Electoral Law
Clear legal frameworks are essential for the protection of fundamental suffrage rights, the design and implementation of effective electoral systems, and the efficient and transparent management of elections. Drawing on international law, best practices and comparative experience, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) works globally with local partners in the design and reform of electoral systems and the legal and regulatory frameworks that govern their implementation – ultimately promoting the effectiveness and credibility of democratic institutions and processes.
As a learning organization, IFES has an internal Knowledge Management Initiative Working Group on Electoral Integrity, Law and Anti-Corruption to help grow the research, tools and technical expertise we offer our partners worldwide.
Related Experts See All IFES Experts
Vice President, Global Strategy and Technical Leadership
Director, Center for Applied Research and Learning
Senior Global Legal Advisor; Director, Center for Anti-Corruption and Democratic Trust
Related Content
26 Sep 2010 | Multimedia
In this podcast, the first in a series of three podcasts on election fraud, Rafael Lopez-Pintor, tells us what election fraud is and how it can be prosecuted in legal courts.
23 Sep 2010 | News and Updates
After decades of dictatorship and military rule, Guinea is on the verge of becoming a true democracy. The last remaining hurdles on its path to legitimate elections are corrections that must be...
12 Sep 2010 | Publication
Le Projet Amatora Mu Mahoro est une initiative commune d’une dizaine organisations nationales et internationales dont l’objet était le monitoring des principes démocratiques et la prévention de la...
23 Aug 2010 | Publication
Lobbying is a critical component of the democratic process. The essence of representative government is that policymakers should be representing the needs of their constituencies when they pass...
15 Aug 2010 | Publication
Le quatrième rapport Amatora Mu Mahoro (AMM), présente une analyse des incidents et des indicateurs de violence électorale, ainsi que des initiatives de paix, survenus sur l’ensemble du territoire...
20 Jul 2010 | Multimedia
On Sunday, 27 June 2010 Kyrgyzstan held a referendum to consider adopting a new constitution. The referendum, administered by a new (interim) Central Election Commission (CEC), was held just 80...
4 Jul 2010 | Publication
Le troisième rapport Amatora Mu Mahoro (AMM), présente une analyse des incidents et des indicateurs de violence électorale, ainsi que des initiatives de paix, survenus sur l’ensemble du territoire du...
22 Jun 2010 | News and Updates
RABAT—A national survey on attitudes towards the political, economic, social and legal status of women in Morocco released today by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and...
9 Jun 2010 | Publication
Under the leadership of President Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian Authority’s Cabinet called the 2004 local elections, managed under the authority of the Ministry of Local Government in three...
30 May 2010 | Publication
Le projet Amatora Mu Mahoro présente son deuxième rapport dans un contexte d’impasse politique et d’insécurité grandissante. Ce deuxième rapport se base sur les résultats des indicateurs...
25 May 2010 | News and Updates
Earlier this month, the International Criminal Court ( ICC) arrived in Kenya to begin investigating the election violence following the December 2008 election. The bloodshed left at least 1,100...
24 May 2010 | Multimedia
On May 24, 2010, communal elections, the first in a series of polls that will take place in Burundi this summer, were held. This series of elections are the first to be implemented in Burundi since...
17 May 2010 | Publication
Le projet Amatora Mu Mahoro, fruit d’un effort conjoint de plus d’une dizaine organisations nationales et internationales1, identifie les zones vulnérables à la violence électorale ainsi que les...
15 May 2010 | Publication
On April 26, 2010, the Interim Government of Kyrgyzstan, which took control of the country following early April protests that drove former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev from office, unveiled a new...
11 May 2010 | Publication
The second interim report on monitoring the use of administrative resources for election
campaign covers the period of time between 15 March and 5 May 2010 and focuses on the four
main types of...
8 May 2010 | Multimedia
In anticipation of local elections at the end of the month, IFES organized and sponsored live, televised candidate debates for the post of mayor of Tbilisi, Georgia, together with Georgian Public...
26 Apr 2010 | News and Updates
Transcript of Podcast with Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Paul Anderson and election lawyer and recount expert John “Jack” Harding Young discussing their experience working in the Philippines with...
23 Apr 2010 | Multimedia
Putting behind ten years of civil war, IFES–Burundi has launched a massive electoral violence prevention program. The centerpiece of the program is the IFES EVER election violence prevention early...
22 Apr 2010 | Multimedia
Starting at the end of May and through early September, Burundi will hold its first set of elections since all rebel movements laid down their arms and officially ended Burundi’s long civil war. “If...
22 Apr 2010 | News and Updates
Amatora Mu Mahoro (Elections in Peace), Burundi's first-ever nationwide election violence prevention system, launches today in the capital, Bujumbura. The system identifies areas susceptible to...
20 Apr 2010 | Multimedia
IFES-Burundi held the second in a series of BRIDGE trainings in Rutana, Burundi from April 6-9. The event brought together twenty-five members of Burundi's national and provincial electoral...
30 Mar 2010 | Multimedia
On Wednesday, March 24, 2010, Almami Cyllah, IFES regional director for Africa, testified before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health on democracy in the African...
29 Mar 2010 | Publication
There has been an unprecedented increase in the funding allocated to local government entities in
Georgia’s state budget ahead of the 2010 local elections. The total transfers to local government...
