Mission to support fragile democracies steps up US election monitoring

A programme created by former president Jimmy Carter to support elections in fragile democracies is increasing election monitoring in the US as political polarisation and voter distrust grow ahead of November’s presidential contest.

The Carter Center’s Democracy Program, which has carried out work recently in countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Venezuela and Sierra Leone, will support non-partisan election observation missions in up to five US states.

The pledge comes as Donald Trump and his supporters continue to cast doubt on the integrity of US ballots following the ex-president’s claim that he would have won the 2020 poll if it had not been rigged.

“We have taken our international election observation expertise and have needed to turn it inward to the United States,” Jason Carter, chair of the Carter Center and grandson of the 39th US president, told the Financial Times.

“We’ve done a variety of cross-partisan initiatives to help bring our expertise to bear on the troubling aspects of our American democracy,” he added.

The centre began supporting election observers in the US in 2020.

In 2022 it bolstered its domestic programme, saying it would “strengthen trust in the US electoral process by providing information to voters, encouraging the US to meet international election standards, promoting non-partisan citizen observation and working to mitigate possible electoral violence”.

Sixteen US states do not have legislation recognising non-partisan observers, although almost all recognise the partisan “poll watchers” that represent political parties, candidates or groups that have become increasingly active in raising concerns around voting that goes against their own interests.

“Partisan efforts are more widespread than in the past,” said the program’s director, David Carroll. “They have a partisan interest, which is fine in the US context. What our group is doing in the US is similar to what we do internationally: non-partisan observation. We have no stake in the outcome.”

Earlier this year the Carter Center partnered with local organisations in New Mexico and Montana, releasing a report on Missoula County’s primaries. It concluded the election was “well administered” overall but called for more publicly available information for voters and greater transparency regarding ballots in two locations.

It is set to build on this work for the presidential elections and launch additional operations in three swing states — Michigan, Arizona and Georgia, where the centre is based and which is reviewing its election laws.

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In a joint report in February with the Baker Institute think-tank, the centre warned: “Our nation is going through a tumultuous period of domestic unrest, one of the most polarised in American history . . . Too often, those on the opposite sides of the political divide seek to manipulate the outcome of elections in their favour through the laws and regulations that govern how our elections are conducted.”

Last month it published a report with the McCain Institute, a think-tank linked to late Republican Senator John McCain, warning of the extent of “disinformation publishers” with access to mainstream online advertising through social media platforms and Google.

The Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance rates the US as “a high-performing democracy”. But it says there have been “significant declines” over the past five years on a number of measures, including the effectiveness of its legislative oversight of the executive branch of government.