The EPDE together with MEMO 98 hosted a panel at the 29th Forum 2000 Conference in Prague on 13 October with Rasto Kuzel, Beata Martin-Rozumilowicz, Nino Dolidze, Mulle Musau, and Stefanie Schiffer. Drawing on experiences from Slovakia, Georgia, Moldova and Kenya, the panel explored how elections have become battlegrounds in the global struggle between democracy and autocracy and ways forward.

Elections as authoritarian practice

Elections are the foundation of democracy when citizens choose their leaders and shape their future. But something has shifted. Today, elections are increasingly being weaponized by authoritarian actors who use them not to empower people, but to consolidate power while maintaining a veneer of legitimacy. Through disinformation campaigns and restrictions on civic space, these actors undermine the very foundations of democratic governance. Independent media and citizen observers face harassment and even imprisonment, as we’ve seen in Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, and most recently, Georgia.

Elections are a matter of international stability and security

At the same time, elections are no longer purely domestic affairs but critical matters of international stability and security. Authoritarian regimes increasingly coordinate their efforts, sharing playbooks on electoral manipulation, deploying fake observers, and weaponizing information to erode public trust.

Democratic actors must strengthen alliances

Democratic actors must match this coordination with stronger alliances of their own and build joint protection mechanisms connecting election management bodies, law enforcement, tech firms, media and civil society.

This applies to established democracies, too, whose institutions were built on the belief of shared respect for democratic rules. That consensus can no longer be taken for granted. Democracies need stronger safeguards capable of resisting bad-faith actors from within.

Innovating Election Observation to match new challenges

Election observers must address threats that emerge long before voters cast their ballots. Algorithmic manipulation, opaque campaign financing, AI-driven disinformation, and hybrid threats in both the digital and information sphere call for methodologies and tools which merges digital forensics, OSINT, and civic-tech tools with traditional monitoring and observations on election day itself. In that way, citizen observers can help anticipate, detect, and counter such threats to democratic elections.

Safeguarding shared public sphere

The panel emphasized that Big Tech platforms now function as political actors and must be held accountable to safeguard fair political advertising, and transparent algorithms. Without transparency online, there’s no transparency at the ballot box. Meanwhile, civic education and digital literacy are essential tools for rebuilding trust in the information space and helping citizens resist manipulation and encourage active participation in democratic processes.

The 29th Forum 2000 Conference explored and analyzed the democracy and human rights developments around the world, the rise of authoritarianism and illiberalism, the impact of technology on society, the competition for global tech dominance, the global cooperation of democracies, and the role of civil society, among other topics and specific themes.