Peace Programs

How does The Carter Center choose which elections to observe?

The Carter Center tracks political events in many countries at any given time.  Although it is impossible to give a definitive list of what qualifies an election for Carter Center observation, the following considerations are taken into account:

• The Center requires an invitation from the government, head of state, and/or the election authority.  The Carter Center only becomes involved in a country when its participation is welcomed by all leading parties in that country. The Center respects each country's sovereignty and strives to avoid intervening in any country's internal affairs.
  
• The Carter Center is a not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, independent of the government of the United States.  The Center does not support or favor any candidate or party, and it does not provide funds to political candidates or parties.
  
• The Center only works in areas where it can 'fill a gap.'  The Center will defer if domestic and regional institutions are able to sufficiently support an election or if international involvement in an election is such that the Center's observation would merely repeat the efforts of other organizations.  The Center will observe elections concurrent with other international observers if the Center's skills, relationship, or presence would have a markedly different effect.
  
• The Center will only observe in a country where its presence and election support (through observation and supplementary election activities) has the potential to enhance a country's democracy.  If there exists political deadlock or circumstances that prevent any hope of a meaningful election from occurring the center will not observe.
  
• The Center observes elections often in nascent democracies where there has been either a recent transition of power or a recent concerted effort to improve the democratic quality of the government.
  
• The Center has certain long-standing relationships with countries where our Health and Peace Programs have worked for many years.  Often we will observe a series of elections in one country. For example, the Center observed elections in Mexico in 1994, 1997, and 2000, and elections in Mozambique in 1999, 2003, and 2004.  In each of these cases the Center was able to offer a long-term perspective.