Electoral Management
The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) works to capture, develop and share knowledge on effective electoral management and leadership as key factors in achieving credible electoral environments that contribute to good governance, stability and development. Electoral management entails effectively organizing a high quality election process. Electoral leadership is the ability to project and inspire competence, productivity, ethical behavior and trust. IFES uses a range of tools to achieve these objectives, including: in-depth assessments, research and lessons-learned exercises; evidence-based assistance to election management bodies; visionary electoral reform and strategic/operational planning; genuine collaboration between all key electoral stakeholders; and, progressive capacity-building on all of the above disciplines to strengthen current and future electoral leaders.
Related Experts See All IFES Experts
Vice President, Programs
Principal Advisor, IFES, and Senior Country Director, Ukraine
Senior Global Advisor, Electoral Operations and Administration
Related Content
8 Mar 2018 | News and Updates
Ahead of Sri Lanka's February 2018 local government election, IFES carried out a women’s leadership program, She Leads SL, that equipped 458 Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim women with practical campaign...
5 Mar 2018 | News and Updates
IFES Vice President of Programs Michael Svetlik's piece, "Election assistance is not election interference," was published by The Hill on Friday, March 2.
2 Mar 2018 | Election FAQ
On March 7, Sierra Leone held general elections, with voters choosing their next president and representatives in Parliament and local councils. The elections represent the fifth straight...
28 Feb 2018 | Election FAQ
Pakistan will hold Senate elections on March 3 to fill 52 seats vacated by retiring senators at the end of their six-year term. To help you understand this important electoral process, IFES...
21 Feb 2018 | News and Updates
To achieve more collaboration and participation between citizens and the government, Guatemala has committed to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption and use technology to...
21 Feb 2018 | News and Updates
On February 12, IFES Africa Director Rushdi Nackerdien briefed the United Nations Security Council during an Arria Formula Meeting on “The Electoral Process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”...
14 Feb 2018 | Multimedia
Sri Lanka’s February 10, 2018 local government election introduced numerous changes to the electoral system. Under its U.S. Agency for International Development-funded “Improved Election Management...
13 Feb 2018 | News and Updates
On May 6, 2018, Tunisia will democratically elect 350 municipal councils for the first time. This landmark election will set the country’s decentralization into motion. In this context, IFES worked...
12 Feb 2018 | News and Updates
The upcoming May 6 municipal elections in Tunisia will mark the first time citizens will democratically elect their local leaders and launch the decentralization process in the country. IFES employed...
12 Feb 2018 | News and Updates
In addition to traditional voter education, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems' “Kenya Electoral Assistance Program” (KEAP) used creative ways to educate the public ahead of the...
5 Feb 2018 | Election FAQ
On February 10, Sri Lanka held elections for all of its 341 local government bodies, after a two-year delay due in part to the adoption of a new, mixed-member proportional (MMP) system and the...
2 Feb 2018 | News and Updates
In many ways, elections are a central component in cycles of systemic corruption. IFES conducted a two-year research project to develop an assessment methodology to evaluate the effectiveness of a...
2 Feb 2018 | Election FAQ
Elections for Nepal’s National Assembly, the upper house of the bicameral Federal Parliament, will be held on February 7. The National Assembly is comprised of 59 members, with eight elected from...
31 Jan 2018 | Multimedia
IFES works closely with the Association of Youth Organizations Nepal (AYON), a national network of youth-led organizations. AYON recently created a “I Vote Because” campaign and facilitated a mock...
31 Jan 2018 | Publication
As part of its annual report, the Wilson Center Africa Program asked IFES Regional Director for Africa Rushdi Nackerdien to contribute an essay on recent African elections. His piece, “The Elections...
29 Jan 2018 | News and Updates
Sri Lanka’s upcoming local government election will introduce numerous changes to the electoral system. The public will need to be informed of these changes in a balanced, impartial and fair manner....
24 Jan 2018 | News and Updates
In order to achieve effective and professional election management, election administrators’ capacity must be continually prioritized and developed. From August 30-31, 2017, IFES Building...
11 Jan 2018 | News and Updates
On January 10, 2018, IFES Vice President of Programs Michael Svetlik provided testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. He was invited to speak to Members of...
20 Dec 2017 | Multimedia
IFES Liberia's “Elections and You” success story features Korta Togba, of the New Liberia Media Initiative, explaining how IFES’ support enabled messages about the importance of peaceful elections to...
19 Dec 2017 | Election FAQ
On October 10, more than 1.64 million Liberians cast their ballots for a new president from among 20 candidates. To help you understand this important electoral process, IFES provides Frequently...
14 Dec 2017 | News and Updates
As a global leader in democracy promotion, IFES recognizes the importance of cultivating the next generation of leaders and voters. In the spirit of cultivating this leadership more locally, IFES...
8 Dec 2017 | News and Updates
IFES conducted interviews with representatives from the three different Macedonian electoral management bodies (EMBs) to understand from their perspective the status of women’s political...
6 Dec 2017 | News and Updates
Sri Lanka looks to hold local government elections in early 2018, which will introduce thousands of new women leaders as the country implements its first-ever women’s quota. There is a critical need...
30 Nov 2017 | Multimedia
On November 26, 2017, Nepal held the first phase of its first national and state-level legislature elections since the promulgation of its new constitution on September 20, 2015. Voters headed to one...
