Democracy Program – Real Lives, Real Change

July 16, 2012
Egypt Voters Hopeful for Country's Future
In June, Egyptians chose the first democratically elected president in the country's history, and despite the challenging circumstances of the process, many voters still felt the moment's importance.

Jan. 3, 2012
Dispatches from Egypt: Carter Center Witnesses Reflect on Election Voices, Symbols
Carter Center witnesses across Egypt are observing history in the making as the country holds its first free elections in the post-Mubarak era. Egypt's People's Assembly (lower house of parliament) elections are taking place in three rounds that started in late-November and will finish in January.  Each round takes place in different regions of Egypt.

Dec. 19, 2011
Tunisian Voters Find Hope in Election and Look to Real Change in Everyday Lives
On Oct. 23, Haythem, 28, wrapped himself in a Tunisian flag, stood for four hours in a line that spanned as far as the eye could see on a street in downtown Tunis, and cast a vote for the first time in his life.

Oct. 24, 2011
Carter Center Observes as Tunisians Cast Historic Votes for Brighter Future (Slideshow)
Long lines of Tunisians waited for hours to vote on Sunday to choose 217 members of a Constituent Assembly to draft a new constitution – many casting a ballot for the first time in their lives – in the country's first open and competitive election in decades.

Oct. 21, 2011
The Carter Center Answers Your Questions About the Historic Oct. 23 Tunisia Elections
The Carter Center will observe the Oct. 23 vote in Tunisia - the first Arab Spring country to hold elections - for a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution.  A selection of questions submitted online are answered below by Carter Center observers on the ground in Tunisia.

Aug. 19, 2010
Stadium Massacre Fuels Survivor's Commitment to Full Democracy for Guinea
Quietly recalling the memory of people jumping from stadium walls to save their lives, and others falling like flies from the gunfire of soldiers, Bademba Diallo remembers thinking in the chaos of that afternoon: "you only die once."

Aug. 16, 2010
As Nepal Struggles, Observers Keep Information Flowing
For Carter Center observer Antonia Staats, traveling by car in the Western Region of Nepal is a blessing and a curse. A car is necessary for reaching all of the region's 16 districts, where for six months last year, she monitored Nepal's challenging path to a new government and long-term peace. But with poor infrastructure in many parts of the country, Staats and the other observers on her team often encountered roads that were submerged or blocked by landslides from a monsoon.

April 8, 2010
Long-Term Sudan Observers Impressed with Enthusiasm, Mobilization of Communities Readying for Elections
Carter Center long-term observers in Sudan, who have been deployed since August 2009, will soon be joined by a full delegation to observe the country's April elections. In teams of two, long-term observers have assessed pre-election developments, including voter registration in December. They face many challenges in their work but also have a unique opportunity to get to know the people and the places to which they are deployed.

March 15, 2010
Sudanese Domestic Election Observer Feels Sense of Responsibility To Next Generation
Merekaje Lorna can't wait to vote. A domestic election observer trained by The Carter Center in Sudan, she believes she and other young Sudanese have a responsibility to contribute to credible elections for the sake of the next generation, and as her country approaches its first multi-party elections in 24 years, she looks forward to being able to choose her leaders.

Jan. 26, 2010
Meet Olawale Fapohunda: Committed to Proposed African Charter
Olawale Fapohunda believes that the proposed African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) will enable African citizens to more fully participate in the electoral process and advance protection of human rights by African governments.  And, in places like his home country of Nigeria, he feels the need for its ratification is vital.

June 25,  2009
Voter Encouraged by Carter Center Presence During Lebanon Elections, Hopeful About Country's Political Future
Lama Naja represents hope for Lebanon's political future. A politically independent young person in a country full of strong political passions and fierce party loyalties, she instead voted on June 7 for the people she thought may keep their campaign promises.

Dec. 27, 2008
Ghana Voter Committed to Peaceful Election Process; Encourages Peers to Vote
As the sun rose on Ghana's second election day in two weeks, Alice Appoh had already stood in line for hours to wait for voting to begin, her two-year-old child sound asleep on her back.

Oct. 9, 2007
Long-Term Election Observer Reflects on Being Part of Nepal "Roaming Team"
Jason Katz is a long-term observer (LTO) for the Carter Center's election observation mission in Nepal.
Unlike other LTOs, I am not stationed in a particular region, although my base city is Kathmandu. My British colleague, John Clayton; our Nepali interpreter, Kamal Adhikari; and myself form what is internally labeled as the roaming team, or as I jokingly tell others, "Carter's Special Forces." Due to Nepal's mountainous terrain and limited road infrastructure, most of our observation work is done on foot.

Oct. 9, 2007
Nepal Elections:  By Foot, Car, and Plane, Observer Assesses Country's Readiness
Stefanie Gross is a long-term observer (LTO) for the Carter Center's election observation mission in Nepal.
I arrived in Nepal in March 2007, and after a briefing at the Carter Center's field office in Kathmandu, was deployed with my team partner to Biratnagar—hub of one of Nepal's five development regions. The main towns of the other four regions host similar teams of two international LTOs, while a roaming team tackles the most remote areas of the country.

May 1, 2007
David Carroll: Director Finds Satisfaction in Helping Struggling Democracies
When Liberia's first female president won in 2005, her opponent charged that the election results were tainted. But Carter Center Democracy Program Director David Carroll knew otherwise.

Aug. 31, 2006
Election Renews Hope for Family in War-Torn Democratic Republic of the Congo
The afternoon sun catches Yayu Zonveni's face near the door of her otherwise shadowy home in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). She sits in a blue plastic chair waiting for customers to buy the soda and beer she sells from her house; 200 Congolese francs for a Coke, 400 for a beer. It takes her a day and a half to sell a case of 24 bottles, for which she receives a profit of 400 FC, or almost $1US.

Aug. 31, 2004
Stories From the Field: Jacob Lablah
Looking across the many rows of wood-and-mud shacks that house more than 12,000 people in a camp for displaced persons in Margibi County, Liberia, Jacob Lablah knows he still has work to do.

July 3, 2002
2002 Sierra Leone Elections: A Delegate's Journal
In late April, the message came I'd been waiting for since I retired and began doing volunteer writing projects for The Carter Center two years ago: I was invited to join a team to observe the May 14 presidential and parliamentary elections in Sierra Leone.