EIP 2023: PANEL 9 - ROUNDTABLE: ELECTION OBSERVATION IN THE ‘WEST’?
Channel: Electoral Integrity Project
Date: 2023-07-07

PANEL 9 - ROUNDTABLE: ELECTION OBSERVATION IN THE ‘WEST’? – CHALLENGES, LESSONS LEARNED, AND THE WAY FORWARD, CONVENED BY THE CARTER CENTER AND ELECTION-WATCH.EU

Election observation efforts can play a key role in assessing election administration and integrity, identifying gaps, and making recommendations for improving elections and the implementation of international standards and regional commitments. Although election observation has typically been conducted in countries in the global South, often by organizations based in the European Union or the United States, international and non-partisan citizen observation is increasingly ‘coming home’ to countries in the ‘West’ and taking place in complex political contexts in the EU and the US.

In this roundtable discussion, we look at recent election observation efforts around the EU Parliament and US general elections. The panelists will assess key trends, challenges, and lessons learned ahead of the next EU & US elections in 2024, including following questions. The following questions   will guide the panelists’ contributions:

 - What is the relevance of election observation in the EU and the US?  

 - What are the existing legal frameworks for election observation, and to what degree do relevant laws and policies facilitate or impede nonpartisan citizen observation?   

- What are the similarities and differences regarding the conditions relevant to international vs nonpartisan citizen election observation?   

- What are specific areas that deserve particular attention in observation efforts?   

 - What are upcoming challenges and opportunities for election observation ‘at home’?

The roundtable will be moderated by Michael Lidauer (Election-Watch.EU) and Avery Davis-Roberts (The Carter Center)

David Carroll (Director, The Carter Center) 

Armin Rabitsch (Chairperson, Election-Watch.EU)

Urszula Gacek (Head of the OSCE/ODIHR EOM to the USA 2020) 

Brenda Santamaria (Head of Electoral Observation Section, OAS) 

Olufunto Akinduro (Senior Programme Officer Elections, International IDEA)