Election-Watch.EU

👏 Major reform for mobile EU Citizens' electoral rights 🗳️ Today, the Council of the European Union adopted a new Directive that recasts and replaces Directive 93/109/EC ❗ This is a long-overdue update on the electoral rights of EU citizens living in another Member State and has been recommended by Election-Watch.EU ✅ What’s new compared to the old directive? 🔹 Clearer, simplified registration procedures for non-national EU citizens wishing to vote or stand as candidates in European Parliament elections. 🔹 Equal treatment in residence requirements: If a host country requires a certain residence period, time spent in other EU countries now also counts. 🔹 Improved safeguards against double voting or candidacy, with reinforced cross-border data exchange between Member States. 🔹 Better accessibility: Member States must ensure information on voting rights is available in at least one widely understood EU language and accessible to persons with disabilities or low digital literacy. 🔹 Statistical data & monitoring: New requirements for collecting data on non-national EU citizen participation and for Member States to report after each election. 🔹 Limited derogations: Only allowed if >20% of the electorate are non-national EU citizens (example Luxembourg), and even then with strict proportionality rules. ✔️ This reform strengthens democratic participation and addresses long-standing barriers faced by mobile EU citizens whose voter turn out has been low in past elections. 🗳️ Election-Watch.EU highlighted past shortcomings in its 2024 Election Assessment Mission report: https://lnkd.in/dBcxMBdH 🗳️ It is now on the European Commission and Member States to ensure implementation. ✴️ The European Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts ✴️ The new Directive will apply 24 months after its entry into force (20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU) ✴️ Member States must adopt national laws to comply with key provisions within 24 months of entry into force. #inclusion #accountability #integrity #Elections2024 #EuropeanUnion #EUcitizenship #Democracy #Mobility #VotingRights #EUlaw #EuropeanParliament #electionintegrity 🙏 Carla Luís, Xabier Meilán, Camille Forite, Paul Grohma, Agnieszka Górna, Desislava Hristova, Josipa Brajković Dika, Nicolas Koukoullis, Ib Kok Hansen, Marcela Mašková, Priit Vinkel, Kira Kaurinkoski, Ralph-Michael Peters, Péter Kramer, Sandra Conway, Renata Tardioli, Anitra Jankevica, Julius Lizunas, Philippe Decker, Leontine Weesing-Loeber, Anna Frydrych-Depka, Maria Krause, Ivan Godársky

✔️ The European Commission has just published its comprehensive Report and Staff Working Document on the 2024 Elections to the European Parliament 👉https://lnkd.in/d5VuQcCN 🗳️ Election-Watch.EU's was recognised in the European Commission’s report as a key contributor to the transparency and integrity of the elections. 📌 Importantly, the Commission report explicitly highlights the importance of election observers as part of the democratic safeguards. ✴️ Election-Watch.EU’s work provided systematic data and findings and 21 targeted recommendations to enhance the resilience of future elections. 👉https://lnkd.in/dBcxMBdH These include: ▶️ Strengthening transparency and accountability in political advertising and online campaigning, ▶️Improving accessibility and participation for mobile EU citizens and underrepresented groups. 🎯 As we move toward 2029, the lessons and recommendations from this electoral cycle must be taken seriously. Election observation is not a one-off activity, but an essential pillar of democratic oversight and continuous reform to strengthen electoral integrity. #EuropeanElections #ElectionObservation #Democracy #EU2024 #ElectionIntegrity #DigitalElections #ElectionWatchEU

As member of the European Partnership for Democracy and partner in the AHEAD Liberia project, Election-Watch.EU shares its expertise with a growing network of electoral stakeholders and peers.

Already in 2024, Election-Watch.EU was asked to provide a compendium of all preliminary and final election observer recommendations around the 2023 presidential and legislative elections in Liberia. We have provided a practical compendium of all recommendations from citizen and international election observation organisations that can serve as a tool to follow-up, advocate for electoral reforms, and prioritise and plan electoral reforms against the backdrop of national developments, regional practices, and international standards. We are glad to continue the work to support the NEC and civil society as part of AHEAD Liberia! #AHEADLiberia #EPD

🗳️ Main research findings of the Social Media Monitoring of Austria's 2024 elections: ✔️ Controversial or emotionally charged topics such as migration often provoke polarised reactions and provide fertile ground for hate speech. ✔️ Offensive content receives significantly higher views and reactions compared to non-offensive material. ✔️ Disinformation surrounding alleged election fraud via postal voting highlights the role of alternative media platforms in spreading unverified claims. 💡 These findings are not surprising. However, it is important that we have also empirical research evidence of these statements❗ 🙏 Great joint effort of various research institutes, independent researchers and Election-Watch.EU (as wahlbeobachtung.org), with the support of Democracy Reporting International, as well as Stiftung Mercator GmbH. ✴️ You can find the report with its recommendations on our website: https://lnkd.in/df4iSUHJ #transparency, #accountability, #resilience

