Editing Election monitoring (section)

{{Short description|Observation of an election by independent parties}}
{{About|monitoring by independent observers|monitoring by agents of candidates|Polling agent|and|Counting agent}}
{{More footnotes needed|date= March 2010}}
[[File:Internationally observed elections (%), OWID.svg|thumb|upright= 1.5|Internationally observed elections]]
[[File:Internationally observed elections by Western monitors, OWID.svg|thumb|upright= 1.5|Internationally observed elections by Western monitors]]
'''Election monitoring''' involves the observation of an [[election]] by one or more independent parties, typically from another country or from a [[non-governmental organization]] (NGO). The monitoring parties aim primarily to assess the conduct of an election process on the basis of national legislation and of [[international election standards]]. There are national and international election observers.

Monitors do not directly prevent [[electoral fraud]], but rather record and report instances of suspicious practices. The monitoring may serve to disincentivize, prevent or minimize practices that undermine election quality,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hyde |first=Susan D. |date=October 2007 |title=The Observer Effect in International Politics: Evidence from a Natural Experiment |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/world-politics/article/abs/observer-effect-in-international-politics-evidence-from-a-natural-experiment/B72409C4FB717F72CAB765024468511F |journal=World Politics |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=37–63 |doi=10.1353/wp.0.0001 |issn=1086-3338|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hyde |first=Susan D. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt7z647 |title=The Pseudo-Democrat's Dilemma: Why Election Observation Became an International Norm |date=2011 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-6125-5 |doi=10.7591/j.ctt7z647}}</ref> as well as [[Election violence|election-related violence]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020 |title=Violence Prevention through Election Observation |url=https://www.usip.org/publications/2020/08/violence-prevention-through-election-observation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200826183326/https://www.usip.org/publications/2020/08/violence-prevention-through-election-observation |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 26, 2020 |website=United States Institute of Peace }}</ref> Election observation increasingly looks at the entire electoral process over a long period of time, rather than at election-day proceedings only. The [[Legitimacy (political science)|legitimacy]] of an election can be affected by the criticism of monitors, unless they are themselves seen as biased.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1= Hyde|first1= Susan|last2= Marinov|first2= Nikolay|date= 2014|title= Information and Self-Enforcing Democracy: The Role of International Election Observation|url= https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-organization/article/information-and-selfenforcing-democracy-the-role-of-international-election-observation/BC101F8BBE1464D25732210BEBA5A566|journal= International Organization|volume= 68|issue= 2|pages= 329–359 |doi= 10.1017/S0020818313000465|s2cid= 202327588|url-access= subscription}}
</ref> A notable individual is often appointed honorary leader of a monitoring organization in an effort to enhance legitimacy of the monitoring process.

Scholars distinguish between election monitoring organizations in terms of quality.<ref name=":0" /> Some election monitors, often those with ties to authoritarian states, validate elections even when they are blatantly flawed.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Citation |last=Daxecker |first=Ursula |title=Election Monitoring: The Implications of Multiple Monitors for Electoral Integrity |date=2014 |work=Advancing Electoral Integrity |pages=73–93 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199368709.003.0005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |last2=Schneider |first2=Gerald}}</ref>