The Southern Voices Network for Peacebuilding: Centering African knowledge and agency is key to building and sustaining peace in Africa. The Southern Voices Network for Peacebuilding (SVNP) works with the Wilson Center’s Africa Program to attain the most appropriate, cohesive, and inclusive policy frameworks and approaches for achieving sustainable peace in Africa. Generously sponsored by Carnegie Corporation of New York since its establishment in 2011, the SVNP works to generate African knowledge to inform US and international peacebuilding policies on Africa; help build the next generation of African peacebuilders through its scholarship program; and create a pan-African network of African peacebuilding organizations, practitioners, and experts to collaborate and share knowledge, best practices, and lessons learned on peacebuilding in Africa. This publication was made possible by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York. The statements made and views expressed in this paper are solely the responsibility of the author and do not represent the views of the Wilson Center or Carnegie Corporation of New York. For more information please visit:https://www.wilsoncenter.org/the-southern-voices-network-for-peacebuilding
Introduction
International election observation missions (IEOMs) have recently been criticized for failing to make any meaningful contribution to the institutionalization of democracy in Africa. The recent spate of unconstitutional changes of government, voter apathy, and extension of presidential term limits point to a reversal of the democratic gains of the 1990s, when African countries seemed to turn decisively towards multi-party elections as the only means through which political power could be attained. What is more, election violence continues to permeate electoral processes. Public faith in these processes has taken a battering across the continent. All this has occurred despite regular observation of electoral processes by international observer missions, operating with the declared goal of promoting democratic principles and governance in Africa. International election observers are meant to support democratization through bolstering confidence in electoral processes and deterring electoral fraud, manipulation and violence. That Africa appears to be tacking away from these broad aims has helped put domestic election observation (DEO) in the spotlight, as the better alternative. In support of an enhanced role for domestic observers, the Carter Center’s veteran election observer, David Carroll, notes that ‘in the international democracy promotion community, we are increasingly aware that the future is domestic observation — it has to be, everybody knows that’ [1]. The recent domestic turn in the discourse of election observation nonetheless belies significant capacity, logistical, political and legitimacy challenges that characterize the work of domestic observer groups. Networks like the Global Network of Domestic Election Monitoring (GNDEM) seek to address the shortcomings of the two approaches of election observation through collaboration amongst global domestic observer groups and regional organisations. Instead of thinking about the democratic and peacebuilding potential of international, and domestic election observation in binary terms, this policy brief suggests various options for greater synergy between them.
The Crisis Of International Election Observation And The Domestic Turn In The Discourse Of Election Observation
Scholars such as Khabele Matlosa have highlighted the outbreak of COVID-19— when international observers could not deploy observer missions for 2020 elections—as a lesson for enhancing homegrown resilient
STRENGTHENING DEMOCRACY IN AFRICA THROUGH ELECTION OBSERVATION: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GREATER SYNERGY BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC MISSIONS
By Kgalalelo Nganje, Southern Voices Network for Peacebuilding Scholar January 2024
Policy Brief No. 29
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institutions or initiatives [2]. The longstanding dissatisfaction, however, stems from the short period of deployment by international election observer missions. Generally, their mandate ranges from three to six months [3]. This limits the period of engagements with electoral stakeholders, the appreciation of an entire electoral cycle and electoral framework or institutional capacity of the host country [4]. This has contributed to incumbent governments’ manipulation of aspects of the electoral process—gerrymandering and voter registration—that external observers will not make pronouncements on. International election observation has also been criticised for endorsing unworthy governments. This was highlighted in Kenya in 2017 and Malawi in 2019 when international elections gave a stamp of approval to the electoral processes only for citizens to successfully contest the outcomes through their own courts [5]. Related to this is the divergent statements that IEOMs sometimes issue. Prominent among such examples is when statements by The Carter Center and the EU regarding the validity of Ethiopia’s 2005 elections clashed sharply [6]. Domestic observation is often advanced as an alternative on the basis that it engenders local ownership of democracy promotion efforts, given civil society organizations’ embeddedness in the political environment. To be sure, domestic observer missions are usually larger in number, have a better understanding of the local culture and context, and are able to observe the electoral processes from the beginning to the end. They also have a long-held advocacy role, as a non-partisan organization, for political reforms [7]. The Christian Churches Monitoring Group (CCMG), who cleverly established a parallel vote tabulation (PVT) in Zambia’s 2021 poll, is credited for helping make that election successful [8]. During Mozambique’s 2009 elections, domestic observers were lauded for their effectiveness in deterring electoral fraud [9]. In Ghana, the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) has helped instil public confidence and enhance transparency of the electoral process, as well as helping to increase the acceptability of election outcomes [10]. YIAGA Africa, in Nigeria, is leading exemplarily in observing elections in the region, as it did recently in Liberia, while facilitating institutional cross-pollination of ideas [11]. The proximity of domestic election observer missions to the political environment, and their involvement in preparation of a democratic election through civic and voter education, arguable make their findings and recommendations more authoritative.
