Offering insights into global electoral integrity

The very heart of democracy

Although democracy is so much more than the process of voting in elections, there can be no representative democracy without them. Elections are at the very heart of democracy. They are fundamental to leadership selection and accountability, and must be deemed credible and fair. If credible, they will underpin the legitimacy of political institutions, but if not, they can undermine these political processes and democratic institutions, and ultimately damage the concept of democracy. We know that elections can be as diverse as the countries holding them and there will inevitably be variations in who can vote for what, and by what methods. 

V-Dem relies on a global network of local independent experts to compile as complete a global picture as possible. Its guiding principle is “global standards through local knowledge”. 

Compiling such a large quantity of submissions poses a challenge because the information can sometimes be conflicting, so to reconcile the data, technically complex statistical tools are used to distill the data. In the interest of transparency, this data is freely available to interrogate online and is downloadable. 

Amongst some 600 different indices, there are those that focus specifically on elections. The broadest is the Clean Elections Index (CEI), which monitors the integrity of the electoral process; it brings together eight specific indicators, measuring different aspects of electoral integrity.

Electoral integrity

The trends from the CEI show that whilst the average electoral integrity across territories is no worse than in 2000, the population-weighted average has declined as some populous countries experienced downturns and some with low levels integrity recorded population growth. Simultaneously, South and Central Asia and the Middle East and North Africa have improved slightly.

2024 is likely to be the world’s biggest year for national elections to date. Elections have either taken place or expected in one in three countries globally, and some of these will inevitably attract a great deal of attention. These are not only those in the United States or Russia, but also India, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico and South Africa too. The number is not yet final – some of these elections may be postponed and others may be planned at short notice.

Shaded countries where elections are expected or have already taken place this year.

In this year of global elections with a record number of votes expected to be cast, here’s some of V-Dem's findings;

• 61% of all deteriorations in the integrity of elections since 2000, are found in countries that are now classified as autocracies.
• However, the quality of elections is also increasingly worsening in some democracies, with the level of electoral violence and the free- and fairness of elections deteriorating the most.
• Autocratising countries have dramatic declines on the Clean Elections Index, but democratising countries show noticeable increases. Attacks on elections are thus part and parcel of the autocratisation process, and improving electoral integrity is critical for rekindling democracy.
• Over 60 countries are holding national elections in 2024. Of these, 31 are worsening on their democracy levels, while only 3 are improving.

In summary, V-Dem's data tells us that whilst standards have improved in some cases, there is still substantial work required globally to support the democratic process. True democracy is not just a reflection of the governance in place locally, but an internationally recognised entity. The integrity of future elections must be a global focus, and projects like V-Dem continue to be invaluable to inform and track progress.  

Reference: Nord, Medzihorsky, and Lindberg (2024) “Democracy’s Core Institution: Clean Elections Across the World”. V-Dem Institute.

Find out more

• Read more about the work of Dr Juraj Medzihorsky, Assistant Professor in our School of Government and International Affairs.