What We Do

 

Our experts are passionate about their work and pride themselves on objectivity and analytical approach to our missions.   They are a diverse group of people of various professional backgrounds (scholars, lawyers, engineers, political analysts and published authors) and political affiliations who treasure the principles of democracy, freedom of choice and human rights.  We believe that each person has the inherent right to have their voice heard and focus our efforts on observing whether this principle is evident during the election process and whether the election results reflect the true will of the people.  We also focus on monitoring, research and analysis in the field of human rights, as well as promotion of democracy and the rule of law on the national and international level. Our experts study and compare the electoral and human rights legislation of a given country and the government's adherence to the legislation and to the international human rights principles.

 

We work closely and often cooperate on the election monitoring projects with our peers – various organizations from the European Union, Great Britain, Israel and other countries.  Observers bring a reputation for impartiality, and their presence helps to reassure voters that they can cast their ballots.  Observation missions also help deter fraud and bring awareness of the current issues to the public view.   We treasure our ability to exchange experiences so that we may all learn from each other in order to better the processes and procedures that are instrumental to the democratic elections that meet internationally accepted standards.

 

IACOPM’s work often begins weeks before the Election Day by analyzing the country’s Electoral Legislation and dispatching groups of long term observers to monitor the pre-election campaign, mass-media coverage and the country’s preparation to the elections.  During elections, our experts monitor voting as well as vote tabulation.   Our experts assess the voter registration process, access to the polls, voter education efforts, election committee’s organization and work, country’s mass media impartiality in covering the elections, candidate’s equal access to state media, fairness of the campaign and compliance of all aspects of the elections with the country’s electoral legislation.

 

Before an election, IACOPM observers meet with election officials and party leaders to discuss electoral procedures and any issues or problems related to the organizational and administrative aspects.   On Election Day, observers are dispatched to urban and rural areas to witness preparations at poll station openings, voting, and vote counting to try to determine whether the vote was secret and fair at the sites they personally visited.   Our teams talk to the voters, party representatives and other observers present at the polling sites and the polling site officials to assess their opinion of how the election is proceeding.

 

After polls close, our teams of observers observe the counting of ballots and the safety and delivery of ballot boxes.  Meanwhile, designated experts communicate with our dispatched teams to collect the real time information and any witnessed violations and share the findings.   Post the Elections after all collected data is analyzed, we issue a comprehensive mission report, which is available for public inspection.