Election material requirements were defined and related costs established, presented to the SEC, and approved for procurement by decision of the SEC. As in 2002, election materials will be both high quality and uniform throughout the entire territory of Macedonia.

Almost 3,000 electoral boards in Macedonia will be in place for the presidential elections. There will be five members and five deputies for each electoral board (polling station). IFES, under the authority of the SEC, has produced a manual and will oversee the actual training of polling station workers once they are appointed in early April.

IFES has ensured that the up-dated polling procedures manual accurately reflects operational issues incorporated in the applicable election laws. The SEC approved the manual on March 24th. The print run is as follows: 15,500 copies in Macedonian; 4,000 in Albanian; and 500 in English. The English language versions will be provided to international observers.

IFES held an all day training session on 27 March 2004 for the 39 persons who will provide training to the members of electoral boards under the authority of the SEC. A debriefing session will be held after the first round of elections. All trainers are local.

Poll-worker training will be conducted between the 5th and 10th of April, as the 11th and 12th fall on Easter weekend. Each of the 39 trainers will conduct up to four 2-hour sessions per day for six days. The goal is to reach between 15,000 to 20,000 electoral board members and deputies.

In cooperation with the SEC, IFES is developing a series of voter education products aimed an encouraging voter turnout in order to meet the required threshold for a valid election; reminding all election participants of their role in contributing to peaceful, orderly, and successful elections; informing voters that – for the first time – elections will be held on a week day; and providing other technical information. Materials are being developed for television, radio, and print media and will feature a number of non-partisan spokespersons including the SEC Chairman and prominent musicians and sports stars.