Populism a risk to electoral integrity: new report
The Electoral Integrity Project's annual report ranks more than 200 elections including recent U.S, Russian, and Australian polls.
A comprehensive survey by more than 2,700 social scientists ranks the integrity of elections globally, identifying polls beset by聽gerrymandered boundaries, restrictions on the free press, ballot box fraud, violence, corruption and coercion, and the abuse of money in politics.
New evidence gathered by聽聽at the University of Sydney and Harvard is published in a new report:听.
Comparing the quality of elections worldwide
The report compares 241 parliamentary and presidential elections in 158 countries around the world (excluding micro-states). All countries are ranked by the Perceptions of Electoral Integrity (PEI) Index. To go beyond the numbers, the report highlights illustrative case-studies in the U.S., Australia, Russia, Lithuania, the Philippines, Iceland, Gabon, the Gambia, Syria, and Iran. The report demonstrates several striking findings:
罢丑别听鲍.厂.听ranks 55th聽worldwide in integrity, the worst performance of any Western democracy, due to problems including growing party polarisation over electoral procedures and rights. Tensions were exacerbated by President Trump鈥檚 repeated claims of massive voter fraud, before and after his entry into the White House.
- Australia鈥檚 2016 Federal Election聽ranked 28th聽worldwide in integrity. One in four voters聽聽believe fraud is common, raising a need for measures to restore public confidence.
- Russia鈥檚 2016 Duma election聽rated 120th聽worldwide. The contest lacked a level playing field due to abuse of state resources and media coverage that predominantly supported Putin鈥檚 United Russia party.
- By contrast,聽Lithuania and Iceland聽were ranked in the top dozen elections last year. Similarly several poorer societies and newer democracies, such as聽Ghana, Cape Verde聽and听叠别苍颈苍,held elections which were relatively well rated by experts.
- Yet many other contests in Sub-Saharan Africa, including聽骋补产辞苍听and聽the Gambia,聽were particularly prone to conflict and instability.
- Last year鈥檚 elections in聽厂测谤颈补,听racked by internal conflict, population displacement, and instability, were ranked among the worst in the world.
Why and how does populism threaten electoral integrity?
The new report also focuses upon growing concern that populists heighten risks of electoral malpractices, identifying three main mechanisms:
- By damaging public trust in the electoral process,聽such as where supporters believe President Trump鈥檚 repeated claims, without evidence, of massive electoral fraud and vote rigging;
- By undermining international standards of electoral integrity and engaging in illegal malpractices, through practices such as corruption, coercion, and the lack of a level playing field in the Philippines, Hungary and Turkey, as well as several specific cases violating electoral laws in Western democracies; and
- By colluding with authoritarian interference in democratic contests abroad, including where Russian cyber-attacks seek to benefit populist candidates, such as in the US and France.
鈥淧roblems of electoral integrity are widespread around the world, and some long-established democracies are not immune from major flaws,鈥� said Professor Pippa Norris, EIP founding director.聽
鈥淧opulism heightens the risks through eroding public confidence in elections,聽actively violating international standards and electoral laws, and colluding with聽Russian allies seeking to undermine democracy.鈥�
The Year in Elections聽report is drawn from a rolling survey, with responses received from 2,709 experts. The global survey monitors聽Perceptions of Electoral Integrity聽in 158 countries and 241 national parliamentary and presidential elections held between mid-2012 and 31 December 2016. Separate surveys are also run to compare states and provinces in several larger federal countries, such as Russia, Mexico, India, and the U.S.