1 Mar 2010 | News and Updates
Iraqi citizens living abroad will be able to vote for Iraq's Council of Representatives
18 Feb 2010 | Publication
The Status of Women in the Middle East and North Africa (SWMENA) is a gender-focused research project that evaluates the status of women in three countries: Lebanon, Morocco, and Yemen. SWMENA is a...
18 Feb 2010 | Publication
The SWMENA survey investigated the extent to which women in Lebanon felt they enjoyed freedom of movement without pressures from family or society. The survey also examined general attitudes...
18 Feb 2010 | Publication
This topic brief presents key findings about asset control based on data from the 2009 SWMENA survey in Lebanon. It includes an analysis of women’s control over assets, focusing on how earnings are...
18 Feb 2010 | Publication
The SWMENA survey investigated the extent to which women in Lebanon felt they enjoyed freedom of movement without pressures from family or society. The survey also examined general attitudes...
18 Feb 2010 | Publication
This topic brief presents the main findings from the SWMENA survey in Lebanon on civic and political participation. It includes an analysis of civic engagement through membership in different types...
18 Feb 2010 | Publication
This topic brief presents key findings on women and men’s economic and educational status based on data from the SWMENA survey in Lebanon. It includes an analysis of women’s economic status,...
18 Feb 2010 | Publication
This topic brief presents the main findings from the SWMENA survey in Lebanon on people’s attitudes towards policy change. The survey elicited opinions on possible law reforms that have the...
17 Feb 2010 | News and Updates
BEIRUT—Key findings from a national survey on Lebanese political attitudes and practices were released today by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). The data gives much...
26 Jan 2010 | Publication
The data collected after Kosovo’s first elections since declaring independence offer a unique snapshot of a young country optimistic, yet continuing to struggle with economic issues and divisions...
25 Jan 2010 | Multimedia
IFES assisted Kosovo's Central Election Commission (CEC) with a broad set of election assistance programming for Kosovo's first independent election on November 15, 2009. These images were taken at...
18 Dec 2009 | Multimedia
IFES participated in the Colloquium on African Elections: Best Practices and Cross-Sectoral Collaboration, which brought together pivotal election stakeholders from across the continent to assess...
19 Nov 2009 | Publication
Political Finance Regulation: The Global Experience offers insight into how the often-muddy intersection between money and politics can be regulated, taking into account the experiences of...
8 Nov 2009 | Publication
Five months after the June 7 elections, and following protracted wrangling between the different Lebanese political factions over the allocation of portfolios, the proposed members of the Council...
6 Nov 2009 | Multimedia
In support of Aceh's Independent Election Commission's (KIP) media center activities, IFES-Indonesia commissioned a photo competition to highlight some of the remarkable moments seen during the first...
7 Oct 2009 | News and Updates
IFES has signed a cooperative agreement with Kosovo's Central Elections Commission (CEC) to provide technical support to the CEC for its November 15th elections.
2 Sep 2009 | Publication
On June 7, 2009, Lebanon held parliamentary elections that resulted in a majority of 71 deputies and an opposition of 57 deputies. Each coalition is composed of different political parties and...
1 Aug 2009 | Publication
In this report Dr. Magnus Ohman provides an analysis of the oversight mechanisms put in place for the 2009 Parliamentary elections in Lebanon.
21 Jul 2009 | Publication
An innovative, first-of-its-kind publication that explores the role of public funding in democracy development in Muslim-majority countries is being released today by the International Foundation for...
29 Jun 2009 | Publication
Media reports as well as statements by President Abbas, Fatah and Hamas leaders indicate that Palestinian factions have agreed to hold elections in January 2010, even if agreements on other issues...
8 Jun 2009 | Multimedia
IFES staff members capture images from the highly anticipated Lebanese parliamentary elections. Unexpectedly, the March 14th parliamentary block, not Hezbollah's coalition, won the majority of the...
2 Jun 2009 | Multimedia
On May 18 – 19, 2009, IFES and International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance co-hosted a working group of political finance and BRIDGE experts to begin the development process for a...
31 May 2009 | Election Material
“Massive Registration Today” is a periodical article, available in Spanish, published in June 1990 by “El Comercio” newspaper in Ecuador. The article features the coverage of child elections...
26 May 2009 | Publication
On May 26, 2009, the Lebanese Council of Ministers appointed by unanimous vote the last remaining members of the Constitutional Council. The Constitutional Council is established under Article 19...
13 May 2009 | Publication
IFES-Lebanon has released the third briefing paper for the June 7, 2009 Lebanese election. This latest paper provides information about the parties that make up the two blocks or alliances in...
26 Feb 2009 | News and Updates
IFES has been awarded a multi-million dollar contract by USAID to support the electoral process in Sudan. The three-year program is aimed at helping the Sudanese electoral administration deliver...
15 Feb 2009 | Publication
This report details the findings from the Election Violence Education and Resolution (EVER) program, designed by IFES and implemented by Odhikar
15 Feb 2009 | News and Updates
The political violence following Bangladesh's historic December 2008 parliamentary election shows that the use of aggression as a political tool is still prevalent; political parties are...