Programs: Electoral Processes

 

In Iraq, ADF’s worked to increase participation and raise the perceived legitimacy of electoral processes especially in three major voting processes: the January 2005 national and provincial elections, the October 2005 constitutional referendum and the December 2005 national parliamentary elections. In support of these processes, ADF’s Iraq Civil Society Program (ICSP) held forums to facilitate discussion on issues and encourage CSOs working to expand voter participation. To increase the legitimacy of the December elections, CSOs were trained as elections monitors.  In addition, ICSP tracked its network of over 1,000 CSOs to document activities executed by hundreds of ICSP partner CSOs in support of the election. ICSP awarded CSOs grants to support 18 elections projects, ranging from local grassroots activities to large-scale, nationwide initiatives. Work was conducted across the entirety of Iraq, including 8 activities in the restive and unsettled Anbar and Salah Al-Din provinces.

 

In Panama, ADF provided technical assistance, training and subgrants to National Civic Crusade of Panama (Civic Crusade), a nonpartisan national coalition of organizations representing business, labor, the professions, civic groups, women, youth and rural residents organized as an alternative to the repressive government of General Noriega, which had effectively destroyed Panama’s multiparty political system. The Civic Crusade’s voter education campaign stimulated the informed mass participation of Panamanian voters in the May 1994 election, which helped to return democratic government to Panama. Voters learned how to register and where to cast their ballots. The Civic Crusade’s use of mass media and election literature was enormously effective among women, young people, and the poor, who tend to participate less often in elections.

 

In Russia, ADF provided assistance to the Russian NGO Interlegal in its work related to the formation and development of the Civic Coalition Civil Society and Elections ’99 (the Coalition). The Coalition's mission served to consolidate the efforts and resources of member associations in order to ensure free and fair elections. The Coalition has grown to over 250 civic groups representing a wide range of citizen interests across all geographic areas of the Russian Federation. It serves as a truly remarkable resource for public information and citizen education in the Russian Federation. Its work to educate and mobilize citizens as voters was endorsed and embraced by Russia's official Central Election Commission and the general public.

 

In Guatemala, ADF managed an umbrella grants fund that enabled a wide variety of local NGOs to lead innovative civic, legal, and voter education efforts at the community level, build coalitions, and engage in an active get-out-the-vote drive for the general and presidential elections in November 1995 and January 1996, respectively and promote citizen participation in democratic processes. Over 12,000 people participated in the project’s training activities. The activities carried out by the NGOs encouraged informed voting among citizens; expanded NGO service capacity; promoted NGO cooperation, and fostered joint efforts and activities among the NGOs.