Peace Programs

Why is international election observation important?

Experience around the world has shown that credible and impartial observers can strengthen an electoral process by reassuring voters that they can safely and secretly cast their ballots and that any electoral fraud will be detected.  International election observation is now common around the world and is accepted as an international norm.

Reflecting an emerging consensus among organizations that promote and support democracy around the world, The Carter Center believes that domestic observers are the key to the long-term sustainability of democratic electoral processes in emerging democracies.   At the same time, the Center believes that international observers can play a critically important supportive role by focusing both international and domestic attention on the process, helping to reinforce the credibility of domestic observer groups, and by increasing popular confidence in the election process.

The Carter Center, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), and the U.N. Electoral Assistance Division (UNEAD) collaborated to promote global consensus among the world's main election observation groups.  This initiative resulted in the Oct. 27, 2005, gathering of 22 election observation organizations at the U.N. headquarters in New York to endorse the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation and the Code of Conduct for International Observers.