![Internationally observed elections by Western monitors, OWID](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Internationally_observed_elections_by_Western_monitors%2C_OWID.svg)
Election monitoring involves the observation of an
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
by one or more independent parties, typically from another country or from a
non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...
(NGO). The monitoring parties aim primarily to assess the conduct of an election process on the basis of national legislation and of
international election standards. There are national and international election observers. Monitors do not directly prevent
electoral fraud, but rather record and report instances of suspicious practices. Election observation increasingly looks at the entire electoral process over a long period of time, rather than at election-day proceedings only. The
legitimacy
Legitimacy, from the Latin ''legitimare'' meaning "to make lawful", may refer to:
* Legitimacy (criminal law)
* Legitimacy (family law)
* Legitimacy (political)
See also
* Bastard (law of England and Wales)
* Illegitimacy in fiction
* Legit (d ...
of an election can be affected by the criticism of monitors, unless they are themselves seen as biased. A notable individual is often appointed honorary leader of a monitoring organization in an effort to enhance legitimacy of the monitoring process.
History
The first monitored election was that of an 1857
plebiscite
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of ...
in
Moldavia
Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and for ...
and
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...
(current Romania) that was monitored by most of the major European powers. Election monitoring was uncommon until after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. During the 1960s, less than 10% of elections were monitored.
Election observation activities have expanded significantly following the end of the
Cold War, along with the development of international standards on the conduct of
democratic election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...
s and the process of monitoring elections by both international and domestic observing organizations. By the 2000s, about 80% of all elections were observed.
Organizations
International organizations such as the
Organization of American States, the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...
(OSCE), the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
, the
Commonwealth Secretariat
The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main intergovernmental agency and central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is responsible for facilitating co-operation between members; organising meetings, including the Commonwealth Heads o ...
, the
Council of Europe, and the
African Union regularly deploy monitoring teams. The
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
no longer provides monitoring services; instead, it focuses on electoral assistance. Individual governments also participate in monitoring efforts, generally under the umbrella of an international organization. These national efforts are normally managed by the local
electoral commission
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
. A wide array of NGOs also participate in monitoring efforts. The
Carter Center
The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn Carter partnered with Emory University just after his defeat in the 1980 United States presid ...
, for example, played a key role—with the United Nations Electoral Assistance Division and the
National Democratic Institute—in building consensus on a common set of international principles for election observation.
[The Carter Center list of elections observed]
The Carter Center.
International observation is complemented in many countries by domestic observer groups.
International election monitoring
![Foreign Observer identification badge in the 1989 Namibian election](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Foreign_Observer_identification_badge_in_the_1989_Namibian_election.jpg)
Standard international election observation missions, as deployed by, for the example, the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...
or the OSCE
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is the principal institution of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) dealing with the " human dimension" of security. The Office, originally named Office for ...
(ODIHR), monitor the entire electoral process. Election experts and long-term observers begin their work weeks before the actual election day, looking at candidate registration, the legal framework, the media situation, the work of the election administration, and the campaign environment. On election day, short-term observers monitor the opening of polling stations, the vote cast, and the counting and tabulation of results. After election day, observers remain in the country for another few weeks to monitor how possible election-related shortcomings and complaints are dealt with by the election administration and the judiciary. The findings of the observers are made public in reports issued after election day.
Long-term observers
Most observation missions send a small number of long-term monitors (known as LTOs) for a period of six to eight weeks. A larger number of short-term observers (known as STOs) then join the mission for the final week of the campaign. STOs provide mostly quantitative observation of polling station and count procedures, with LTOs supplying qualitative analysis and contextual information about the wider political situation.
In some cases, the objectivity of some international observers is questioned.
Domestic election monitoring
In addition to international organizations monitoring elections, citizen organizations—or coalitions of organizations—also monitor elections in their own country.
Free and Fair Election Network
Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) is the first-ever network of civil society networks in Pakistan dedicated to strengthening democracy through methodically-enacted observation and oversight of electoral, parliamentary, and governance processe ...
(FAFEN) in Pakistan is a coalition of 42 national civil society organizations working together to promote fair
elections in Pakistan
Since its establishment in 1947, Pakistan has had an asymmetric federal government and is a federal parliamentary democratic republic. At the national level, the people of Pakistan elect a bicameral legislature, the Parliament of Pakistan. Th ...
