ATLANTA (May 13, 2024) — The Carter Center and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy on May 17 will host panel discussions on guiding principles for election administration and reforms. The participants will examine key issues affecting U.S. elections and potential ways to strengthen elections and build confidence in their outcomes. The event will be held at The Carter Center in Atlanta.
Scheduled panelists include former Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman; former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson; and former Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea. The panels will be moderated by Doug Chapin, senior fellow for program evaluation and policy analysis at Fors Marsh, and David Becker, executive director and founder of The Center for Election Innovation & Research.
“Our goal is to support good election practices and principles across the country,” said David Carroll, director of the Carter Center’s Democracy Program. “We hope to counter efforts that seek to weaponize election processes and to support democratic institutions and elections that serve all voters, regardless of party.”
In February, The Carter Center and the Baker Institute published a report, “Guiding Principles for Election Administration,” to help build confidence in U.S. elections. The report identified 10 guiding principles critical to healthy election systems. The principles provide a framework for bipartisan policies that lead to greater confidence in elections as well as the need for equitable access and integrity of the results.
The Carter Center and the Baker Institute have partnered since 2020 to work on U.S. election issues, inspired by the bipartisan leadership of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III, who co-chaired the 2005 Commission on Federal Election Reform. “Elections are the heart of democracy,” wrote Carter and Baker at the time, flagging concerns that eroding public trust in elections could endanger our democracy.
“The May 17 event reaffirms the commitment that President Carter and Secretary Baker have to develop bipartisan ways to conduct elections that are both fair and secure — key elements required of generating confidence in the outcomes of U.S. elections,” said John Williams, a Baker Institute fellow who oversees the institute’s Presidential Elections Program.
An archive of this event can be viewed live here.
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Related Resources
Read the Guiding Principles for Election Administration
View the agenda
Contact: In Atlanta, Maria Cartaya, maria.cartaya@cartercenter.org
In Houston, Karina Zemel, karina.zemel@rice.edu
The Carter Center
Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope.
A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.
About Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy
The Baker Institute for Public Policy provides meaningful policy analysis on the most critical challenges facing Texas, the U.S., and the world. It is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research organization based at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1993, the institute is ranked the No. 1 university-affiliated think tank in the world and the No. 1 energy think tank in the world. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org.
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