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Young North African Party Members Experience U.S. Election Campaigns and Voting

For those who have never experienced a freewheeling political campaign, the raucousness of an American election season can be inspiring and overwhelming. Talking is incessant in rooms of phone bank volunteers searching for votes, energetic political party members go door to door in last minute appeals for support and candidates talk nonstop in the countdown to election day.

Final Exam of NDI Training Program Becomes Tool for Parties in the DRC

With roads and infrastructure still in disrepair from the First and Second Congo Wars, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) faces some of the world’s greatest mobility and communications challenges. The country is large — around two-thirds the size of Western Europe— and lack of transportation options severely restricts travel. For instance, a recent 3,000 km car trip that should have been measured in hours required 15 days to complete. Air travel is in many cases the sole option for moving from place to place.

Evening at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Celebrates Freedom and Creativity

The contrasts between the creativity that democracy can bring and the stifling of imagination in closed societies like North Korea was the topic of an evening at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Washington, D.C., Nov. 14 organized by the theatre and NDI.

Coalition Finds Some Shortcomings in Angola’s Generally Free and Peaceful Elections

Pictured: A group of domestic election observers trained by NDI for the 2012 Angola elections.  While generally free and peaceful, some aspects of the recent general elections in Angola lacked transparency, which undermined the credibility of the electoral process, according to a report by the Coalition for Election Observation (Coligação para Observação Eleitoral, COE).

Forum Brings Kenyan Youth Together Across Party, Ethnic Lines

Young Kenyans sign the pledge. With the motto “unity in diversity,” Kenya’s Inter-Party Youth Forum (IPYF) is bringing together young political party activists from across the political spectrum to collaborate on solutions to the most pressing issues facing the nation’s youth, including unemployment, substance abuse and disenfranchisement.

WAEON Academy Addresses Role of Security Sector in Ensuring Peaceful and Credible Elections

An officer of the Guinean National Police Force and Coordination of Special Forces for Securing the Elections (FOSSEPEL) speaks with members of the press in Conakry, Guinea. As Guinea prepares for its first legislative elections since a 2008 military coup, the role of the nation’s security forces during the election period has come to the fore. In 2010 Guineans participated in a democratic election that brought President Alpha Condé to power. Though the armed forces played a constructive role in providing security for that poll, a massacre in 2009, in which the military opened fire on unarmed civilian protesters, still weighs heavily on the minds of Guinean citizens.

Upcoming Jordanian Elections Marked by Widespread Apathy, NDI Delegation Finds

While the organizational structure for elections has improved in Jordan, voter apathy remains widespread in advance of Jan. 23 legislative polls, according to a pre-election assessment by the National Democratic Institute (NDI).

NDI's Christopher Fomunyoh Testifies on Mali before U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

NDI’s regional director for Central and Western Africa, Christopher Fomunyoh, outlined political and technical challenges facing Mali after last March’s military coup in testimony Dec. 5 before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs.

Tech@State Explores How Technology Can Boost Confidence in Elections Worldwide

On the heels of the tech-focused U.S. presidential election, last week’s Tech@State conference brought together government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, private companies, academics and technologists to explore how technology is used in domestic and international elections.

Making All Voices Count: New Fund Aims to Support Open Government around the World

Addressing the potential of new information and social networking technologies, former Secretary of State and NDI Chairman Madeleine Albright spoke at the Dec. 5 launch of a new initiative aimed at using technology to improve communications between citizens and their government. “Democracy thrives on diversity and becomes stronger through vigorous debate,” she said. “Its very identity is based on the free expression of popular will.”

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