. The most common type of domestic election monitoring comes by way of party
poll-watchers, who are
partisan individuals that are looking out for the interests of their party. Election day activities of partisan observation groups often included scrutinizing the accreditation, voting, counting, and tabulations processes at polling units throughout election day.
There are, however, also numerous domestic nonpartisan observer groups in many countries.
Local and regional election monitoring
Most international observer organizations have a mandate to observe parliamentary elections and some organizations, such as the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...
(OSCE), also monitor local elections and referendums. However, the
Congress of the Council of Europe
The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is the pan-European political assembly representing local and regional authorities from the forty-six member states of the Council of Europe. Its role is to promote local and regional democracy, imp ...
, in cooperation with the
Venice Commission
The Venice Commission, officially European Commission for Democracy through Law, is an advisory body of the Council of Europe, composed of independent experts in the field of constitutional law. It was created in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin ...
, is specifically mandated to monitor local and regional elections and is unique in this regard.
[The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities,]
Resolution 274: Congress policy in observing local and regional elections
" Council of Europe (2008). Since 1990, over 50 election processes have been observed by the Congress.
The Congress Strategy on election observation is based on three lines of action:
* Election monitoring by the Congress should contribute to setting up institutional frameworks which comply with the principles underlying local democracy as laid down in the
European Charter of Local Self-Government
The European Charter of Local Self-Government was adopted under the auspices of the Congress of the Council of Europe and was opened for signature by the Council of Europe's member states on 15 October 1985. All Council of Europe member states a ...
. In light of this, the Congress puts the accent on post-election dialogue as part of the Congress' work on monitoring of local and regional democracy. The aim is to improve the follow-up given to the recommendations adopted by the Congress following election observation missions and to facilitate their implementation.
* Election monitoring by the Congress should contribute to promoting awareness about the significance of democracy at the local and regional level.
* Making full use of the unique role of the Congress in the field of election observation, efforts are also made to increase the operational capability of election observation missions.
See also
*
CIS-EMO
Commonwealth of the Independent States - Election Monitoring Organization (CIS-EMO) — is an international non-governmental organization founded by the Commonwealth of Independent States. CIS-EMO conducts election observation missions and prepare ...
*
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...
(OSCE)
*
Eurasian Observatory for Democracy and Elections
*
Congress of the Council of Europe
The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is the pan-European political assembly representing local and regional authorities from the forty-six member states of the Council of Europe. Its role is to promote local and regional democracy, imp ...
*
National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
The National Democratic Institute (NDI), or National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, is a non-profit American NGO that works with partners in developing countries to increase the effectiveness of democratic institutions. The NDI's ...
*
International Republican Institute
The International Republican Institute (IRI) is an American nonprofit organization. Most of its board is drawn from the Republican Party. It is committed to advancing freedom and democracy worldwide by helping political parties to become more iss ...
*
Uchaguzi
Uchaguzi is a joint initiative spearheaded by Ushahidi in 2010 to monitor the Kenyan constitutional referendum. Ushahidi collaborated with the Hivos Foundationthe Constitution and Reform Education Consortium (CRECO)
Scrutineer
A scrutineer (also called a poll-watcher or a challenger in the United States) is a person who observes any process which requires rigorous oversight. Scrutineers have the tasks of preventing the occurrence of corruption and of detecting genuine ...
References
Sources
e-voting.cc: Observing Threats to Voter’s Anonymity: Election Observation of Electronic VotingCongress of the Council of EuropeEU: Handbook for European Union Election Observation MissionsOSCE: Election Observation HandbookOSCE: Handbook for Long Term Election ObserversUN: Declaration of Principles for International Election ObservationGuidelines on an internationally recognised status of election observers Venice Commission
The Venice Commission, officially European Commission for Democracy through Law, is an advisory body of the Council of Europe, composed of independent experts in the field of constitutional law. It was created in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin ...
, 2009
External links
Beyond intractability: Election monitoringNational Democratic Institute for International Affairs: Elections and political processesThe Global Network for Domestic Election MonitorsOSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights: ElectionsCommonwealth Observer Groups
{{DEFAULTSORT:Election Monitoring
Monotoring
Democratic rights