election-watch.eu

Vienna/Atlanta, 6 July 2023: In the context of the 3^rd Annual Virtual Electoral Integrity Conference, Election.Watch.EU and the Democracy Program of The Carter Center convened a roundtable on “Election Observation in the ‘West’? – Challenges, Lessons Learned, and the Way Forward”.

Election observation efforts can play a key role in assessing election administration and integrity, identifying gaps, and making recommendations for improving elections and the implementation of international standards and regional commitments. Although election observation has typically been conducted in countries in the global South, often by organizations based in the European Union or the United States, international and non-partisan citizen observation is increasingly ‘coming home’ to countries in the ‘West’ and taking place in complex political contexts in the EU and the US.

In this roundtable discussion, we looked at recent election observation efforts around the EU Parliament and US general elections. The panelists assessed key trends, challenges, and lessons learned ahead of the next EU & US elections in 2024. The following questions were guiding the panelists’ contributions:

– What is the relevance of election observation in the EU and the US?

– What are the existing legal frameworks for election observation, and to what degree do relevant laws and policies facilitate or impede nonpartisan citizen observation?

– What are the similarities and differences regarding the conditions relevant to international vs nonpartisan citizen election observation?

– What are specific areas that deserve particular attention in observation efforts?

– What are upcoming challenges and opportunities for election observation ‘at home’?

• David Carroll (Director, Democracy Program, The Carter Center)
• Armin Rabitsch (Chairperson, Election-Watch.EU)
• Urszula Gacek (Head of the OSCE/ODIHR EOM to the USA 2020)
• Brenda Santamaria (Head of Electoral Observation Section, OAS)
• Olufunto Akinduro (Senior Programme Officer Elections, International IDEA)

The roundtable was moderated by Michael Lidauer (Election-Watch.EU) and Avery Davis-Roberts (The Carter Center).

The video of the roundtable can be rewatched here.

2024 EP elections, 2024elections, election observation in the "West", EP elections 2024, inclusion