Rakesh Sharma, director of IFES' Applied Research Center (ARC), presented Dr. Rafael Lopez-Pintor's paper “Assessing Electoral Fraud in New Democracies: A Basic Conceptual Framework” at the International Political Science Association (IPSA) biannual conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Sharma presented the paper for Lopez-Pintor as the Spanish expert was unable to travel to Brazil. 

Electoral fraud is a serious violation that can result in the disenfranchisement of citizens. The panel at which Sharma presented the IFES paper, Electoral Manipulation and Elections: Consequences, Mechanisms and Developments, — the panel at which Sharma presented the IFES paper — highlighted the different ways elections can be altered — ranging from rigging electoral law to actual tampering of ballot boxes — so that practitioners and observers can be more aware of these nefarious practices.

Sharma was joined on the panel by Professor Manuel Hidalgo from Carlos III University in Madrid and Dr. Ruben Ruiz-Rufino from Spain’s Superior Council of Scientific Investigations (CSIC). Hidalgo’s paper looked at the manipulative tools and practices Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has used to build electoral support in Venezuela. Ruiz-Rufino’s paper focused in the causes of electoral fraud from an institutional perspective.

Dr. Nasos Roussias from the Juan March Institute and Aarhus University’s Dr. Jorgen Elklit were the two discussants on the panel. Their discussion focused on the issue of defining fraud in broad or narrow contexts, and implications of these definitions on evaluations of fraud in the electoral process.

To download a copy of “Assessing Electoral Fraud in New Democracies: A Basic Conceptual Framework” click here.