Voter Registration Modernization: A Case Study of the Canadian System of Voter Registration

American electoral officials and policymakers met with their Canadian counterparts in Toronto as part of an effort to modernize the U.S. voter registration system and address some of its shortfalls during a two-day conference earlier this month. read more » June 26, 2009

IFES is Awarded USAID Grant to Promote Peaceful and Transparent 2010 Elections in Burundi

IFES has been awarded a USAID cooperative agreement for a 19-month $1 million program in Burundi. The project, "Promoting Peaceful and Transparent 2010 Elections in Burundi," seeks to promote peaceful and transparent presidential, legislative and communal elections in 2010. These elections are seen by many in Burundi as a pivotal element in the cou… read more » June 19, 2009

An Interview with Bill Sweeney, IFES President & CEO

Bill Sweeney, IFES' new president & CEO, sat down with Jamie Dettmer, IFES Director of Communications and Advocacy, and Laura Osio, IFES Press Officer, to talk about why he joined IFES, his involvement read more » June 16, 2009

Promoting Political Participation: IFES' Assistance to Marginalized Populations in Ecuador

IFES is working directly with two Ecuadorian civil society organizations to increase the political and electoral participation of indigenous and Afro-descendent minorities in Ecuador read more » June 16, 2009

Sri Lanka's Real Victory Will Be Full Integration

My visit to Sri Lanka a few weeks ago was very different to my past visits. I have traveled to Sri Lanka for meetings with the Department of Elections several times over the past three years. IFES has been implementing a program to computerize the voter registry in Sri Lanka since 2005. But this time was different read more » By Vasu Mohan June 16, 2009

John Lawrence, IFES Congressional Affairs Manager, Visited Lebanon During the June 7 Elections. He Shares These Observations:

"Election Day -- June 7: We started out at mid-morning in a city that was very quiet, with almost no cars on the main roads. I was with Nikolai, an IFES elecitons expert from Sofia and Aya, one of the Beirut office staff. read more » John Lawrence June 07, 2009

New President and CEO at IFES

The world's leading election-assistance non-governmental organization, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, announced today the appointment of former EDS Vice-President William "Bill" Sweeney as its new President and CEO. Mr. Sweeney will succeed Jean-Pierre Kingsley. Mr. Sweeney was deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committ… read more » June 02, 2009

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer Remarks to the IFES Board

Speaking to the board of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) on the eve of Barak Obama's visit to the Middle East, where the U.S. president delivered a major speech about balancing stability and democracy promotion, House Majority Leader Hoyer said: Democracy promotion has no party. If anyone here thinks that democr… read more » June 02, 2009

Mauritana at Crossroads

Occupying a great swath of desert between North and West Africa, Mauritania seems to be fated to be a profoundly schizophrenic place... read more » By Chris Hennemeyer June 01, 2009

Smoldering Election for Mayor of Yerevan, Armenia

The pivotal May 31 council elections in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, have been described as the “second round” of the presidential vote that took place in February of last year. These elections will determine who will be the capital’s next mayor, a powerful position in Armenia. The opposition regards this poll as an opportunity to settle its un… read more » Anthony Bowyer May 29, 2009

IFES Helps Pack 1360 Meals for DC Schoolchildren

On Saturday, May 23, 2009, six IFES staff members and some of their relatives spent the morning volunteering at Washington, DC's Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB). read more » May 27, 2009

Barriers and Opportunities for Women's Participation in the Election Process in Afghanistan

Afghanistan will hold four major elections over the next two years: presidential and provincial council on August 20, 2009, and parliament and district council in 2010. read more » By Marina Nawabi, Anusha Ahmadi and Vic Getz May 13, 2009

Preparing for the 2009 Honduras General Elections

The Honduran people will once again assemble on November 29, 2009 to cast their vote for the nation's president, members of the legislature and mayors after participating in the highly regarded primary elections that took place in November 2008. read more » By Rachel Evans May 13, 2009

Improving Pakistan's Election Complaints System

Pakistani officials and international experts gathered at a conference in Bhurban, Pakistan to discuss the country's electoral dispute resolution process. read more » By Farrah Naz May 13, 2009

Spreading Democracy Information through Afghan Website

On April 19, 2009, IFES launched http://www.afghanistanvotes.com, the first website of its kind in Afghanistan. Its focus is to provide information about democracy and offer support during elections, beginning with the upcoming election in August, by providing easily accessible facts. read more » By Mindy Roduner May 13, 2009

Don't Undervalue a Really Good Election

Stay in the democracy field long enough and you'll experience the cyclical sport of "elections bashing", which inevitably occurs after a series of bad polls. read more » By Christian Hennemeyer May 12, 2009

