From Canberra to Stockholm: International IDEA’s 30th Anniversary and the Stockholm Conference on Electoral Integrity

In 2023, International IDEA and the Australian Election Commission partnered to host a series of virtual seminars aimed at bringing together electoral practitioners from around the world to discuss topics relating to electoral integrity. These seminars were designed to stimulate discussion and exchanges on key themes underpinning public trust in elections, such as operational integrity, security of the process and the information environment around elections. The series culminated in summer 2024 with the Conference on Reputation Management for Electoral Management Bodies – Defending Democracy by Strengthening Trust in Electoral Management Bodies in Canberra, which expanded on earlier webinars and provided a space to explore emerging topics in depth. 

Building on the successes of the Canberra Series, the Canberra to Stockholm initiative sought to continue exchanges and cooperation among like-minded EMBs in a second series of webinars. The election environment is rapidly evolving: emerging technologies (including connected to artificial intelligence), harassment of poll workers, natural hazards, and foreign interference all had an impact on recent elections. These continued discussions provided an important space for EMBs to discuss technical aspects as well as good practices in responding to new and traditional challenges.

During this series, election professionals from the Netherlands, Spain, Fiji, Cabo Verde, and the United States shared their experiences of election management, reforms, and strategies in the face of challenges in their respective contexts. A striking example came from the 2021 Cabo Verdean election, where a car carrying ballots cast by members of the diaspora in Spain was involved in an accident, which destroyed ballots being transported to the embassy for ratification. Election officials were forced to rely on photos taken by observers to reconstruct and tally the results. This example highlights the need for robust contingency plans. It also demonstrates the importance of experience-sharing among practitioners. Participants stressed the utility and importance of such meetings to compare experiences.

In June 2025, to mark three decades of dedicated work by International IDEA and its Member States in supporting democracy globally, the Stockholm Conference on Electoral Integrity will gather practitioners in Stockholm to build on the discussions during the Canberra Series. The conference will offer a platform for EMBs and other electoral professionals to hold animated and honest in-person exchanges about EMB leadership, good practices and emerging challenges in election management.

The conference also aims to use the assembled expertise of practitioner networks such as ECNE (EU EMBs), the Council of Europe and the Global Network for Securing Electoral Integrity to drive forward ongoing discussions about developing global norms and sustainable election reform principles. These efforts have already generated significant consensus, including Principles for Democratic Election Reform Processes.