Child Protection Policy established
Vienna, 13 March 2026: Election-Watch.EU is committed to ensuring the safety, dignity, and well-being of children and young people in all activities we organise or support. Election-Watch.EU has established a Child Protection Policy with clear standards to prevent harm, safeguard personal data, and promote safe participation in events, campaigns, and educational initiatives.
This commitment is particularly relevant when engaging with young and first-time voters, for [...]
2024 EP elections, accountability, citizen led election observation, data protection in elections, EP elections 2024, inclusion in elections, transparency, transparency of political campaign
Submission to the European Parliament on the European Democracy Shield
Brussels, 10 February 2026: Election-Watch.EU submitted a written contribution to Members of the European Parliament’s Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield, in response to the draft report on its findings and recommendations, published in December 2025.
The submission highlights the importance of emphasising the importance of electoral integrity in the European Democracy Shield framework, particularly in the context [...]
citizen led election observation, data protection in elections, election security, equality, eu strategy for civil society, european democracy shield, inclusion in elections, transparency, transparency of political campaign
20th Commemoration of Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation in Geneva
Geneva, 10-12 December 2025: The 2025 Declaration of Principles (DoP) Implementation Meeting, hosted by the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, brought together international and citizen election observers, multilateral organisations, regional bodies, and digital-platform representatives to assess the state of election observation amid growing democratic pressure.
Election-Watch.EU has been an endorsing member organisation of the DoP since 2024 and participated for the [...]
data protection in elections, Declaration of Principles, Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation, DoP, election observation, election security, human rights defenders, transparency of political campaign, United Nations
Follow-Up on Recommendations’ Implementation Conference (FURIC 2025)
Brussels, 23-24 September 2025: At FURIC 2025 – Follow-Up on Recommendations’ Implementation Conference in Brussels, Armin Rabitsch, Chairperson of Election-Watch.EU, contributed as closing commentator to the opening high-level panel entitled “Securing Elections in a Weaponized Information Space: The EU’s Response to Authoritarian and Digital Threats.”
The panel brought together Members of the European Parliament, senior representatives [...]
accountability, citizen led election observation, data protection in elections, election security, EP elections 2024, equality, FURIC, inclusion in elections, transparency, transparency of political campaign
Social media monitoring of Austria’s general election campaign
Vienna, Berlin, 23 January 2025: Election-Watch.EU (as wahlbeobachtung.org) conducted a social media monitoring of the Austrian electoral campaign 2024 together with other researchers. In the study we examine toxicity, hate speech, and extremism on Austrian online and social media platforms, as well as on Telegram channels, ahead of the elections. This study displays findings in graphs to provide a better understanding and, in addition, includes a disinformation case study.
[...]
accountability, citizen led election observation, data protection in elections, extremism, hate speech, inclusion in elections, social media monitoring of electoral campaigns, Telegram monitoring, toxicity, transparency, transparency of political campaign
European Union,General,International
How best to assess hybrid threats in elections?
Brussels, 11-12 December 2024: Elections globally are facing increasing challenges to their integrity, driven by disinformation, cyberattacks, foreign covert operations, and other hybrid threats. This necessitates a rethinking of approaches by both election organisers and election observers to better understand these risks and adapt processes accordingly. For citizen and international observers, this raises questions about whether current methodologies [...]
2024 EP elections, accountability, citizen led election observation, data protection in elections, election security, EP elections 2024, hybrid threats, inclusion in elections, transparency of political campaign
Austria,European Union,International
Telegram and its role in Austria’s 2024 election
Vienna, Berlin, 9 December 2024: In the recent general elections, Austria’s Freedom Party (FPÖ) secured its position as the largest party in Parliament for the first time. Election-Watch.EU examined the role of Telegram in shaping political discourse during this period in a collaborative effort with [...]
Austrian general elections, citizen led election observation, data protection in elections, election security, equality, social media monitoring, Telegram
International election observer organisations convene in Gdansk
Gdansk, 20-22 November 2024: Election-Watch.EU participated for the first time as an endorsing member at the annual implementation meeting of the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation in Gdansk/Poland. Hosted by OSCE / ODIHR, and opened by former Polish President and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Lech Wałęsa, the event took place in [...]
2024 EP elections, accountability, data protection in elections, Declaration of Principles, DoP, election security, endorsing DoP member, EP elections 2024, equality, inclusion in elections, transparency, transparency of political campaign
Austria,European Union,General,International
Election Assessment Mission Report with good practice examples published
Brussels, Vienna, 30 September 2024: Today, Election-Watch.EU published its Final Report with key findings, good practices and recommendations of the Election Assessment Mission (EAM) to the 2024 European Parliament Elections. From the beginning of May to mid-June, the Mission assessed the European elections across the 27 EU Member States based on six key principles: integrity, inclusion, accountability, transparency, equality, and resilience.
Reference report [...]
2024 EP elections, accountability, citizen led election observation, data protection in elections, election security, EP elections 2024, equality, featured-en, inclusion in elections, transparency, transparency of political campaign