Election Investigations

In December 2020, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) released an elections investigation guidebook – Standards, Techniques and Resources for Investigating Disputes in Elections (STRIDE). STRIDE was designed to address the unique challenges inherent in election investigations and fact-finding processes, including the expedited timelines associated with election cases that may span both administrative, civil, and criminal violations. STRIDE outlines standards for election investigations and presents concrete recommendations to implement these standards in practice. As such, it serves as a comprehensive tool for practitioners—including law enforcement, prosecutors, members of the judiciary system, and officials of electoral authorities—who are responsible for carrying out these time-bound, sensitive, and complex investigations.

In the five years since STRIDE was published, electoral dispute resolution (EDR) practitioners have had to confront an increasingly complex landscape, in particular due to rising hybrid threats in the digital space. Elections are more litigious than ever, with contestants, parties, and even voters lodging complaints and legal challenges in courts. Election management bodies (EMBs), investigative authorities, and judges in election cases face high caseloads, tight deadlines, polarized political environments, and increasing suspicion regarding the integrity of the electoral process itself. These stressors are exacerbated by online mis- and disinformation targeting both members of electoral institutions and the electoral process itself, cyber-attacks, and interference from malign actors including of a foreign nature. Despite these challenges, carrying out robust, timely, and efficient investigations remains essential to ensure accountability, maintain election integrity, and uphold the rule of law.

In this paper, we seek to tackle these emerging issues related to elections investigations, highlighting cases where new technologies facilitate electoral violations that were not yet prevalent when STRIDE was published. This includes election integrity and foreign interference threats related to the misuse of state resources, widespread disinformation campaigns on social media, illicit political finance, and cyber tactics for electoral manipulation. This report is meant to complement STRIDE, leveraging the standards and best practice highlighted in the guidebook, to assess recent developments in electoral crimes and corruption, the new challenges faced by investigative and enforcement bodies, and the innovative practices they use to address these challenges.