22 Nov 2017 | News and Updates
On November 15, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.) and IFES organized a briefing to discuss violence against women in the workplace on Capitol Hill. Taking a cross-cutting perspective on the...
21 Nov 2017 | Election FAQ
On November 26 and December 7, 2017, Nepal held its first national and state-level legislature elections since the promulgation of its new constitution on September 20, 2015. To help you...
20 Nov 2017 | Election FAQ
On November 26, Hondurans will vote in general elections for regional, national and local officials. To help you understand this important electoral process, the IFES provides Frequently Asked...
9 Nov 2017 | News and Updates
On November 7, 2017, IFES Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Zeinab Abdelkarim provided testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa....
9 Nov 2017 | News and Updates
On October 12-13, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) held a Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections (BRIDGE) training on “Disability Rights, Media, and...
3 Nov 2017 | News and Updates
Iraq has undergone dramatic change in the past decade. The U.S.-led war in Iraq that began in 2003, and the subsequent de-Ba’athification process led by the Coalition Provisional Authority, spike in...
2 Nov 2017 | News and Updates
Mike Yard is a recognized international election administration and technology expert with over 25 years of experience. He has advised election authorities in over 15 countries and served as the...
25 Oct 2017 | Election FAQ
On October 26, Kenyan voters will return to the polls for rerun presidential elections following a Supreme Court ruling that annulled the results of the August 8 presidential elections. To help...
21 Oct 2017 | Election FAQ
On October 21, Georgians will go to the polls to elect their municipal government representatives. Across Georgia, citizens will elect 2,058 council members to 64 local councils (sakrebulos) of self-...
19 Oct 2017 | News and Updates
In this Q&A, IFES Senior Gender Specialist Dr. Gabrielle Bardall, who rejoined the organization this month, discusses how academics and development practitioners can work together to promote...
18 Oct 2017 | News and Updates
After decades of conflict and civil war, Liberia’s October 2017 landmark general elections represent a critical juncture for the country’s democracy. Liberians are poised to witness the first...
16 Oct 2017 | Election FAQ
Kosovo will hold elections on October 22, to elect municipal mayors and municipal assembly deputies in all 38 districts. Run-off elections will be held on November 19 in municipalities where no...
13 Oct 2017 | Election FAQ
On October 15, the Kyrgyz Republic will hold presidential elections. The election will take place in the context of legal changes introduced by the 2016 constitutional referendum and the 2017...
10 Oct 2017 | Election FAQ
On October 15, Macedonians will vote for mayors and municipal councilors in the country’s 80 municipalities and the City of Skopje. If needed, second-round elections will be held on October 29, 2017.
9 Oct 2017 | Multimedia
Conducting elections in Liberia is a challenging endeavor. Along with a lack of basic transportation and communications infrastructure, over half the population (53%) is illiterate. As such, civic...
8 Oct 2017 | News and Updates
In this Q&A, days ahead of Liberia’s pivotal general elections, IFES Liberia Chief of Party Parvinder Singh discusses the challenges of conducting elections in Liberia, IFES’ work with the...
6 Oct 2017 | News and Updates
On September 13, 2017, International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) Regional Director for Africa Rushdi Nackerdien provided testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa,...
3 Oct 2017 | Election FAQ
On October 10, Liberians will vote for president and vice president, as well as all 73 seats in the House of Representatives. Twenty candidates will vie for the presidency and 980 will compete for...
27 Sep 2017 | News and Updates
In a key note speech in Mexico City, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Ambar Zobairi highlighted IFES' Violence Against Women in Elections (VAWIE) Framework and five...
15 Sep 2017 | News and Updates
“A hackathon creates a space for exchanging ideas and expanding your network,” declared Ahmed, a Tunisian from the Nabeul governorate who participated in IFES' first Hack4Democracy (H4D) camp. “At...
27 Aug 2017 | News and Updates
An IFES quantitative survey, conducted from December 2016 to January 2017, aimed to gain a better understanding of illiterate Tunisians’ levels of political participation and civic engagement and...
24 Aug 2017 | News and Updates
In this Q&A, Sansour discusses IFES’ efforts in assisting the ISIE establish the Media Center. He has extensive experience with Media Centers and has worked with election commissions on such...
15 Aug 2017 | News and Updates
To further strengthen its collaboration with the National Electoral Institute (Instituto Nacional Electoral [INE]), IFES has renewed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Mexican electoral...
15 Aug 2017 | News and Updates
On June 28, 2017, IFES Chief of Party Haiti Alessandra Rossi visited Voice of America (VOA), a multi-media broadcasting service that provides news to countries across the world in 40 different...
8 Aug 2017 | News and Updates
In Georgia, IFES has partnered with 27 institutions of higher learning to implement a fully accredited university-level civic education course; there are more than 7,000 course alumni throughout the...
4 Aug 2017 | Multimedia
In this edition of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems' (IFES) "Dialogues on Democracy," Editorial and Communications Manager Adam Gallagher speaks with IFES Haiti Chief of Party...
24 Jul 2017 | Election FAQ
On July 30, Senegalese voters will elect the 150 members of the National Assembly. In total, 47 lists of parties and coalitions will present candidates for election. Elections in the National...