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Particularly since the end of the Cold War, it has generally been taken for granted that democracy is the best political system, almost regardless of the circumstances. Once warring sides have reached a ceasefire, democracy is seen as uniquely suited to provide a peaceful means of competition for power and influence. However, opting to go the electoral route is not without risks. An important advantage can go to those who win foundational elections. The stakes may seem extremely high in future elections as well, providing strong incentive to opt for extra-legal means to ensure victory. It is in these delicate situations that election monitors can play an important role.
What is the Importance of Election Monitoring?
Monitoring is important because elections are the cornerstone of creating a democratic political system.[1] As such, monitoring can assist democratic consolidation by instilling domestic and international legitimacy. Peaceful elections may also promote reconciliation between former adversaries. Postconflict societies, however, are often poorly equipped to conduct elections. Despite a formal end to the fighting, instability often persists. A continued lack of security makes campaigning difficult, to say nothing of actually conducting a vote. Institutions needed to conduct elections are often nonexistent, or damaged by the conflict. Where contentious elections present fears of vote tampering and other irregularities, the presence of election monitors may serve to prevent shenanigans and give parties greater confidence that the vote was free and fair. The key to achieving this outcome is monitors who are seen by all sides as neutral. Because of this, monitors are often foreigners that arrive prior to the vote at the invitation of a sovereign state.[2]
Monitoring can enhance the credibility and legitimacy of elections, thereby helping to reduce electoral violence. It can help maintain a working peace agreement because losers lack the ability to shout "fraud!" and disrupt a country's democratization. One way in which monitors do this is by taking independent vote tallies, which prevents governments from manipulating the vote. Even before this, some monitors arrive long before the vote to observe campaigning and voter registration efforts. In addition, foreign funding contributes to planning and conducting the vote. What is more, it can provide technical expertise and training for locals who may never have conducted an election before. As such, in the long-term, monitoring can assist in building and strengthening domestic electoral institutions. For example, over 50,000 Cambodians were trained as election officials by the UN Transitional Authority for the 1993 elections. Finally, it can also help in the long-range development of political parties and civil society.
History of Election Monitoring
The idea of foreign monitors observing elections actually has a fairly long history. The first election with international monitoring was in 1857 when French, British, Prussian, Russian, Austrian and Turkish representatives supervised a plebiscite in Moldavia and Wallachia.[3] Although there certainly were other cases in the interim, the post-World War II world provided more opportunity and the practice developed more quickly. Fast upon its creation, the United Nations was asked to monitor elections in Korea and Germany. As decolonization accelerated in the 1950-60s, so too did the UN's "first generation" involvement in founding elections to ensure they were free and fair. So-called "second generation" election monitoring missions are more comprehensive and have become more common with the end of the Cold War and the growing global consensus on the value of democracy. Beginning with Namibia's 1989 vote, election monitoring has often become part of a broader mandate of peacekeeping. Here, election observation is part of a multi-faceted international effort to support a peace agreement and help with the reconstruction of political systems and economies.
Who Serves as Election Monitors?
Many international actors have taken on the challenge of monitoring elections in these difficult circumstances. States, both bilaterally and through international organizations(IGOs), have been frequent participants as have a growing number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with an interest in spreading democracy and human rights.
Building on its historical participation in election monitoring outlined above, the UN has accelerated its important contribution since 1989. In that period, it has received over 140 requests for electoral assistance from member states.[4] The UN maintains a roster of election experts that can be called upon on relatively short notice. It provides not only technical assistance to help governments conduct their elections, to major operations to essentially conduct the elections as part of a broader peacekeeping operation. In these sophisticated operations, the UN takes on roles normally fulfilled by national electoral authorities. It often requires creating an entire system of laws, procedures and administrative measures in order to hold the election and then actually conducting the entire process. This more extensive mission is, of course, costly and has only been applied to perceived "unique" circumstances. For example, the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) was responsible for the organization and execution of national elections there in May 1993 as part of a comprehensive peace plan. In the Balkans, the United Nations Transitional Authority in Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) was asked to organize elections for all local government bodies in April 1997 in cooperation with Croatian authorities.
Other IGOs have become actively involved in election monitoring as well. The Commonwealth Secretariat, European Union (EU), Organization of African Unity (OAU), Organization of American States (OAS), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the Council of Europe, amongst others, have all been involved in election monitoring in recent years. The OSCE, for example, offers its members Needs Assessment Missions, long-term observation in the weeks prior to the election, and a coordinating office. Long-term observers are sent into the field several weeks before an election, in order for the OSCE to properly evaluate developments leading up to the election. Then, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly sends parliamentarians, generally for short-term missions at critical points to provide political leadership to the monitoring operation. It seems likely that countries prefer the UN to regional bodies, as it is more likely to be seen as impartial and detached from regional and local politics.