🌐Hybrid threats are reshaping elections worldwide — can observers keep up? 🗳️From disinformation to cyberattacks and covert operations, hybrid threats pose increasing challenges to both election organisers and observers. These evolving risks demand a rethink of election observation methodologies: ❓ Are we equipped to identify and evaluate such threats effectively? At the recent FURIC conference (11–12 December 2024), organized by the European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE) in co-operation with OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the discussion focused on exactly this. Election-Watch.EU's Tatyana Hilscher-Bogussevich and Markus Pollak joined the conversation on enhancing observation approaches. Drawing on the experience during the 2024 European Parliament elections, Election-Watch.EU shared insights into: 🔍 Integrating assessments of hybrid threats into election observation, ⚖️ Examining the effectiveness of regulatory safeguards and institutional measures to counter these challenges, 🛑 Overcoming constraints like limited access, specialized expertise, and the evolving nature of hybrid risks. 📢 While hybrid threats are complex, observers—both citizen and international—can play a pivotal role by analyzing legal frameworks, assessing institutional resilience, and providing actionable recommendations backed by good practices to inspire change. #Elections #HybridThreats #ElectionObservation #Disinformation #CyberSecurity #EPDE #OSCEODIHR #ElectionWatchEU

👌 The Venice Commission (VC; European Commission for Democracy through Law; Council of Europe) acknowledged Election Observers as Human Rights Defenders: https://lnkd.in/dBCgHeJz ➡️ States should adopt the necessary provisions in national legislation to provide sufficient possibilities to observe elections ➡️ All states should foresee in their national legislation the possibility for international and citizen non-partisan observers ➡️ Accreditations should be delivered to both international and national election observers, based on clear criteria ➡️ Election observers in Council of Europe’s member states should have effective access to the European Court of Human Rights ❌ The VC raises concerns that intimidation and issues with physical security are on the surge ❗ The VC outlines international instruments which enshrine the role of, and protections for, election observers including the 2023 European Commission Recommendations ❗ The VC references two European Court of Human Right cases that addressed the issue of election observation 1️⃣ Davydov and Others v. Russia 2️⃣ Geraguyn Khorhurd Patgamavorakan Akumb v. Armenia: “[t]he right of access to election-related documents enjoyed by the applicant organisation in the context of the parliamentary election therefore constituted a part of a wider public function performed by election observers which pursued the aim of ensuring the publicity of an election and thereby contributing to its proper conduct and outcome.” 🗳️ The VC outlines the fundamental rights election observers work to protect: 1️⃣ Political Rights: the right to vote and to stand for election 2️⃣ Fundamental Rights directly related to Political Rights ✔️ freedom of assembly and association ✔️ freedom of expression ✔️ right to access to information ✔️ freedom of movement ✔️ right to freedom from discrimination ✔️ adequate remedy in case of electoral violations 3️⃣ Other Fundamental Rights (socioeconomic rights like literacy and education; rights to life, liberty and security) ✴️ Election-Watch.EU requested accreditation in all 2️⃣7️⃣ EU Member States and was accredited in 1️⃣3️⃣ ahead of the recent European Parliament elections. #inclusion #resilience #equality #transparency #accountability #integrity

✴️ Find here our latest joint research work on online campaigning in elections: https://lnkd.in/dfPKdT3F 🗳️ Analysing the role of Telegram in the Austrian general elections 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣4️⃣ 🤲 Together with a renown Austrian research institute, a senior data scientist from @data4good and a researcher from the Universität Wien, and with the support of Democracy Reporting International ☑️ Examining Telegram channels' role in shaping political discourse with a focus on hate speech, extremism and toxicity 🙏 Ognjan Denkovsķi and others.

🗳️ Congratulations OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) election department team to a very well organised DoP meeting in Gdansk! 👏 🙏 Thank you for the interesting agenda, particularly for the panels on security of election observers, and on AI in elections, among others. https://dop2024.org/ 👌 Great for Election-Watch.EU to participate for the first time as an endorsing DoP member. 👍Amb. Urszula GACEK for presenting Election-Watch.EU's good practice examples as stimulus for positive change as new tool. ✔️ See more: https://lnkd.in/eP5CwXv6

📣 7️⃣ Expert organisations, among them @wahlbeobachtung.org, co-published an updated Democracy Index for Austria. 🔎 The Index has 1️⃣ 1️⃣ 4️⃣ parameters comprised in 7️⃣ pillars ➡ Improvements included the new transparency legislation ❗ Pending issues include to establish an independent State Prosecutor to strengthen judicial independence Read more (in German): https://lnkd.in/dvwjH9cr