WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Global Network for Domestic Election Monitors (GNDEM), in partnership with the National Democratic Institute (NDI), today launched the first ever Report on the Global State of Nonpartisan Citizen Election Observers’ Rights, an assessment of the threats facing election observers worldwide. Elections are a cornerstone of democratic governance and a prerequisite for long-term stability and development. Citizen observers are on the frontlines protecting citizens’ right to vote and promoting more participatory, transparent and accountable elections.

The report systematically documents how governments around the world use laws, administrative procedures as well as violence and intimidation to undermine the rights of nonpartisan citizen election observers and thereby weaken independent scrutiny of elections. As this report makes clear, safeguarding nonpartisan citizen election observers is essential to preserving democracy.

The report comes at a time when citizen observers are confronting more draconian efforts to limit or obstruct their work. Most recently in December, Dr. Sarah Bireete, GNDEM’s Chairperson, was arrested and the registration of her and other civic groups were suspended in advance of Uganda’s general elections. While Dr. Bireete was ultimately granted bail after a month in detention, she still faces charges and her organization and others remain suspended.

Speaking at the report’s launch, Dr. Bireete said, “I have experienced firsthand the lengths governments will go to prevent election monitoring by nonpartisan citizen observers. Despite this, I remain resolute in defending the rights of citizens to vote and of civic organizations to monitor elections.”

Dr. Bireete is not the only citizen observer to have been arrested for monitoring elections. Participants at the launch recalled that Anar Mammadli of Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center or EMDS (Azerbaijan), Valiantsin Stefanovic and Marfa Rabkova of Viasna (Belarus) and Grigory Melkonyants of Golos (Russia) are all still being detained, and called for their release. The discussion also underscored the global pattern of threats faced by observers,  with updates from Walter Corzo of Guatemala Electoral Observation Mission (MOE-Gt); Henry Muguzi of Uganda’s Alliance for Financial Monitoring (ACFIM); and Rasa Nedeljkov of Serbia’s Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA)).

“Citizen observers are among the most important safeguards of credible elections—and today, they are also among the most at risk,” said NDI’s Global Director for Elections Richard L. Klein. “This report provides a clear picture of the threats they face and the collective action required to ensure their rights are respected and upheld.”

The report is based on a global survey of 66 organizations across 53 countries and supplemented by interviews with election experts, civil society leaders, and human rights defenders. Together, these contributions provide a comprehensive view of the lived realities shaping electoral transparency around the world.

The report identifies restrictive legal frameworks; politicized or inefficient accreditation processes and escalating violence and harassment as the primary barriers faced by nonpartisan citizen election observers. The report includes 10 critical recommendations to protect citizen observers rights, including: enshrining observers rights in legal frameworks; building consensus around international standards accreditation procedures; pivoting from recognition to protection of observer rights; and engaging with electoral authorities on better understanding the challenges faced by citizen observers.

“These findings underscore a stark reality: without strong protections for nonpartisan citizen observers, credible elections cannot be guaranteed,” said Zlatko Vujovic, GNDEM Deputy Chairperson. “Their safety and ability to operate freely are fundamental to democratic resilience.”

GNDEM and NDI express deep gratitude to the citizen election observers and experts whose insights and experiences shaped this report. We intend on issuing regular reports on the global state of nonpartisan citizen election observers’ rights. GNDEM and NDI thank the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) for support that made the report possible.

The Report on Global State of Nonpartisan Citizen Election Observers’ Rights is available on both the GNDEM and NDI websites.