South Africa's Elections are a Boost to African Democracy

JOHANNESBURG—The lines at polling places were orderly, the staff well trained and polite, the equipment functional, and the voting results promptly counted and properly transmitted. When the final tally was announced, both winners and losers behaved with grace and equanimity. read more » By Christian Hennemeyer May 12, 2009

Lebanon's Upcoming Elections: Excuse Me, Can You Explain That One More Time

"The person who thinks they understand the Lebanese election system is the person who never will." This bit of wisdom is often heard in coffee shops across Beirut as seasoned coffee-shop commentators attempt to explain read more » By Richard Chambers and Deen Sharp May 12, 2009

The Africa Bug

They say that once you are bitten by the Africa Bug, you’ll never turn back. At first I wondered what exactly this Africa Bug was…wasn’t I taking Malarone pills for the past month to avoid getting any bugs? read more » By Elizabeth Reiter May 12, 2009

Witnessing the 4th of India's 5 Election Phases

India, which proudly calls itself the world's largest democracy, goes to the polls in phases. Today was the 4th in a series of 5 phases. read more » By Vasu Mohan May 08, 2009

Cell Protest in Georgia

The political situation in Georgia, where protestors are adamantly calling for the resignation of president Saakashvili, is in as much of a deadlock as the city center streets now blocked by the protesters' sleeping cells. read more » May 05, 2009

IFES Experts Comment on South African Election

Chris Hennemeyer, from Nairobi, sums up his thoughts on the South African election and offers insight into Zuma’s upcoming administration. read more » April 23, 2009

Guinea Struggles to Register Voters

After years of trials and tribulations, including the death of a president, a military coup, political deadlock, and general strikes, Guinea is a few days away from having a new voter registry. read more » April 17, 2009

BRIDGE in Angola

Chiefs of Logistics departments from each of Angola's 18 provinces, joined headquarters staff and commissioners in the scenic town of Sumbe, in West-Central Angola to take part in a three-day BRIDGE seminar. read more » April 17, 2009

Electoral Reform in Nigeria: "Business as Usual" Throttles Hope

The report commissioned by Nigeria's President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua in August 2008 to improve the country's electoral system was released three months ago, but the public has not yet had full access to it. The Uwais report, so- called because the former Chief Justice Muhammadu Lawal Uwais led the 22-member Electoral Reform Committee (ERC) read more » April 16, 2009

IFES Launches Project to Empower Women in the Middle East

The Status of Women in the Middle East and North Africa (SWMENA), a project to improve the legal, political and social standing of women, is underway. IFES, the Institute of Women's Policy Research (IWPR) and the Canadian Parliamentary Center (CPC), the partners in this endeavor, hope that the project will remove read more » April 16, 2009

Mentors and Mariachi: Field Assignment in Mexico

My first IFES field assignment was in Mexico City, the city of my birth. IFES was commissioned by the Mexican electoral institute (Instituto Federal Electoral—IFE) to assess the controversial election law reforms introduced following the incendiary 2006 presidential election. read more » April 16, 2009

Twitter and Democracy

I was recently on the Kojo Nnamdi show on National Public Radio with Wired magazine's Nathan Hodge: we were invited to discuss the political impact of the micro-blogging platform Twitter read more » April 16, 2009

Indonesian Elections: The Case for Sustained Democracy Assistance

Indonesia has made great democratic strides in the decade since the fall of the Suharto regime in 1999. It has embarked on a parallel path of economic modernization and strengthened democracy ... read more » April 09, 2009

Q & A on the Moldovan Elections with Staffan Darnolf, IFES Chief of Party in Moldova

Moldova, one of the poorest countries in Europe and one of the few former members of the Soviet Union that have continued to strive towards democracy, is facing a challenging time in the aftermath of its April 5th parliamentary election. read more » April 08, 2009

Observing Moldova's Election

The Republic of Moldova went to the polls on Sunday, April 5, 2009, to elect a new parliament. Through the Overseas Country Voting program, Moldovan citizens in the United States were able to cast their votes in the Washington, DC embassy read more » April 07, 2009

IFES Honors Bill Schneider

The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) presented a one-time award to CNN's Bill Schneider for his extensive coverage and keen insight of the 2008 United States presidential elections. Video ... read more » April 01, 2009

Winners of the 2009 IFES Photo Competition

The winners and finalists of the 2009 IFES photo competition have been announced. read more » March 27, 2009

Tilting at Foreign Aid Windmills?

