahead of general elections in 2017.
The Central Commission of the Republic of Belarus on Elections and Holding Republican Referenda
Commission Electorale Nationale Autonome of Benin
Election Commission of Bhutan
Bolivian Electoral Supreme Court
BiH Central Election Commission
Central Election Commission of Bulgaria
Commission Electorale Nationale Independante of Burkino Faso
National Independent Electoral Commission of Burundi
Elections Cameroon
Elections Canada
Registraduria Nacionial del Estado Civil of Columbia
Supreme Electoral Court of Costa Rica
Commission Electorale Independante of Côte d'Ivoire
State Election Commission of the Republic of Croatia
Election Department / Ministry of Interior of Djibouti
Electoral Commission of Dominica
Junta Central Electoral of the Dominican Republic
Tribunal Superior Electoral of the Dominican Republic
Commission Electorale Nationale Independante of the Democratic Republic of Congo
National Electoral Council of Ecuador
Higher Elections Commission of Egypt
Supreme Electoral Tribunal of El Salvador
National Electoral Board of Ethiopia
Conseil Constitutionnel of France
General Elections Commission of Gabon
Central Election Commission of Georgia
Electoral Commission of Ghana
Tribunal Supremo Electoral of Guatemala
Independent National Electoral Commission of Guinea
Association of Caribbean Electoral Organizations (Guyana)
Haiti Permanent Electoral Council
Election Commission of India
General Elections Commission of the Republic of Indonesia
The Independent High Electoral Commission of Iraq
Electoral Commission of Jamaica
Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission of Kenya
National Election Commission of the Republic of Korea
Central Election Commission of Kosovo
Central Election Commission of Kyrgyz Republic
The Central Election Commission of Latvia
Ministry of Interior & Municipalities of Lebanon
The Libyan High National Elections Commission
Independent National Electoral Commission for The Transition of Madagascar
Malawi Electoral Commission
Elections Commission of Maldives
National Independent Election Commission of Mali
Territorial Administration of Republic Mali
Instituto Nacional Electoral of Mexico
Central Electoral Commission of Moldova
General Election Commission of Mongolia
Comissao Nacional de Eleicoes of Mozambique
Union Election Commission of Myanmar
Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria
Election Commission of Pakistan
Central Elections Commission of Palestine
Tribunal Electoral de Panama
Philippine Commission on Elections
National Electoral Commission of Poland
National Electoral Commission (Comissão Nacional de Eleicões) of Portugal
Puerto Rico State Elections Commission
Permanent Electoral Authority of Romania
Central Election Commission of Russia
National Electoral Commission of Rwanda
St Lucia Electoral commission
Office of the Electoral Commissioner of Samoa
National Electoral Commission of São Tomé and Príncipe
Commission Electorale Nationale Autonome of Senegal
The Republic Electoral Commission of Serbia
National Electoral Commission Sierra Leone
State Election Commission of Republic of Slovenia Secretariat
Electoral Commission of South Africa
National Election Commission of South Sudan
Department of Elections, Sri Lanka
Independent Electoral Council of Suriname
Central Election Commission of Taiwan, the Republic of China
Zanzibar Electoral Commission (Tanzania)
National Electoral Commission of Tanzania
The Election Commission of Thailand
Timor-Leste's National Electoral Commission
Commission Electorale Nationale Independante of Togo
Tonga Electoral Commission
Elections & Boundaries Commission of Trinidad and Tobago
Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey
Electoral Commission of Uganda
Central Election Commission of Uzbekistan
Electoral Office of Republic of Vanuatu
Consejo National Electoral of Venezuela
Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum of Yemen
Electoral Commission of Zambia
