In 2023, FURIC brought together 97 representatives of 41 citizen observer organizations from 30 countries, 13 international and intergovernmental organizations, as well as prominent independent experts and journalists.
While focusing primarily on the electoral follow-up in Europe, the conference benefited from the presence and contributions of international and citizen observer organizations working in Africa, Latin America, and East Asia.
The conference featured a high-level public session as well as closed expert sessions.
You may download a thorough event report, the conclusion document of the conference, as well as a list of participating organizations below.
It is a common understanding that systematic dialogue between citizen and international election observers contributes greatly to electoral reform, including through legislative improvements. Cooperation between these two groups also helps develop methodologies to respond to emerging challenges as closing democratic space, cyber-security threats and other global challenges.
With its war against Ukraine, with massive repressions against human rights defenders and election observers, and its ongoing efforts to influence and destabilize European democracies, Russia has grossly violated the Helsinki principles and provisions of the 1990 Copenhagen Document.
By misusing the consensus rule in the OSCE, Russia increasingly threatens the very functioning of the organization. The environment in which international and citizen observers operate has fundamentally changed, compared to when their co-operation was conceptualized and established. Still international organizations continue their valuable work, including developing methodologies. In the meanwhile, citizen observers have built up their capacities and often play a central role in electoral reform processes.
How do these and other aspects of the current context impact the environment in which citizen and international observers operate?
How can international institutions, such as the EU, the Council of Europe and the OSCE/ODIHR, protect and improve the functioning of their election observation under the described threats?
What structural, institutional, political reforms are needed to safeguard the proper functioning of citizen and international election observation in the OSCE region?
What challenges and opportunities emerge from this situation for the cooperation between independent international and citizen election observers in the OSCE region?
How did international institutions prevent or react to the challenges posed by authoritarian states in the past and what lessons can be drawn?
What concrete steps should be taken to protect and promote electoral reform through better co-operation between citizen and international observers?
This session provides an answer to the question of how to shape cooperation between civil society organizations and international observers in formulating recommendations and conducting follow-up activities throughout the entire electoral cycle. The goal is to initiate a new look at the potential of election observation at both the national and international levels and to develop new synergy approaches for democratic electoral reforms in Europe.
How can citizen and international observers reinforce each other’s efforts to have governments implement recommendations and improve elections?
What are specific ways to strengthen co-operation and exchange of information?
How can cooperation between citizen and international observers address changes of political context and developments of electoral practices?
The overall need for synergies between citizen and international observers will be discussed in working groups. Special focus will be on the three pillars for greater synergies: (I) formulation, presentation and tracking of recommendations, (II) advocacy and reform in the follow-up, and (III) long-term electoral issues.
Formulating recommendations is an essential part of election observation. The ways in which different organizations formulate recommendations vary significantly. Co-operation between international and citizen observers hinges on synergies in their recommendations, as well as the process of bringing them to life between the elections and keeping track of the progress.
How can international and citizen observers coordinate better in the formulation of recommendations? When should they meet? How often? What information can and should they exchange?
How can citizen and international observers involve each other in the presentation of their respective recommendations? What limitations they face in this co-ordination?
What tools do the organizations use to keep track of the recommendations and their implementation? Are methodologies compatible? What lessons have been learned so far?
Electoral reform is the desired outcome of any observation effort. Reform is generally preceded by the advocacy efforts to promote the need of the reform and to highlight the priority areas. International and citizen observers engage in such efforts, and often in the same forums. Their messages do not always coincide, creating a risk of misalignment in the efforts of the two communities and possibly impeding their cooperation during the reform efforts
How can international and citizen observers better coordinate prioritization of areas for electoral reform?
What can be the relative strengths and weaknesses of the two communities in the electoral reform process, and how can they complement each other?
What can be the practical mechanisms for the coordinated involvement of both citizen and international actors in the reform process? When and how should such mechanisms be initiated?
Citizen election observers have the distinct advantage of following the electoral and political process in its completeness, including between the elections. At the same time, international actors often have greater comparative knowledge and more extensive connections with global actors. Practical mechanisms for the exchange of information can be explored to identify how the findings and assessments by citizen observers from the period between the elections can feed into the observation findings and inform the recommendations. This is relevant in the sphere of political party financial reports, procurement, testing and certification of electoral technologies, online political campaigning, as well as the use of disinformation in social media.
