legislative elections in June 2007 by almost all the opposition parties. It was the electoral register of which ANEC is in charge that was at the heart of the controversy. Understandably, this deadlock in political dialogue cannot but affect the credibility of the Senegalese ANEC. Countries such as Nigeria, Togo or Guinea Bissau also demonstrate this problem. It is necessary to declare that in these extreme hypotheses, the electoral commission went through some difficulties in the accomplishment of the missions which were assigned to it. It is however expedient that there should be some understanding on the issue. The judgment made here is more or less a judgment of value which would eventually touch on the value of the members of the commission or their merits. Furthermore, it does happen, as we will see later, that the reasons for the failure of the national electoral commission are visible its design and in the legal texts which set it up, and not in the work done by its members. In this connection, it is rather the electoral commission of Nigeria which, no doubt, has had to undergo the most serious crisis these last few years. The conditions in which the presidential elections of 2007 were organized are, in the view of almost all observers, very disastrous. The authorities themselves recognized this indirectly. It has yet been seen that the Nigerian commission, from the view point of its constitution and privileges, was one of the most prepared instances to assume its mission with independence. The reasons for this paradox no doubt deserve to be clarified, but it is obvious that it will be difficult for the Nigerian commission to push aside the reproach which it is presently suffering from. It is true that other electoral commissions, such as Phoenix, have succeeded in turning new leaves after some crises. 2.5 Is it possible to have an ideal electoral commission? For the purpose of this study, is it possible to bring out criteria assisting 92