Trends and Challenges in Election Monitoring (Innovations Case Discussion:National Democratic Institute)
Jorrit de Jong · Innovations Technology Governance Globalization · 2008
Election-monitoring organizations (EMOs) have shown a great deal of courage, expertise, and ingenuity in their work around the world.Trained observers have closely watched polling stations under difficult circumstances and with limited resources.They have reported incidents of voting rights violations and circumstances that may have compromised election results.Data analysts who have gathered and collated information coming in from remote voting districts have had to deliver high-quality intelligence in very little time.Leaders of EMOs have had to communicate the results of their monitoring activities to government officials and to the international community at large-reports that have not always been welcome.Monitoring elections is, in short, a difficult task but an important one.Even in the most seasoned democracies, there is always concern for the fairness of the process.EMOs contribute to safeguarding that fairness in at least two ways.First, their mere presence may prevent election irregularities and fraud, and second, EMOs provide an assessment of the integrity of the election process.This assessment, if positive, may increase the credibility of the election results and the legitimacy of the newly elected mayor, parliament, or government.The cases described by NDI show that monitoring elections involves much more than observing and reporting alone.Election monitoring is most effective if and when it gains legitimacy both among the population and with the government.One way to gain legitimacy, as the article argues, is to present an accurate and representative picture of the whole election process, preferably before the results are officially announced by the government or election committee.In order to do that, a lot of information must be gathered in very little time from a number of places.Information and Communication Technologies have given EMOs new opportunities to improve this process.In developing countries in particular, traditional telecommunications infrastructure, including land lines, is often far from reliable.Using mobile communication technology, like radio transmitters and cell phones, enables observers to report incidents in real time.Advanced software (Geographical