With municipal and regional council elections approaching on September 2, 2023, tensions in a number of Ivoirian cities were escalating. The country had seen a recurrence of election-related violence, including following the 2020 elections in which President Alassane Ouattara stood for and won a controversial third term as president under the Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (Rassemblement des houphouëtistes pour la démocratie et la paix, RHDP) party banner.

2024 is a pivotal year for democracy around the world. Some of the world's largest democracies will be going to the polls this year, while elections everywhere are facing critical challenges. Authoritarians globally are increasingly seeking to gain unfair advantages by restricting political space, disrupting elections, and undermining pre- and post-election processes, while new technologies like artificial intelligence have the potential to harm information integrity.

After a highly contentious and contested electoral process, the March 24, 2024 presidential election restored confidence in the resilience of Senegal’s democracy.  For the first time in the country’s history, there were no legal disputes following the election, and the transition process moved swiftly to enable a timely and effective transfer of presidential power on April 2.

"Election day was dynamic and challenging. As an operator, I heard many field experiences and better understood the obstacles faced by persons with disabilities in exercising their voting rights.." - An election day call center operator.

With nearly half of the world’s population voting this year, illiberal governments and authoritarian forces are ramping up their efforts to undermine the credibility of elections and overall faith in democracy. Recognizing the gravity of this moment, NDI partnered with Foreign Policy on an event, Safeguarding Global Elections in 2024, the third installment in NDI’s “Defending Democracy” series.

Six of an estimated 50 Roma candidates who ran in Slovakia’s September 2023 parliamentary elections were elected, bringing to office the greatest number of Roma members of parliament (MPs) in the country's history. Roma, a historically disenfranchised minority, now comprise four percent of the 150-member body. These elections tell the story of two different approaches to boosting minority political representation: direct voter engagement and mainstreaming candidates through their positions on the candidate list.