Overview
There is an established and growing international trend, evidenced by state practice that accepts the positive contribution of nonpartisan election monitoring by national citizen organizations. This is based on the right of citizens to participate in government, the very precept from which electoral rights derive. Election monitoring by nonpartisan domestic organizations helps to raise public confidence in the election process; 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 has pioneered in helping domestic civic organizations around the world to build capacities to monitor electoral and political processes. Over the last fifteen years, the Institute has assisted domestic nonpartisan election monitoring efforts by nongovernmental organizations in more than 65 countries, including those involved with their first elections after democratic breakthroughs, later elections in the process of democratic consolidation, elections in backsliding and semi-authoritarian states and elections in post?conflict societies. This assistance has addressed a wide range of issues, from intensive efforts that mobilize thousands to hundreds of thousands of citizens to monitor voting, counting and tabulation of results, to issues in the pre-election and post-election periods, including analysis of legal frameworks for elections, candidate qualification, voter registration, media monitoring and scrutinizing the processing of election complaints.
The Institute published a comprehensive manual, entitled: NDI's Handbook on How Domestic Organizations Monitor Elections: An A to Z Guide, which has helped domestic groups to develop monitoring plans and professionalize their impartial monitoring capabilities. NDI has produced four additional manuals to assist civic organizations and political parties in specific aspects of monitoring: 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; and Promoting Legal Frameworks for Democratic Elections: An NDI Guide for Developing Election Laws and Law Commentaries (forthcoming).
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 which are applicable 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. Through its domestic election monitoring assistance, the Institute seeks to contribute to building a stronger civil society and a more open, fair and competitive political process. These activities help ensure that the political will expressed by citizens at the ballot box is respected and that political contestants resolve peacefully their competition for political power.
Contact Information
For further information, please contact:
Julia Brothers, Senior Program Assistant Send Email
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