Leading Organizations Supporting Democratic Elections Introduce Model Commitments to Defend Election Integrity Globally

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, The Carter Center, the National Democratic Institute, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, and the Kofi Annan Foundation announced today the release of Model Commitments for Advancing Genuine and Credible Elections.

With democratic elections and institutions facing growing threats globally, it is critical to have actionable commitments that help improve, defend, and expand election integrity. The Model Commitments provides a resource with specific steps government leaders and democracy advocates can take to help strengthen democracy and elections, including ways to expand dialogue on key electoral issues. The Model Commitments are intended to benefit everyone involved in electoral processes and systems, including voters, candidates, election officials, election observers, and others.

The Model Commitments outline five sets of electoral integrity commitments - to protect Genuine Elections, Legal Framework, Election Administration, Electoral Accountability, and Information Integrity.

They draw on existing international norms, standards, and best practices for democratic elections, including most that are catalogued in the Carter Center's Election Obligations and Standards Database and the Election Obligations and Standards Handbook.

Democratic electoral processes face constant pressures and changing circumstances in countries around the world. To help build public trust in election integrity and democratic governance, the Model Commitments are designed to reflect changing contexts and efforts to strengthen democracy in the face of new and evolving challenges.

This resource lays out ways for governments to affirm efforts to implement these commitments or to pledge an intention to apply them in a timely manner through appropriate electoral reform measures.

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