What parts of the electoral cycle can citizen observers follow more closely than international actors? How can their observations feed into the activities of the international actors to promote common objectives?
What kind of support may citizen observers require to be better able to follow all parts of the electoral cycle? Are existing funding modalities adequate for the cyclical electoral process?
What support can international observation organizations offer that would better support the work of credible citizen observers?
During this session, representatives of the three parallel sessions will present their findings and suggestions for the Conclusion Document of the FURIC conference. Panelists will share insights and provide recommendations to enhance collaboration between citizens and international election observers. Attendees are encouraged to actively engage by offering feedback on the draft Conclusion Document, expressing their commitment to implementing the outlined suggestions and recommendations. The discussion also aims to look ahead and identify the next steps in the development of citizen election observation in Europe and around the world.
What are the concrete steps to be taken to have cooperation between international and citizen observers lead to the improvement of elections?
When and how should international and citizen observers exchange information
What is the scope for the development and exchange of observation methodologies?
What are the needs of citizen observers and how international community can support them?
Founder and Director of the European Exchange gGmbH in Berlin. Stefanie Schiffer studied Slavonic languages and Eastern European History in Tübingen and Munich. She has a broad experience in cooperation with civil society organisations in Eastern Europe. She has been a founding member and initiator of several civil society cooperation programs and international platforms as the EU Russia Civil Society Forum, the EPDE, the Kyiv Dialogue and the Initiative Quorum. She has been an advisor to the board of the Marion Dönhoff foundation and to the filia Frauenstiftung, a member of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung and a board member to the organization Human Rights in Belarus e.V.
Nino is a civil activist and freedom fighter from Georgia. Currently, she is an Executive Director of International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), a key election watchdog in Georgia. Before joining ISFED, she worked at the International Republican Institute (IRI) for eight years, leading the Election Program, Developing Multi-party Democracy and Political Empowerment of Women. She has participated in more than 20 domestic and international election observation missions, including OSCE/ODIHR, IRI, NDI, and ENEMO, in Georgia and abroad.
Laura Thornton leads teams whose programs defend and promote democracy. She oversees the Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD), through which GMF tracks and analyzes malign internal and external influence operations that target democracies worldwide and builds strategies to thwart them. Thornton also oversees GMF’s transatlantic trusts, which support civil society organizations and actors in Central and Eastern Europe, the Western Balkans, the Black Sea and Eurasia regions, Belarus, and Ukraine. The trusts bolster democratic resilience through civic education, media literacy, election monitoring, public awareness campaigns, and media and watchdog activities.
Zofia participated in and coordinated numerous observation missions in Poland and abroad, including Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan. She works to support civic activity in the post-Soviet space – previously as a coordinator for Belarus at the Batory Foundation, or as a development cooperation coordinator at the European Union Delegation in Uzbekistan, and currently as a consultant at the European Endowment for Democracy. Zosia is a graduate of European studies at the University of Edinburgh and European interdisciplinary studies with a specialization in Eastern studies at the College of Europe in Natolin.
Adam holds degrees in Politics and Journalism from Poland and Eastern European Studies from Germany, with a focus on alternative movements in communist Poland and election monitoring in post-Soviet countries. With over 20 years of experience in election monitoring, he has served in various roles, including as a long- and short-term election observer, core team member, and leader of research and capacity-building projects. Adam has also worked extensively as a trainer, supporting the development of election observation networks. He was actively involved in founding the European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE) in 2012 and initiated the FURIC conference in 2023. Currently, he focuses on enhancing citizen election monitoring methods and strengthening cooperation between observers and key stakeholders.
Alex worked for more than 10 years in the Election Department of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, from 2016 to 2021 as the Head of the Department. Now Alexander serves as a Special Representative of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Elections and consults national authorities and international organizations on election-related matters.
Iryna Shvets is a civic activist and a project manager with more than a ten-year experience. Since OPORA is mostly known as a watch-dog network for Ukraine’s election process, Iryna as a team member is responsible for planning and conduct of election observation and monitoring campaigns, especially designing blended-learning educational and communication strategies.