Challenges In DEO And The Need For Greater Synergy With IEOM
Yet domestic election observation is not without its shortcomings, too. Their work is often constrained by insufficient resources and shortages of skills and expertise. As such, they rely heavily on international actors [12]. They also face much greater threats to their security than international election observers, due to their perceived ‘pro-opposition’ bias [13]. The arrest of 41 domestic poll monitors during the August 2023 elections in Zimbabwe is a recent case in point [14]. Attempts to delegitimise domestic observers can come in less repressive but no less insidious forms, such as denying them official accreditation. The forgoing challenges clearly highlight the need for greater synergy between domestic and international election observer groups or organizations. As Matlosa rightly highlights, ‘internationally driven election observations enjoy huge advantages over domestically driven ones in the areas of funding, training, and logistics’ [15’]. They can provide financial support to local observer missions, which extends to building the infrastructure of civil society organizations to observe elections. IEO also provides knowledge and skills on what the good standards and practices are for democratic elections, and apply pressure where needed on the issue of accreditation [16]. On the security and safety aspect, international election observer missions provide security and protection for domestic groups. In 2000, during the Zimbabwe elections, the European Union concluded that ‘the presence of a substantial number of international observers throughout the country was important in reducing tensions and calming conflict at a local level’ [17]. And, it could added, help domestic observers do their job.
Policy Options and Recommendations
Greater synergy between the two approaches of election observation in Africa should be prioritized to,
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ultimately, improve Africa’s democratic trajectory. The following recommendations are made in this regard: 1. For Donor Governments• Funding for election observation activities should be contingent upon evidence of enhanced collaboration between INGOs and domestic civil society organizations that observe elections, in order to achieve greater synergy.2. For African Inter-Governmental Organizations • African Inter-Governmental Organizations need to incorporate and enforce safety and security measures in their normative/legal frameworks to safeguard freedoms and operations of election observer missions. Observer missions’ experiences of insecurity affect their operations and by establishing and enforcing laws that protect them from governments’ interference will not only increase their effectiveness but also the credibility of their work. 3. For International Observers (INGOs) and Domestic Observers• Establish an integrated partnership that takes the advantages of each approach and creates something greater than the sum of its parts. This integrated approach will inform issuing of joint election assessments, the use of the same legal framework, the reliance on non-partisan domestic civil society organizations, post-election assessments, regular follow-up on recommendations, to name a few elements. This approach will reinforce each’s credibility and help synchronize their findings for better interventions and advocacy.• Domestic Civil Society Organizations should hold leadership roles in international observation missions they are often co-opted into, since they provide indispensable knowledge of the political, legal and institutional context in which findings are made. DEOs also increase chances of the electorate to trust the process more when they know people who regularly advocate for transformation are leading an observation mission.4. For Host/Observed Governments• African governments need to be sanctioned for not adhering to legal frameworks that govern elections. By ensuring they do so, the work of election observers are legitimized and recommendations for democratic consolidation can’t be ignored.
1. David Carroll, as quoted in Eric Bjornlund, et. al, “Lessons from the Ground: What Have We Learned? What Do We Do next? Roundtable Discussion” in Pippa Norris, Richard W Frank Frank and Ferran Martinez i Coma (eds), Advancing Electoral Integrity (Oxford University Press 2014) 275.2. Khabele Matlosa, “Pouring Salt into the Wound: The Crisis of International Election Observation and COVID-19 in Africa,” Journal of Asian and African Studies, 56:8 (2021)1977. 3. Robert Macdonald & Thomas Molony, “Can domestic observers serve as impartial arbiters?: evidence from Zambia’s 2021 elections.4. Eric Bjournlund, “Beyond free and fair” Washington DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, (2004), 161-162.5. European Union, “EU election observation mission,” Press Release,(2019). And MatlosaIbid6. Lucille Pereira, “Free and fair: the politicization of election monitoring reports,” Diss. 2006.7. Amanda Sives, “Election Observation and Deepening Democracy in the Commonwealth,” The Round Table, 361 (2001), 515.8. Robert Macdonald & Thomas Molony, “Can domestic observers serve as impartial arbiters?: evidence from Zambia’s 2021 elections,” 635.9. Stefan Leeffers, and Pedro, C. Vicente, ‘Does Electoral Observation Influence Electoral Results? Experimental Evidence for Domestic and International Observers in Mozambique’, World Development ,114 (2019),42–58.10. Kojo Sakyi and Franklin Oduro “Reflection on the Activities and Contributions of the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers to the Success of Ghana’s 2000 Elections: Lessons for other African Countries,” Journal of African Elections, 1:2 (2002), 66.
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