One in five elections worldwide is marred by violence—from burned ballot boxes to violent suppression of peaceful rallies, to assassinations of candidates. A USIP study of programs to prevent violence suggests focusing on improving the administration and policing of elections. The study, of elections in Kenya and Liberia, found no evidence that programs of voter consultation or peace messaging were effective there. A series of speakers discussed these findings.
Speakers:
Pat Merloe
Senior Associate and Director for Election Programs, NDI
John Tomaszewski
Africa Director, IRI
Joshua Changwony
Deputy Executive Secretary, Constitution and Reform Education Consortium (CRECO, Kenya)
Oscar Bloh
Chairman, Elections Coordination Committee (ECC, Liberia)
Inken von Borzyskowski
Assistant Professor, Florida State University
Jonas Claes, facilitator
Senior Program Officer, Center for Applied Conflict Transformation, USIP
Debra Liang-Fenton, facilitator
Senior Program Officer, Center for Applied Conflict Transformation, USIP
