Fixing failures of U.K. electoral management

•Opens a research agenda for evaluating policy instruments in electoral management.•Provides a new framework for conceptualizing the implementation of elections.•Provides evidence that performance benchmarking can improve election administration.•Advances the case for the study of the public administration of elections.

Concerns about electoral malpractice have been raised in many democracies in recent years because of errors made in the administration of elections by local election officials (LEOs). This article argues that adopting appropriate policy instruments to manage LEOs is an under-explored method for improving election administration and reducing electoral malpractice. The article provides a case study of the use of performance benchmarking schemes in the UK 2008–2010. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 74 LEOs from 41 organisations subject to newly devised performance indicators. The research demonstrates that performance benchmarking can encourage learning amongst local electoral officials and strengthen central control over them.