The various existing approaches for the evaluation of matrix elements of unitary group generators and their products with respect to the basis of electronic Gelfand states or the corresponding Yamanouchi-Kotani states are interrelated, and their desirable features combined, yielding a direct algorithm for the evaluation of matrix elements of products of two generators and, consequently, a simple and efficient algorithm for the calculation of two-electron matrix elements of spin-independent Hamiltonians needed in the unitary group configuration interaction (shell model) approach. Moreover, this algorithm is compatible with the efficient generation and representation scheme for electronic Gelfand states based on the distinct row table concept. Diagrammatic techniques based on the time-independent Wick theorem and graphical methods of spin algebras are used to derive the required factors for both one and two-generator (or electron) matrix elements for three different phase conventions and several possible simplifications in the evaluation of the two-electron part of the Hamiltonian matrix are outlined.