Mulle is the National Coordinator for the Elections Observation Group (ELOG) as well as the Regional Coordinator for the East and Horn of Africa Elections Observation Network (EHORN) which brings together citizen observation platforms in the eastern Africa region. He has been involved in electoral governance related activities since 2007 working as a trainer and administrator for the National Democratic Institute for International affairs during the General Elections program in Kenya.
Since January 2020, Ulvi has served as Deputy Head of the Election Department at ODIHR, where he oversees the administration, operational planning, and implementation of election-related support to OSCE participating States. His work is focused on improving democratic processes through election observation missions and technical assistance.
PhD, electoral law expert at the Political Accountability Foundation (Odpowiedzialna Polityka) and assistant professor at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. Anna is the author of dozens of articles on electoral issues, editor of the Prof. Dr. Waclaw Komarnicki lecture series. She has been working with the Foundation since 2019, first as a legal expert, and since 2022 as a member of the Foundation’s Board.
Mette Bakken has worked for more than 12 years in international development with a particular focus on democracy and elections. In her current capacity with the Democracy and Election Observation Division of the European External Action Service (EEAS) she serves as the focal point for the deployment of EU Election Observation Missions (EU EOMs) and engages to advance the work that the EU is undertaking to promote the follow-up of EU EOM recommendations. In her previous enagagements with organisations such as International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), she has worked extensively with issues linked to electoral reform, EMB capacity building, women and youth participation, political finance, etc.
Nicolae Panfil is an active advocate for free and fair elections from the Republic of Moldova, with an extensive experience at the national and international level, both in planning and coordination of various programs oriented towards monitoring of elections, but also other democratic processes & reforms. Since April 2021 Mr. Panfil serves as a Director of the Monitoring Democratic Processes Program at Promo-LEX Association. Previously, he worked as a Program Coordinator at Promo-LEX (2013-2021) and as a Secretary of the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections from Moldova (2009-2016).
Beata is an independent electoral consultant, previously served as a director for Europe and Eurasia and Technical Adviser for Technology in Elections at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). Before starting in February 2016, she headed the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODHIR) Election Department in Warsaw since 2011 and previously served as its Deputy from 2009 to 2011. From 2005 to 2009, she worked on dozens of ODIHR election observation missions across the OSCE participating states as Deputy Head of Mission or as Political Analyst.
Paul is an experienced results-driven and innovative International Affairs and elections expert. He has committed the past 18 years to the development space working in both Nigeria and other countries in Africa to promote electoral integrity and inspire citizens’ participation in democratic processes. Paul has managed several Foreign, Commonwealth & Development (FCDO), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United Nations Development Programs (UNDP) and European Union (EU) supported development programs in Nigeria. He ha actively supported and participated in the deployment of over 45 election observation missions including in the deployment of over 40 Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) methodology in Nigeria, Benin Republic, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, The Gambia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Paul currently works with Yiaga Africa as the Program Manager (Elections)
Associate Professor at the IT University of Copenhagen, member of the Programming, Logics, and Semantics group. He is the The DemTech project leader, which has the main objective of assisting electoral management bodies with the development of digital election systems, the evaluation of threats and challenges, and the analysis and management of risks.
Vardine Grigoryan is the Democracy Monitoring and Reporting Coordinator at Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly – Vanadzor in Armenia and Project Coordinator at the Umbrella Journalists’ International Network NGO.
Tatyana Hilscher-Bogussevich is an independent consultant with a 15-year experience in the fields of democratic elections, development, and governance from across Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Caucuses. As an election expert, she contributes to international election observation activities, development of methodology, legislative analysis, election observer training, and post-electoral collaboration to help improve the conduct of elections in compliance with international obligations and standards.
Pierre has been involved in election monitoring, management and administration of multiple USAID, OSCE and EU funded democracy building programs since 2014. His career has focused on Central Asia, Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans, in particular work with civil society organizations, political transparency and accountability, and electoral reform projects. He represented Kyrgyz NGO “Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society” in the Governing Board of ENEMO from 2018 to 2022, and was several times Election and Campaign Expert, Political Analyst and Deputy Head of Mission in ENEMO’s 2019-2021 International Election Observation Missions to Ukraine, Moldova, Montenegro and Albania. He was also Head of Mission to ENEMO’s IEOM in Kosovo (2021) and Head of Mission to ENEMO’s IEOM in Serbia (2022).
