The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.

Nonpartisan Citizen Monitoring

There is an established and growing international acceptance, evidenced by state practice, of the positive contribution of nonpartisan election monitoring by national citizen organizations. Domestic election monitoring is based on the right of citizens to participate in government, the very precept from which electoral rights derive. Election monitoring by nonpartisan citizen organizations helps to raise public confidence in the election process. It deters irregularities and electoral manipulation and exposes them if they occur, provides an important avenue for citizens to take part in electoral processes and furnishes the domestic and international communities with important information concerning the integrity of elections, as well as recommendations for improving the process.

NDI pioneered in helping citizen organizations around the world to build capacities for monitoring electoral and political processes. Using a peer-to-peer (South-South) approach over the last 25 years, the Institute has assisted domestic nonpartisan election monitoring efforts by nongovernmental organizations in more than 80 countries and territories concerning:

• first elections after democratic breakthroughs;
• later elections in the process of democratic consolidation;
• elections in countries where democratic progress faces serious constraints; and
• elections in post-conflict and conflict-vulnerable societies.

This assistance has addressed a wide range of issues — from intensive election-day efforts that mobilize thousands to hundreds-of-thousands of citizens to monitor voting, counting and tabulation of results, as well as issues in the pre-election and post-election periods, including analysis of legal frameworks for elections, candidate qualification, voter registration, media monitoring and scrutiny of the processing of election complaints. In addition, NDI has promoted the development of regional networks of election monitoring organizations to demonstrate solidarity and share best practices.

As part of its work, NDI facilitated efforts to create the Global Network of Domestic Election Monitors (GNDEM), which aims to foster solidarity among nonpartisan civic organizations worldwide and to create an interactive learning environment for its members. More than 165 national and regional nonpartisan observation groups, based in over 70 countries, have joined GNDEM since its inception in 2009. NDI currently administers the GNDEM website and social media outlets for the network.

At the heart of GNDEM is the Declaration of Global Principles for Nonpartisan Election Observation and Monitoring (DoGP). Developed by representatives of GNDEM’s regional network members, the declaration seeks to entrench global standards for nonpartisan election observation and to solidify the critical role of citizen observers in the electoral process. The DoGP recognizes and aims to support the precepts of democratic elections.  Including that:

• The authority of government derives from the will of the people expressed in genuinely democratic elections;
• That everyone has the right to participate in government and public affairs, including by seeking to be elected and to vote in genuinely democratic elections; and
• That elections belong to the people, and citizens have a right to know whether elections honestly and accurately reflect the people's will.

The DoGP was commemorated at the United Nations on April 3, 2012, and has since been endorsed by 180 nonpartisan election monitoring organizations in more than 75 countries and regions.  In addition, key international organizations have become official supporters of the declaration, including: U.N. Secretariat, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the European Parliament, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission, OAS, OSCE/ODIHR, International IDEA, The Carter Center, the Center for Electoral Assistance and Promotion (CAPEL), the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA), Electoral Reform International Services (ERIS), International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and NDI. The effort of GNDEM members, to create and maintain global standards for domestic monitoring represents a trend, assisted by NDI, where citizens seek to build organizing capacities at the local level and gain political agency in their own countries through peer-to-peer exchanges and mutual accountability.

The Institute published NDI’s Handbook on How Domestic Organizations Monitor Elections: An A to Z Guide to help citizen groups develop monitoring plans and professionalize their impartial monitoring capabilities. In addition to numerous best practice papers, NDI has produced five manuals to assist civic organizations and political parties in specific aspects of monitoring:

• Promoting Legal Frameworks for Democratic Elections: An NDI Guide for Developing Election Laws and Law Commentaries;
• Monitoring Electronic Technologies in Electoral Processes: An NDI Guide for Political Parties and Civic Organizations;
• The Quick Count and Election Observation: An NDI Handbook for Civic Organizations and Political Parties; and
• Building Confidence in the Voter Registration Process: An NDI Monitoring Guide for Political Parties and Civic Organizations;

Through nonpartisan election monitoring assistance, NDI has helped domestic organizations to develop skills in conducting government accountability activities, civic education, public policy advocacy and mobilizing citizen participation. All of these skills have applications outside the election context. Domestic election monitoring often involves coalition building, as well as developing constructive relationships with electoral authorities and other governmental bodies, political parties, the news media and representatives of the international community, which are important beyond elections. 

Political Party Pollwatching and Electoral Integrity

To succeed in an election, political parties must do more than simply campaign well. They must also safeguard their interests at the ballot box through protecting the integrity of the election process. Political party pollwatching increasingly has become recognized as a standard part of the process in elections worldwide. Effective pollwatching includes training, rapid communication, information analysis and the ability to obtain appropriate, peaceful remedies. Pollwatching programs that systematically train and deploy a cadre of activists are a party-building activity, strengthening party networks developing skills of staff and key supporters. Effective party pollwatching includes training, rapid communication, information analysis and the ability to obtain appropriate peaceful remedies.

As a party institute, NDI has long understood the value of party pollwatching as an opportunity to strengthen democratic party structures and as a mechanism for deterring fraud on election day and beyond. NDI has worked extensively with political parties in over 50 countries to strategize how to protect their electoral rights. NDI’s program activities focus not only on observing voting processes on election day, but also include such techniques as verifying voter registries, monitoring ballot qualification processes, and observing the vote tabulation process from the polling station level to the central election authorities. NDI also works with parties to make effective use of election complaint mechanisms to seek peaceful redress for election-related grievances. This includes developing analysis of legal frameworks that can also be helpful in law reform efforts.

Related to pollwatching activities are programs that help to promote interparty dialogue during the election period. As a component of its programs, NDI has often identified opportunities to initiate party dialogue, such as roundtables on the legal framework for elections, the drafting of codes of conduct and the formation of inter-party election committees to diffuse possible conflicts and reduce violence. NDI has found such programs to be important in promoting elections as a peaceful way to resolve political competition in such diverse places as Cambodia, Kenya, Macedonia, Peru and Sierra Leone.

The Institute has also assisted political parties and civic organizations in developing election law reform initiatives in more than 30 countries as part of efforts to promote electoral integrity.

The Institute has published numerous documents to assist political parties in these efforts. Recent publications on this subject include: 

• Building Confidence in the Voter Registration Process: An NDI Monitoring Guide for Political Parties and Civic Organizations;
• Media Monitoring to Promote Democratic Elections: An NDI Handbook for Citizen Organizations;
• The Quick Count and Election Observation: An NDI Handbook for Civic Organizations and Political Parties;
• Monitoring Electronic Technologies in Electoral Processes: An NDI Guide for Political Parties and Civic Organizations; and
• Promoting Legal Frameworks for Democratic Elections: An NDI Guide for Developing Election Laws and Law Commentaries.