Media freedom is the most integral component to ensure free and fair elections in any country, electoral studies expert from Britain, Professor Sarah Birch said today.

"The second most important one would be the judiciary," she said.

 

Birch argued that free elections do not necessarily be dictated by the appointments made into the Election Commission and the administrators of the elections itself.

 

In fact, what is more crucial are the bodies put in place to actually hold electoral administrators accountable.

 

"In Sweden, the tax body was the one who ran the elections for several years. But things were fine. There were also countries where a ministry ran its election, but they were also fine," Birch said.

"Just like most civil servants, they are not likely to do a good job unless someone holds them accountable," she added.
 
She also reminded the audience during her lecture that with the ever-changing landscape in electoral reform, no new system will be free from attempted manipulation, with the only prerequisite being accountability.
 
"But what you need to have are the institutions in place to hold them accountable, at all times," she pointed out.
 
"Elections are crucial to democracy, but democracy is not crucial to elections. Elections need not necessarily be democratic. Elections existed long before democracy came into the picture," she added.