election-watch.eu

15 September 2026 — On this International Day of Democracy, Election-Watch.EU is pleased to highlight its membership in the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD), and, above all, the cooperation behind it.

Democracy cannot be strengthened by organisations working in isolation. It requires partnerships that connect different areas of expertise, bring together perspectives from across countries and regions, and translate election observation and democratic analysis into longer-term reform. Over the past years, our cooperation as a member of EPD and our fellow members has allowed us to do exactly that.

At the EU level, through SEEEDS – Supporting Engagement in European Elections and Democratic Societies, we worked together to strengthen the integrity and inclusiveness of the 2024 European Parliament elections, connecting civil society and electoral experts across all EU Member States with European decision-makers.

Together with EPD, we also examined one of the emerging challenges for democratic elections in our joint practitioners’ paper The EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act and its Impact on Electoral Processes: a Human Rights-Based Approach, translating the new AI Act into concrete recommendations for safeguarding electoral integrity and fundamental rights.

But our partnership reaches well beyond Europe. Through WYDE Civic Engagement, AHEAD Liberia and AHEAD Bangladesh, we have contributed our election observation and electoral assistance expertise to broader efforts supporting citizen participation, inclusive elections and democratic reform.

These experiences underline something particularly important to us: election observation should not end with an election report. Its findings and recommendations can provide the starting point for sustained advocacy, electoral assistance and democratic reform.

At a time when democracy is under growing pressure in Europe and globally, we are proud to be part of the European Partnership for Democracy and its network of organisations working together to make democracy more resilient, inclusive and accountable, and we support EPD’s new global campaign, When Did We Forget?

Democracy does not disappear overnight. It fades when we stop defending the foundational rules of fairness, truth, and mutual respect. It needs participation. It needs scrutiny. And it needs cooperation.

Learn more about the campaign When Did We Forget? here.

democracy, partnership