Najia Hashemee is a seasoned development practitioner with over 20 years of experience in the field of governance, focusing on electoral processes, inclusive participation, and strengthening engagement between electoral stakeholders. She has worked to design, develop, implement, and manage UN electoral assistance and provide advice on electoral good practices in diverse contexts (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Mongolia, Nepal, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia). In her current capacity, she also serves as UNDP’s global gender and elections focal point. She has led the establishment of networks for the advancement of women and youth participation and supported electoral stakeholders on adopting and implementing temporary special measures. Prior to UNDP, she served as program manager for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), leading initiatives to strengthen political parties and women’s political participation in Bangladesh. She has participated in and supported a number of election observation missions and advised electoral management bodies on implementation of recommendations.
Harald Hartvig Jepsen is an international senior adviser with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in Ukraine. He is a leading international expert with 20 years of experience in the field of elections, democratization and human rights. He has been involved in numerous election observation activities and technical assistance projects for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, European Union (EU) and Commonwealth Parliamentary Assembly. He has headed or been a deputy of more than a dozen election observation activities, including in the Afghanistan, Austria, Belarus, Cyprus, Georgia, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Ukraine.
Melene Glynn has more than 20 years of experience in international relations, political analysis and elections. She has worked in the OAS Secretariat for Strengthening Democracy since 2014, advising on political trends and developments in the 14 CARICOM member states of the OAS and supporting the deployment of OAS Electoral Observation Missions in those and other OAS member states. She has participated in more than 25 OAS Missions as Deputy Chief, Advisor and Regional Coordinator. Previously she served as the OAS Country Representative in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (2002 – 2014). Melene holds a Masters degree in International Studies from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom and a Bachelor’s degree in French Language and Literature from the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago.
As a barrister, Dame Audrey began her legal career in the Foreign Office, where amongst other responsibilities she represented the UK at the European Court of Human Rights. In 1994 she became Director of the OSCE’s Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights until 1997. From 1998 until 2004 she led the UK Delegation to the UN Human Rights Commission. Since then she has led over 20 OSCE EOMs
Patrick Merloe is a highly experienced strategic advisor to NDI, with over 40 years of expertise in promoting citizen empowerment, governmental accountability, and public policy advocacy. He previously served as NDI’s senior associate and director of electoral programs from 1993 to 2022. Throughout his career, he has participated in over 190 international missions to more than 65 countries, focusing on political rights, electoral integrity, and democratic development. Mr. Merloe played a key role in drafting and negotiating the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation, which has been endorsed by over 50 international organizations. Additionally, he facilitated the process that resulted in the Declaration of Global Principles for nonpartisan election monitoring by citizen organizations, which was promulgated by the Global Network of Domestic Election Monitors (GNDEM) and endorsed by over 290 organizations from more than 85 countries.
Olha Aivazovska was a director of national, non-partisan observation missions in Ukraine with over 25,000 activists involved from 2010 to 2020 and participated in electoral observation in more than ten countries of Europe. Olha Aivazovska is an alumnus of the Draper Hills Summer Fellowship on Democracy and Development Program at Stanford and the Ukrainian school of political studies. Schuebel holds a degree in Foreign Trade and International Commercial Relations.
Holly is an election expert with 25 years of experience. She is currently the Team Leader of the EU-funded project Election Observation Democracy Support (EODS), where she is responsible for developing methodology and training for EU election observation. She served previously as Election Advisor for the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and as Senior Program Officer for Elections at the National Democratic Institute (NDI). Holly is an experienced trainer of election observers and has provided capacity building for citizen observer groups worldwide. She has developed e-learning courses on election observation, and has written observer handbooks, including the EU Guide for Citizen Observers on Electoral Reform and the IFES/NDI Guide, Implementing and Overseeing Electronic Voting and Counting Technologies.
Subscribe to our
newsletter
Sign up for our monthly newsletter
and receive the latest EPDE news
Sign up for our monthly newsletter and receive the latest EPDE news
Subscribe to our
newsletter
Sign up for our monthly newsletter
and receive the latest EPDE news
Subscribe to our
newsletter
Sign up for our monthly newsletter and receive the latest EPDE news
