Democratic Election Standards Meetings and Events

Collaboration with others in the democracy assistance community is integral to the goals of the Democratic Elections Standards project.  For this reason, The Carter Center has hosted a series of meetings and conferences designed to ensure that the work produced represents a product of the election observation community as a whole.  Meetings and conferences held by The Carter Center are described briefly below.  Please also check this page to stay abreast of project developments and upcoming conferences and events planned.

Conference on Using Public International Law to Assess Elections in Southeast Asia
The Carter Center and the Centre for Election Reform (CETRO) jointly hosted a two day workshop on using public international law to assess elections from Dec. 21- 22, 2010, in Jakarta, Indonesia. The workshop created a forum for The Carter Center to dialogue constructively with participants regarding the use of public international law in assessing elections within the Southeast Asian region. As with the EISA regional workshop, the Democratic Election Standards project presented information and tools for review and discussion to determine their effectiveness and relevance in the Southeast Asian region.  Discussion also focused on how the Center might adapt its tools in the future so they take into account social, cultural, and political constraints particular to the Southeast Asian region. 

Read the meeting summary: Report on the Implementation of the Regional Meeting (PDF) >

Conference on Using Public International Law to Assess Elections in Africa
In partnership with The Carter Center, the Electoral Institute for the Sustainability of Democracy in Africa (EISA) co-hosted a two-day workshop on assessment criteria for democratic elections from May 3- 4, 2010, in Nairobi, Kenya. The workshop's aim was to introduce tools for election observation based on public international law to participating organizations.  These tools, which are the output of the Carter Center's multi-year, collaborative Democratic Election Standards project, were presented for review and discussion amongst participants to determine their effectiveness and relevance in the African region.

Read the meeting summary: Report on the Implementation of the Regional Meeting (PDF) >

Brainstorming Meeting on the Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Elections
On March 9, 2010, the Democratic Election Standards project hosted a small brainstorming session on the application of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to the work of election observers.  The purpose of this meeting was to explore the growing intersection between technology and the work of democracy assistance providers.  Participants considered how data mining tools, crowd source data collection software, and communication technologies may impact election observers and improve their future work.

Workshop on Assessment Criteria for Democratic Elections
From Dec. 8-10, 2009, The Carter Center hosted a two-day experts meeting on Assessment Criteria for Democratic Elections in Ouirgane, Morocco.  This was the second such working retreat hosted by the Center, and focused on reviewing a complete draft of a compendium of international obligations for democratic elections that staff and consultants have developed.  The principal goal of the meeting was to seek advice from peer organizations on how to practically use the obligations to assess elections, with an eye toward more consistent use of the compendium and the implementation of related election assessment tools.

Read the meeting summary: Workshop on Assessment Criteria for Democratic Elections (PDF) >

Campaign Finance Methodology Meeting
From April 1- 2, 2009, the Democratic Election Standards project held a meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, aimed at the development of a practical observation methodology for campaign finance.  The meeting was attended by campaign finance experts.  The methodology developed during this meeting was initially tested by long-term observers in the Carter Center's election observation mission to Lebanon in June 2009.

Read: Including Political Finance in International Election Observation Missions (PDF) >

Conversations at The Carter Center:  Beyond Free and Fair
Election experts participated in a panel discussion during a February 2009 Conversations at the Carter Center.  Recent elections were analyzed, as were emerging standards for credible elections. Panelists included Ammar Dwaik, former chief electoral officer of the Palestinian Central Election Commission; Ambassador Christian Strohal, permanent representative of Austria to the United Nations and specialized agencies in Geneva and former director of the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights; and Ilona Tip, senior advisor of conflict management, democracy, and electoral education at the Electoral Institute of South Africa (EISA).  The discussion was moderated by David Carroll, director of the Carter Center's Democracy Program.

Watch the archived webcast >
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Experts' Meeting on Defining Assessment Criteria for Electoral Dispute Resolution Systems
The Democratic Election Standards project held an experts' meeting on electoral dispute resolution systems on Feb. 24-25, 2009, which focused on determining obligations for electoral dispute resolution processes.  At this meeting, the project presented an approach paper detailing a framework set of obligations regarding electoral disputes for consideration and review by participants. 

Read the electoral dispute resolution meeting summary (PDF) >

Read the electoral dispute resolution approach paper (PDF) >

Conference on Campaign Finance (co-hosted with IFES)
In January 2009, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), in collaboration with The Carter Center, hosted a two day conference on international observation of campaign finance.

Read the summary of proceedings (PDF) >

Experts' Meeting on Defining Assessment Criteria for Campaign Finance Systems
On Oct. 1, 2008, the Democratic Election Standards project held a one-day meeting concerning assessment criteria for campaign finance systems in elections.

Read the meeting summary: International Obligations for Political Finance (PDF) >

Experts' Meeting on Defining Assessment Criteria for the Media Environment
On Sept. 29-30, 2008, the Democratic Election Standards project organized a one and a half day meeting focused on determining assessment criteria for the media environment in elections.

Read the meeting summary: Obligations for the Media in Democratic Elections (PDF) >

Workshop: Presentation of Draft Assessment Criteria for Democratic Elections
From May 5-7, 2008, the Democratic Election Standards project hosted representatives of peer organizations, including the National Democratic Institute (NDI), European Union (EU), U.N. Electoral Assistance Division (UNEAD), Democracy Reporting International, International IDEA, Inter-Parliamentary Union, Electoral Institute for the Sustainability of Democracy in Africa (EISA), Organization of American States, and the Commonwealth Secretariat, to present a substantive draft of their work on determining criteria for assessing democratic elections. At this meeting, participants decided to create an informal 'technical working group' of organizations that would remain engaged in the Center's ongoing work and participate in all future meetings to ensure products represented the views and opinions of the community at large.

Developing a Methodology for Observing Electronic Voting
In November 2006, The Carter Center hosted a one day conference of election and electronic voting experts to discuss the Center's draft methodology for observing electronic voting in advance of the December elections in Venezuela that year.

Read Developing a Methodology for Observing Electronic Voting (PDF) >