Robert Patterson is a former Chief Electoral Officer (1990-2002) of British Columbia, Canada. For over twenty years, he was personally involved with administering the democratic process in British Columbia, having held senior management positions since 1978. He was also responsible for administering election finance and recall and public initiative legislation and served as a member of the Province’s Electoral Boundaries Commission.

Patterson has served as a member of several international electoral assessment and observation missions which have taken him to such diverse countries such as Malawi, Ethiopia, Yemen, The Gambia, South Africa, Nigeria, Jamaica, Guyana, Papua New Guinea, Ukraine and the Republic of Georgia. He has also been an advisor to electoral commissions in Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea, Liberia, Zambia and the Palestinian Territory.

In addition to his past familiarity with IFES, he also possesses extensive experience with international organizations such as CIDA, UNEAD and UNDP. In Canada, he was a member of a national committee to develop strategies for educating students and other first-time voters on the electoral process. He was on the Steering Committee of the International Council on Governmental Ethics Laws and co-chair, with the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, of the Advisory Committee on the first National Register of Electors.