Elections alone do not make a democracy.  However, no country can be a democracy without transparent, open, competitive elections in which individual’s votes are secret.  To ensure elections meet these standards, IRI trains local election monitors, conducts pre-election assessment missions, monitors elections and publishes reports on election outcomes. 

Since 1983, IRI has monitored more than 135 elections in more than 41 countries and the Institute endorses the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observers and Code of Conduct for International Election Observers (PDF) that was commemorated at the United Nations on October 27, 2005.

Observing Historic Elections in Afghanistan

Chief among a series of accomplishments Afghanistan has realized since the fall of the Taliban was the country’s first democratic presidential election in 2004 and parliamentary elections in 2005.  On October 9, 2004, IRI’s bipartisan election delegation stayed at polling stations well into the evening to observe Afghan voting.  “The long lines at ballot stations were testimony that Afghans were determined to vote: they are the clear winners in this process,” said delegation leader Ambassador Rich Williamson.

In 2005, IRI again sent observers to Afghanistan to assess the democratic process.  Visiting Bamiyan, Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif, IRI’s observers found Afghan men and women determined to vote, a sign that the democratization process enjoyed broad support.  In both 2004 and 2005, IRI found Afghan elections to be credible and offered recommendations to improve voter registration and balloting.  In 2009, Afghanistan will undertake its second leadership election since 2004; IRI intends to again provide support to the democratic process through an observation mission to the country.

Witnessing the Election of Africa's First Female President in Liberia

Following decades of turmoil and civil war,  Liberia held two rounds of presidential elections in 2005 that were hailed as credible by IRI and other international observers.  Twenty-two candidates competed in the first round of balloting with no clear winner emerging.  Despite the findings of IRI, supporters of George Weah claimed their candidate had won outright.

Tensions mounted with Weah supporters promising protests if their candidate did not win in the second round.  Just one month later, voters went to the polls and elected Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as the first woman president of an African nation.  The findings of IRI and other observers were critical in lending legitimacy to the elections and helped to avoid the massive protests Weah supporters had promised.

Ensuring Legitimate Elections in Ukraine

In November 2004, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians gathered in Kyiv’s Independence Square to protest an election found to be well short of international standards.  The crowds held vigil for weeks, demanding that their voices be heard.  In a surprise decision, Ukraine’s Supreme Court agreed with the people and election observers, including IRI’s, who found systemic fraud in the October 31 first-round election and the November 21 run-off.  The court ruled the November 21 election invalid and called for a re-vote to be held on December 26.

Once again, IRI fielded an international election observation delegation to monitor voting and ballot counting throughout Ukraine and found that the December 26 election “demonstrated significant progress in Ukraine’s democratic development.  Improvements in election administration, as well as legislative efforts to prevent fraud, contributed to demonstrative increases in transparency and fairness in the voting process, and the election campaign overall…  In addition, they helped establish the legitimacy of the process for the election of the President.”