Future Focus - Democratic Elections Standards Project

With aim to better understand and standardize the field of election observation, the multiyear Democratic Election Standards project continues to broaden the scope of its work.  In order to identify obligations for democratic elections based in international human rights law and develop discussions about how observers can base their work around a common set of principles, the Center continues to increase its collaborative efforts with other international election observation groups and experts to produce important observation tools and guides.  Consequently, the work produced by the Center is now recognized as a positive contribution to the professionalization and improvement of the field of international election observation.

Nevertheless, the Center and other election practitioners recognize that election observation only contributes partially to fulfilling and protecting fundamental human rights – key feedback from other stakeholders is needed as well.  The Center has thus noted an urgent call for other key constituencies to understand electoral standards based on public international law so they can apply these standards in their work to promote genuine elections.

In addressing this and other needs, the Democratic Election Standards project will continue to build upon past project achievements while promoting the integrity of electoral processes even further.  During the coming years of the project, the Center plans to work with core constituencies to maximize the impact of our election standards work on these stakeholders throughout the election cycle.  The Center will also explore the potential of technology to improve the work of election observers and how this technology can be used to benefit international election observation missions and democracy promotion.  Finally, the Center will work to address challenges that confront the integrity of election observation including: challenges of pre-election assessment missions; how to support genuine elections throughout the election cycle; gaps in public international law regarding electoral processes and; how to maximize the impact of election observation recommendations and reports.  Throughout the process, the Center will continue dialogue and collaboration with partner organizations to ensure we receive crucial feedback on our work as it develops.