Focus 3 The autonomy of the electoral commission It was unanimously agreed that the autonomy of the electoral commission, whatever its place and role within the institutional setting and electoral process, is essential to the quality of elections. It is also agreed that autonomy of electoral commissions is neither spontaneous nor inevitable; rather, it is the result of provisions taken deliberately by political actors, including legislators. Possible provisions include the following: 1. Regarding the protection of the commission against external influences, ensure that: The procedure for determining and making available the resources necessary for the management of the process that return to the commission reduces the risk of exploitation of it by other institutions and/ or other actors of the process. · Record operating expenses in the general governmental budge and specify the conditions of availability of resources at the right time · Define the criteria for determining salaries of the members of the commission so as to prevent its exploitation by actors who have interests in the outcome of the election process. For example, match those of the body of the administration clearly defined and/ or entrust their determination(and modification) to an authority (e.g. the national commission for fixing the salaries of members and election officials) that has the least possible interest to use it to influence members of the commission 129