ABSTRACT
This chapter presents descriptive data on election administration in Latin America, and some preliminary evidence that non-partisan electoral management bodies are associated with inclusive election administration practices. The data are drawn from the most recent election laws in each country and supplemented with information from the websites of each country's electoral management body, election observer reports, and secondary sources. Brief case studies of the United States and Honduras suggest that recent histories of election fraud, the ability of parties to identify their opponents' supporters in the electorate, and partisan control over election management contribute to restrictive election administration. The broader quality of elections in Latin America can be gauged with data from the Electoral Integrity Project, which conducts expert surveys to assess the quality of electoral processes throughout the world as part of its Perceptions of Electoral Integrity (PEI) project. The PEI data can be used to offer a preliminary test of the relationship between electoral management bodies (EMB) structure and inclusiveness.