NGOs have rapidly expanded their work in democratic assistance and possess a number of advantages.[5] Their independence leaves them relatively free from political pressure. They are seen as unbiased. Because they typically have more limited resources, they are often more shrewd in using funds. They are smaller and more flexible to meet the unique challenges presented by each election. They also often have more connections with grassroots organizations helping to increase the long-term benefits of monitoring. Some of the more important NGOs involved in election monitoring are:
International Human Rights Law Group
National Endowment for Democracy
National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
International Republican Institute
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA)
The Carter Center
International Foundation for Electoral Systems
La Federation Internationale des Droits de l'Homme
International Commission of Jurists
Inter-Parliamentary Union
Center for Democracy
Centre for Electoral Promotion and Advice (CAPEL)
Problems with Election Monitoring
Outsiders are often ignorant of local circumstances related to history, culture, and the like.[6] Monitors often arrive shortly before the vote and usually lack language or cultural training to allow them to effectively evaluate the vote. To compound the problem of ignorance, monitors often forego working with domestic observers in order to avoid the appearance of bias. Monitors are also not entirely independent, but have a number of important limitations. For instance, monitors have ties to the entity that has funded their mission. Reports may be tailored to the demands of the funding, source rather than fulfilling the mission of monitoring the election. It has been tempting, particularly for IGOs, to verify most elections as to do otherwise would be destabilizing, and it would be politically and tactically difficult to "re-do" the election.[7] The fact that IGOs are made up of states means representatives cannot entirely ignore the interests of other nation-states in the election. Many NGOs also are not entirely independent, so it is beneficial to draw NGOs from a variety of countries. Some are tied to national parliaments or in other ways receive government funding. Others have connections to particular political parties, trade unions, or religious-affiliated organizations. Although this has begun to change, NGOs early on were predominantly American,[8] and could be accused of serving American interests.
[1] Krishna Kumar, "Postconflict Elections and International Assistance," in Krishna Kumar, ed. Postconflict Elections, Democratization, and International Assistance (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1998).
[2] For more on the importance of foreign electoral assistance, see Krishna Kumar and Marina Ottaway, "General Conclusions and Priorities for Policy Research," in Krishna Kumar, ed. Postconflict Elections, Democratization, and International Assistance (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1998) 229-230.
[3] For a discussion of international involvement in elections prior to World War II, see Beigbeder 1994; chapter 3.
[4] United Nations. http://www.un.org/Depts/dpa/ead/ea_content/ea_context.htm.
[5] Beigbeder 1994; 271-2.
[6] Henry Munson Jr. "International Election Monitoring: A Critique Based on One Monitor's Experience in Morocco" Middle East Report Winter 1998 http://www.merip.org/mer/mer209/munson.htm.
[7] Beigbeder 1994; 145.
[8] Ibid.; 273.
Use the following to cite this article:
Brahm, Eric. "Election Monitoring." Beyond Intractability. Eds. Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess. Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. Posted: September 2004 <http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/election_monitoring/>.
Sources of Additional, In-depth Information on this Topic
Additional Explanations of the Underlying Concepts:
Online (Web) Sources
Human Rights Watch. Indonesia: Election Monitoring and Human Rights.
Available at: http://hrw.org/reports/1996/Indonesi1.htm.
This report from 1996 discusses the attempts to monitor the election in Indonesia. The report looks at the attempts to restrict and intimidate those involved in the election monitoring process.
"Political Development and Governance: Electoral Assistance and Reform." , 2002
Available at: Click here for more info.
"Electoral assistance means preparing, conducting, monitoring an election and observing to ensure it is free and fair." This page includes all the pertinent information regarding the special envoy as a tool in conflict prevention and resolution.
Offline (Print) Sources
Bjornlund, Eric C. Beyond Free and Fair: Monitoring Elections and Building Democracy. Princeton: Woodrow Wilson Center Press , October 2004.
"The book draws on worldwide experience since the mid-1980s to evaluate international election monitoring and domestic monitoring, and their contributions to democracy promotion and democratic change. It provides an overview of what election monitoring is, where it comes from, and how it is currently conducted, and he educes general lessons for democracy promotion. Bjornlund reports on actual practice, including case studies of particular election monitoring efforts and the author's own experience in the field, and on a few previous efforts to synthesize guidelines and lessons learned. Case studies include Cambodia, Zimbabwe, the Philippines, and Indonesia, with the last especially providing an opportunity to show how domestic monitors can be supported by international monitors, funders, and advisers. Bjornlund also devotes a chapter to the influential election monitoring work of former president Jimmy Carter. The author criticizes the tendency to view elections and election monitoring narrowly rather than as part of broader strategies to build democracy. He makes practical recommendations about how election monitoring should evolve in the future if it is to continue to contribute to genuine democratization." - Publisher
Gould, Ron and Christine Jackson. A guide for election observers. Brookfield, VT: Dartmouth, 1995.
