Columbia International Affairs Online
CIAO DATE: 12/5/2007
Building Consensus on Principles for International Election Observation
October 2007
Abstract
International election observation is conducted by dozens of organizations around the world. As election observation activity has grown and the number of organizations involved has proliferated, several critical challenges have emerged. Foremost is the need for greater coordination and standards of professionalism among election observation organizations. To this end, The Carter Center, the United Nations Electoral Assistance Division (UNEAD), and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), launched a collaborative project to build consensus on best practices in this field.
Over three years and through a series of conferences involving more than 20 intergovernmental and international nongovernmental organizations, two important documents were developed: the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation and the Code of Conduct for International Election Observers. The Declaration and Code were formally endorsed by 22 organizations at the United Nations on Oct. 27, 2005. This was an important step in improving international election observation. These documents provide a common point of reference and guiding principles for election observation, addressing key issues such as the purpose, scope, and conduct of missions; minimum conditions of access to electoral processes; and the importance of harmonizing assessment criteria among observer groups.
The Declaration and Code, and the process of developing and gaining endorsement of them, have furthered the maturation of a coordinated community of election observation organizations. However, election observation organizations still face many important challenges, including:
• developing methodologies to assess electronic technologies in the electoral process;
• ensuring sustained coordination and cooperation among election observation organizations;
• ensuring genuine follow up to recommendations of observation missions by host governments and the implementation of needed reforms; and
• building consensus on assessment criteria and standards for electoral processes.
This brief report outlines the consensusbuilding process that led to the endorsement of the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation and the Code of Conduct for International Election Observers and discusses some of the continuing challenges facing the election observation community as a whole.
