Lisbon – 2021: Delivering Trusted Elections: New Challenges in Electoral Integrity

Update: IPSA has decided to hold the 2021 IPSA World Congress of Political Science online because of the pandemic, and we are planning to do the same. Current paper-givers will keep their papers on the program. But we are now opening up for new papers. Please see the call below.

Drawing on previous year’s successful workshops, bringing together academics and practitioner on the study of elections and democracy, we are proud to announce a workshop preceding the 2020 meeting of the International Political Science Association.

Date: 5th-9th July 2021

Location: Virtual conference, ahead of the IPSA World Congress, Lisbon, Portugal

Academic co-chairs: Holly Ann Garnett (Royal Military College of Canada), Toby James (University of East Anglia, UK) & Carla Luis (Centre for Social Studies, Portugal).

Partners: Electoral Integrity Project, Electoral Management Network, Centre for Social Studies, University of East Anglia, Carter Center, IFES

Theme: Delivering Trusted Elections: New Challenges in Electoral Integrity

Electoral integrity is facing new challenges: Public confidence in governmental institutions is challenged by populist leaders. Social media has led to concerns about disinformation throughout the electoral cycle.  Austerity agendas have restricted resources to electoral management bodies in some countries.  The COVID-19 pandemic also presents a new set of challenges to delivering elections.

Even in the most favourable of circumstances, the challenge of running elections amounts to the largest peacetime logistical operation, with the highest possible stakes. Realising well-run elections are often achieved by electoral officials around the world in the most difficult circumstances. But so too can electoral integrity be undermined by poor management, insufficient resources and problematic administrative systems.

The online workshop will bring together academics and practitioners in this workshop to take stock of these developments, consider emerging challenges and explore ‘what works’ in delivering trusted elections.

This workshop will consider papers on themes including (but not limited to):

• Election Administration (Voter registration, alternative voting measures, the use of technology)
• Electoral Regulation (campaign finance, media regulation, dis-and mis-information)
• Contentious Elections (electoral violence, election observation, post-election protects, dispute resolution, electoral justice)
• Electoral Management (electoral management body design, EMB performance and methods to improve it)

This workshop was rescheduled from July 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Papers which were originally accepted for the conference have been given the opportunity to be included in the programme, but we are opening the call for additional papers.

Paper proposals should be submitted via our webform https://forms.gle/oyi8PCUyD2kim2Un7 including a paper title and 200 word abstract before: 31 March 2021.

Proposal acceptances will be issued by 9 April.  

There will be the opportunity to present online or in a ‘poster format’ where feedback will be gathered virtually. Panels will be spread throughout the week of 5-9 July to allow for greater flexibility with time zones and other presenter responsibilities.

Previous workshops have led to special issues in International Political Science Review (2019), Election Law Journal (2020) and Policy Studies (2020). Paper givers will have the opportunity to have their papers considered for another edited volume or special issue.