The Electoral Integrity Initiative is committed to fortifying democratic processes worldwide. Through collaborative efforts with experts and organizations, we aim to ensure transparency, uphold democratic values, and address political challenges hindering fair elections.
The Challenge
Elections have become almost universal since the end of the Cold War. Yet in many countries where elections are held, freedom and democracy are actually in retreat. Intended as mechanisms for the peaceful arbitration of political rivalries, they frequently become flashpoints for political violence. At the core of these paradoxes are elections without integrity.
All too often, elections serve merely to give autocratic regimes a veneer of legitimacy. But elections without integrity cannot provide the winners with legitimacy, the losers with security and the public with confidence in their leaders and institutions. The Electoral Integrity Initiative seeks to address the political challenges that undermine elections.
“Elections that meet legal form but fail the test of integrity are only pyrrhic victories that usually store up trouble for the future.”
Kofi Annan
About the Electoral Integrity Initiative
Launched in 2013, the Electoral Integrity Initiative (EII) is an informal hub for global organizations and individuals addressing electoral challenges. A group of individuals from around the world and from organizations with expertise and experience in improving electoral integrity make up the steering group for the project. Membership of the group is by invitation.
A group of Senior Public Figures made up of former statesmen and stateswomen lend their support to the Electoral Integrity Initiative, and engage, where requested, with individual countries where the risks of fraught and possibly violent elections are high.
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Publications + Media
Back to the future?
The following is a transcript of the speech given by Corinne Momal-Vanian at the 16TH EISA ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM in Nairobi, 11 December 2024. Navigating political transitions in Africa It is an honour to be asked to deliver this opening speech on behalf of the Kofi Annan Foundation. For most of my career, the term “transition” […]
A Review of Generative AI Use in the 2024 European Parliament Elections
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Supporting Elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is expected to hold elections in December this year – a vote many see as pivotal for the country’s future. It follows a series of troubled elections which raised questions about the integrity of electoral processes and highlighted the need for various reforms. “The Catholic and Protestant churches […]
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Head of Democracy & Multilateralism Programmes
Declan O’Brien
More Projects
in Elections + Democracy
→Multilateralism & Democracy Roundtables
Building an evidence-based understanding of the links between multilateralism and democracy
→WYDE Civic Engagement – Centres de Responsabilité et Transparence
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→WYDE Civic Engagement – Accountability Hubs
Strengthening accountability and transparency in governance