Podlette - Election Administration

Global

e·lec·tion noun 1: a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. To put it simply, elections are one of the fundamental tenants of liberal democracy. Democracies are built on the idea that individual citizens have a say in who governs them and how. Elections are how we make that happen. Holding elections does not mean a country is democratic; however, no country can be a democracy without them. But here is the thing—elections are incredibly complex processes that require organization and high levels of technical knowledge. So what does it take to run a smooth election? And what are some of the consequences when these processes don't work well? Our host Travis Green speaks with two IRI experts who draw examples from recent elections in Moldova and El Salvador to answer these questions -Patricio Gajardo, Resident Program Director for Guatemala and Stephanie Roland, Program Manager for Moldova