This handy guide put out by Elections Canada if a reference to assist election observers. It is broken down by the different stages of the process from overview to pre-election, election day, post-election, and report writing. It also has a pull-out checklist to assist observers when visiting polling stations.
Baloyra, Enrique A. "El Salvador: From Reactionary Despotism to Partidocracia." In Postconflict Elections, Democratization, and International Assistance. Edited by Kumar, Krishna, ed. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1998.
This chapter describes El Salvador's transition process and the international assistance with it.
Middlebrook, Kevin J., ed. Election Observation and Democratic Transitions in Latin America. San Diego: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies UC-San Diego, 1998.
The chapters in this volume address issues related to election monitoring in the context of democratization in Latin America. Two chapters examine the lessons from efforts by both domestic and international monitors in past elections. These thematic chapters are followed by case studies examining the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama.
Steering Committee on Local and Regional Authorities (CDLR). Handbook for observers of elections. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Pub. , 1996.
Beigbeder, Yves. International monitoring of plebiscites, referenda and national elections : self-determination and transition to democracy. Boston: M. Nijhoff, 1994.
International monitoring of plebiscites, referenda and national elections has given a guarantee to the populations and the countries directly involved, and to the international community, that the people themselves have been able to exercise freely their right to self-determination through these processes. By focusing international attention on an internal electoral process, international monitoring may deter fraud by government, armed forces or electoral authorities. It shows international support for democracy and elections, as well as for human rights. While the international monitoring of elections does not guarantee that a dictatorship will evolve peacefully into a pluralist democracy, free and periodic elections are an essential prerequisite to the creation and maintenance of democracy, which is itself a prerequisite for the protection and promotion of human rights. The United Nations and other international organizations and groups are openly supporting the world's evolution towards democracy. This book will be of great use for those who are actively involved in international monitoring as well as for researchers in the field of democracy and human rights.--Amazon.com
Riley, Christopher A. "Neither free nor fair: the 1996 Bosnian elections and the failure of the U.N. election-monitoring mission." Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law , November 1997.
Schmeets, Hans and Jeanet Exel. The 1996 Bosnia-Herzegovina elections : an analysis of the observations. Boston: Kluwer Academic, 1997.
International election observers describe Bosnia's 1996 vote.
Carothers, Thomas. "The rise of election monitoring .1. The observers observed." Journal of Democracy 8:3, July 1997.
Commonwealth Observer Group. Zimbabwe presidential election : 9-11 March 2002 / the report of the Commonwealth Observer Group. London: Commonwealth Secretariat, 2003.
This is a report on Zimbabwe's presidential election compiled by observers sent by the British Commonwealth.
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Examples Illustrating this Topic:
Online (Web) Sources
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. Election Monitoring. Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Available at: http://www.osce.org/odihr-elections/.
This website discusses the election monitoring services provided by OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights to its members.
Munson, Henry. "International Election Monitoring: A Critique Based on One Monitor's Experience in Morocco." , 1900
Available at: http://www.merip.org/mer/mer209/munson.htm.
The author critiques international election monitoring processes and offers suggestions and guidelines that can help overcome the problems.
Munson, Henry. International Election Monitoring: A Critique Based on One Monitor's Experience in Morocco.
Available at: http://www.merip.org/mer/mer209/munson.htm.
This first-hand account of international election monitoring casts the endeavor in a critical light. This former monitor's experience indicates that election monitoring needs more clear and effective guidlines.
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance .
Available at: http://www.idea.int/.
This is the home page of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), an intergovernmental organization with member states across all continents that seeks to support sustainable democracy in both new and long-established democracies. IDEA draws on comparative experience, analyses democracy trends and assistance, and develops policy options, tools and guidelines relating to: public participation; electoral systems; political parties; and post-conflict democracy building. The website provides access to descriptions of IDEA's various focus areas as well as information on major world regions that IDEA focuses on. IDEA also has an extensive catalogue of publications that interested parties may order through the site.
United Nations Electoral Assistance Division.
Available at: http://www.un.org/Depts/dpa/ead/eadhome.htm.
This is the website for the Electoral Assistance Division of the United Nations, providing access to the division's documents, mandate, and information regarding their global efforts. While the work of the United Nations in elections is most closely associated with modern peacekeeping operations, these efforts represent the culmination of decades of work in the area of elections, both in developing international standards and through assistance to Trust and Non-Self-Governing Territories in their efforts to achieve self-determination.
Offline (Print) Sources
Matiosa, Khabele. "Election Monitoring and Observation in Zimbabwe: Hegemony Versus Sovereignty." African Journal of Political Science 7:1, June 2002.