There has been a lot of discussion in the DC foreign policy circuit about a possible "comprehensive foreign aid rewrite." Details, however, as to what exactly this means, whether it will happen and how it would get done are lacking. read more » March 24, 2009

Guinea's Opportunity

For years during Lansana Conte's predatory tenure as Guinea's president, the Guinean population and the international observers familiar with the country's politics wondered how the country would ever emerge from the pit dug by Conte's regime. read more » March 24, 2009

Effects of Benazir Bhutto's Assassination on Election Efforts in Pakistan

It was the day when our team completed placing the details of 81 million voters on the Internet ahead of the general elections scheduled for January 8, 2008. read more » March 23, 2009

Boundary Delimitation in Palestinian Territories Paves Way for Electoral Reform

Elections for local councils in the Palestinian territories that began to be implemented in 2004 and 2005 have been riddled with challenges. read more » March 23, 2009

Lebanese Parliament Begins Process to Lower Voting Age to 18

On March 19, 2009, the Lebanese parliament voted unanimously to adopt a constitutional law to reduce the voting age in Lebanon from 21 years to 18 years. The adoption of this constitutional law is the first step in a four-stage process to amend the Lebanese Constitution and formally establish the new voting age. read more » March 23, 2009

Youth Democracy Awareness Program in Lebanon

On March 19, 2009, the Lebanese parliament voted unanimously to adopt a constitutional law reducing the voting age from 21 years to 18 years. The law will now be forwarded to the Council of Ministers for further consideration. read more » March 18, 2009

IFES Honors International Women's Day

As the world gets ready to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, IFES’ current projects in Afghanistan, India and many other countries remind us that while a lot has been accomplished, there is still a long way to go. read more » March 06, 2009

IFES Philippines Creates Awareness For the Electoral Participation of Vulnerable Electoral Populations

In an effort to increase the participation of all sectors of the Philippine population in elections, the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR), together with its partners the Task Force 2010 and IFES, hosted a public presentation of the book read more » February 26, 2009

Ghana Rekindles Hope in African Democracy

Since its inception over two centuries ago, the United States has served as the principal working model for the peaceful transfer of democratic power. When Barak Obama took the oath of office read more » Chris Hennemeyer and Skye Christensen February 11, 2009

IFES-Afghanistan Advances in its Mission to Empower Women Voters

IFES' projects in Afghanistan, implemented through the CEPPS (Consortium for Electoral and Political Process Strengthening) and STEP (Support to the Electoral Process in Afghanistan) programs read more » February 10, 2009

Spotlight on Nigeria's Electoral Reform Process

There is overwhelming consensus among Nigerians that the electoral system is in dire need of reform. Since its inception, Nigeria's democracy has been riddled with difficulties and many of its elections read more » February 10, 2009

Where Does the Obama Administration Stand on Democracy?

Where is the Obama administration heading when it comes to foreign policy – and particularly where does it stand on democracy promotion and support? On the campaign trail, the new President repeatedly emphasized his intention to expand U.S. diplomacy read more » February 09, 2009

IFES and the Carter Center Host Groundbreaking Meeting on Campaign Finance

IFES and the Carter Center hosted a groundbreaking two-day conference on international campaign finance observation. The event, the first of its kind, was attended by more than 20 top scholars read more » February 02, 2009

Ballots arrive to Iraq: Governorate Council Elections to take place on January 31, 2009

Voting materials for Iraq's 2009 Governorate Council elections arrived by air-cargo into three major airports for distribution throughout the country. IFES' Team Leader read more » January 28, 2009

Lebanon Announces Measure to Ensure Participation of the Disabled in Elections

On January 20, the Minister of Interior of the Republic of Lebanon, H.E. Mr Ziyad Baroud, announced a draft decree to ensure the full participation of persons with disabilities in the electoral process. read more » January 23, 2009

Advocating for Democracy

In the past few months IFES has revamped and expanded its communications and advocacy efforts and added staff to its outreach department. read more » January 21, 2009

IFES-Pakistan Presents the Conclusions of Its Study on Election Dispute Resolution

On December 22, 2008, IFES-Pakistan presented the conclusions of its study on the mechanisms for resolving challenges to election results in Pakistan following the February 2008 election. read more » January 21, 2009

World Economic Crisis Impacts Elections in Latin America and the Caribbean

Democracy can be bolstered by aiding nations in their democratic processes. In the mid-1980's, international assistance began to be given to countries to build or consolidate democracy. This assistance included funding, read more » January 21, 2009

Burundi State Auditor and Civic Groups Look Back on Successful Anti-corruption Training

Eighteen months ago, a new Burundian State Inspector General's office entered the troubled political landscape of one of the world's most corrupt states armed with a broad mandate and a committed staff. read more » January 21, 2009

New Chairman for IFES

The world's premiere non-partisan election-assistance non-profit, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, announced today a change in its leadership with the current vice-chairman, Peter G. Kelly, becoming chairman and the outgoing chairman, William J. Hybl, becoming vice-chairman. read more » January 15, 2009

Post-election Violence Follows Historic Bangladeshi Poll

The December 29 elections in Bangladesh have been reported as free, fair and peaceful by international and domestic observer groups including the Asian Network for Free and Fair Elections (ANFREL) and the European Union. read more » January 06, 2009