Stockholm Conference on Electoral Integrity, 10–12 June 2025
Preamble
The Stockholm Consensus on Electoral Integrity marks the culmination of the Canberra to Stockholm Exchanges and the Stockholm Conference on Electoral Integrity held as part of the 30th anniversary of the founding of International IDEA. The Stockholm Consensus honours and recognizes electoral management bodies in their leadership role in conducting trustworthy elections; it highlights their achievements in holding democratic elections, often in difficult circumstances; it elevates the ever-evolving challenges they face; and it provides a concrete and forward-looking agenda for protecting electoral integrity.
The Stockholm Consensus on Electoral Integrity is grounded in the recognition that EMBs are diverse across and beyond International IDEA membership, and that electoral stakeholders face global threats but must also resolve specific challenges that differ from continent to continent, from region to region and from country to country. These challenges are both technical and political in nature and require resolute, concerted efforts.
The Stockholm Consensus on Electoral Integrity is inspired by a shared sense of community that brings electoral stakeholders together under the leadership of EMBs. The global electoral community at large—global networks but also national actors such as governmental agencies, political parties, candidates, courts, the media, civil society organizations and voters—has a shared responsibility to provide mutual support and collaborate in upholding electoral integrity.
The Stockholm Consensus on Electoral Integrity supports and aligns with other global initiatives such as the Global Network for Supporting Electoral Integrity.
The Stockholm Consensus on Electoral Integrity
Electoral management bodies (EMBs) worldwide have demonstrated resilience, innovation and determination to organize democratic elections despite multiple challenges. Successful elections have even been delivered during a global pandemic, political turbulence, a rising number of disinformation campaigns, and under extreme
environmental and security conditions.
The Canberra to Stockholm Exchanges and the Stockholm Conference on Electoral Integrity showcased innovative practices and responses to new and emerging threats. EMBs have bolstered voter participation and accessibility through active voter engagement, expanded voting options and the accommodation of voter groups with special needs. They have leveraged technological advancements to increase efficiency, reduce fraud, digitize voter registers, invigorate engagement with online platforms, strengthen media literacy, and more rapidly and accurately, transmit election results.
They have adopted eco-friendly practices to make elections more climate resilient. These achievements must be celebrated.
During the Canberra to Stockholm Exchanges and the Stockholm Conference on Electoral Integrity, speakers and participants highlighted the importance of excellent service delivery, understandable and implementable regulatory frameworks, and public outreach that explains the intricacies of electoral processes to all citizens while emphasizing political neutrality and transparency. Such initiatives require resources, technical capacity, safeguards and adequate support throughout the electoral cycle, not solely during election periods. If not appropriately resourced, supported and protected, EMBs can be set up to fail, and flawed elections put democracy and social stability at risk.
The challenges to electoral processes are serious. Complex procedures, time pressure and the rise of aggressive and anti-social behaviour against election workers have implications for recruitment, delivery and security. EMBs are working in a rapidly changing information and security environment with mounting threats to democracy by foreign and domestic actors. Alarming examples of threats to electoral integrity include attempts to curb the independence of electoral administration, undue political pressure on electoral justice institutions, widespread disinformation campaigns, institutional and legal changes intended to tilt the electoral playing field unfairly, inappropriate interference with voting or results processes, and the proliferation of narratives that seek to discredit and undermine public trust in electoral processes and EMBs. Renewed public confidence in election integrity must be anchored in legitimately appointed electoral bodies, their legally protected impartiality and independence as well as the transparency of electoral processes and reforms.
Moving Forward
The Canberra to Stockholm Exchanges and the Stockholm Conference on Electoral Integrity reinforce the need for accelerated engagement at the global (networks and professional associations) and national level (governments, law enforcement agencies, political parties, candidates, courts, the media, civil society organizations and voters) to:
1. Enhance cooperation nationally and globally
Challenges to electoral processes can be specific to a particular jurisdiction, but are also transnational. Multi-level cooperation and robust mechanisms for action are needed to tackle complex challenges. Such mechanisms and cooperation can include exchanges on effective strategies to protect election integrity and combat disinformation, collaborative professional expertise development initiatives, information sharing on good electoral practices, and strengthening normative frameworks to enhance EMBs’ independence, impartiality, capacity and resilience.
2. Strengthen mechanisms to protect EMBs' independence
Ensuring public trust in election results requires EMBs to have protection from any political maneuvering intended to undermine the impartiality or effectiveness of election administration. Legal, financial and institutional safeguards must establish transparent methods of appointments, guard against arbitrary dismissal, protect EMB independence and prevent regulatory capture.
3. Promote respectful electoral conduct
Attacks on election workers, citizens or candidates are incompatible with the idea of elections as a celebration of democratic principles, including freedom, fairness, equality, and civic engagement. Protecting a healthy democratic culture in the current environment requires active stakeholder engagement and effective public communication. Engagement can include brokering agreements on norms for political conduct and how these are encouraged and respected, as well as adopting proactive, pre-emptive measures to address online actions causing harm through well-structured inter-agency and multi-stakeholder collaboration.
4. Ensure timely and effective democratic electoral reform
Inclusive electoral reforms that gather the EMBs, government institutions, the legislature and other stakeholders can adjust election delivery to a rapidly changing world and strengthen election integrity. Conversely, they can be
instrumentalized to entrench power by incumbents, exclude opposition and disenfranchise citizens. Collaboration and consensus-building are vital to timely and conclusive reform. EMBs must assume a pivotal role in such reform processes, contributing their experience and expertise, while ensuring appropriate timelines, feasibility and effective communication with electoral stakeholders and voters. Effective design and implementation of electoral reform processes are critical. Well-designed electoral reform processes are inclusive, transparent, have a long-term vision and clearly articulated milestones and guardrails, encouraging political consensus-building across multiple voices, including those of the most politically vulnerable in society.
Participants in the Canberra to Stockholm Exchanges on Electoral Integrity and the Stockholm Conference on Electoral Integrity expressed a shared resolve to accelerate engagement on this four-point agenda, deepen collaboration, and foster national and global efforts to advance electoral integrity. Participants encouraged International IDEA and its member states to actively support this engagement.