Despite the pervasive trend of election monitoring and observation, especially in Eastern Europe and Africa since the early 1990s, there has been little, if any, academic discourse on this subject. Instead, the focus of intellectual and policy debate has been macro political issues of political liberalization and democratisation; the main concern being whether or not the democratisation process started in the early 1990s in Africa is being consolidated. This article raises a three pronged thesis. Firstly, although monitoring and observation are inextricably intertwined in both theory and practice, they denote two different processes, hence it is imprudent to use them synonymously.
Secondly, election monitoring and observation, especially the latter, do not apply uniformly and in a consistent pattern in developed and developing countries and this raises profound questions of international standards, norms and practices of democratic governance. Thirdly, although election monitoring and observation represent good
practice at the micro level of democratisation, they have also tended to be used as part of the political conditionality and leverage through which industrial countries impose their hegemony over developing countries and thereby undermine their already enfeebled national sovereignty. No other country portrays so vividly and poignantly the controversies surrounding the above three themes than Zimbabwe which recently went through two major elections, namely the 2000 Parliamentary election and the 2002 Presidential election.
Hesseling, Gerti and Jon Abbink, eds. Election Observation and Democratization in Africa. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000.
This authoritative study of election observation in Africa by foreign and local observers studies its relation with democratization processes. Election observation is seen by donor countries and the international community as a means to enhance democratization, but controversial issues include the mandates of the observers, the cases of its misappropriation by authoritarian governments, and its masking other interests of donor countries. The book offers theoretical and historical assessments of election observation and evaluates policies and their implementation in specific case studies.
Middlebrook, Kevin J., ed. Electoral observation and democratic transitions in Latin America. La Jolla: University of California, San Diego, 1998.
This volume has a collection of case studies as well as more general identification of patterns across the region.
"Going Where We Otherwise Would Not Have Gone: Accompaniment and Election Monitoring in Sri Lanka." PARC News , 1995.
The article discusses the use of international participants for protective accompaniment to monitor election campaigns and to limit human rights abuses in situations of high political violence. The presence of foreign national escorts attracts international political attention, thereby discouraging violent attacks. Coy breaks down the positive impact of accompaniment in the case of monitoring elections in Sri Lanka into five categories. These categories include diminishing fear, increasing visibility and access, reducing reprisals, solidarity in rebuilding democracy, and last, avoiding dependence. Combined they reflect the positive impact which non-violent strategies have in the process of democratization. [online abstract]
Anglin, D.G. "International election monitoring: The African experience." African Affairs 97:389, October 1998.
Abstract: The poor state of democracy in Africa has prompted an agonizing reappraisal of the role elections play in the consolidation of democracy and, in particular, of the contribution of independent election observers to that process. This article assesses critically the performance of election monitors within the context of broader international efforts to promote democratic norms in Africa. It explores the evolution and operationalization of the practice, identifies and evaluates the functions undertaken, and analyses the deficiencies revealed in the light of current critiques. It concludes with some prescriptions as to how the process might be improved and the credibility of monitoring restored.
Callahan, William A. Pollwatching, elections, and civil society in Southeast Asia. Brookfield: Ashgate, 2000.
Van Donge, J.K. The 1995 general elections in Tanzania. Report of the Tanzanian election monitoring committee (TEMCO), Vol. 38.
Baker, B. "When to call black white: Zimbabwe's electoral reports." Third World Quarterly 23:6, December 2002.
Abstract: Although hundreds of observers witnessed the same presidential election, the diversity of their reports is quite remarkable. Whereas some spoke of them being generally free and fair, others spoke of the abandonment of all electoral standards. Examining the observer responses of Zimbabwean groups, African nations and the West, the extent to which their verdicts are political rather than objective statements becomes apparent. This article argues that the current system of election monitoring lacks adequate justification, is vulnerable to being deceived, is an inexact science, uses members of mixed ability and at times appears to follow scripts pre-written by their sponsors. These flaws in the system are not easily remedied, for all the talk of training observer teams, setting common standards and co-ordinating teams in the future. Politics will never be removed from the decision to send a mission, the choice of members,. the writing of the reports and governmental responses to the reports.
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Audiovisual Materials on this Topic:
Online (Web) Sources
Gore Vidal on the "United States of Amnesia," 9/11, the 2000 Election and the War in Iraq. Democracy Now!. May 13, 2003.
Available at: http://democracynow.org/transcripts/gorevidal.shtml.
Amy Goodman, from Democracy Now! interviews Gore Vidal, author and "the finest serious critique of America's use and abuse of power in the 21st century." He discusses his view of the reign of terror that has been established by the Bush dictatorship, along with the electoral process in the United States corruption in the Bush/Gore election.
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