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Serving in different countries, diplomats learn about many specific attributes of electoral processes around the world. Not all elections are exciting in the same way; the question is whether the same criteria can be applied to assessing the quality of elections everywhere.

In many countries all over the globe elections are decided by offering favors in the form of money, jobs, and services in exchange for votes. The Western Balkans region is not an exception to a practice that springs “at the crossroads of politics and administration, economy and society”. Broad as it is, the concept of clientelism means “different things to different people”, so this panel is exploring its also a regional meanings and varieties and attempting to conceive a strategy for combating client politics.

Building trust: Efficient election administration and safeguarding against manipulation

Do we need a new model for organizing the work of election commissions, on national and local level, and polling boards, particularly in terms of the way that they are composed? Currently, members of those bodies are being delegated by the political parties, which in practice may mean that they prioritize their parties’ interests to the public interest. How to help the election administration to overcome problems, such as lack of experts and resources, in order to gain more citizens’ trust?

Media in the public interest: Strengthening Public Service for citizens

How to empower the public media services to perform the critical role they have in protecting society from polarization and putting the public interest first? In times when disinformation gains a horrifying power, how to have professional and trusted media that will safeguard citizens in times of extreme crisis, such as pandemics and climate threats? If privately owned media outlets don’t provide a balanced picture of an election campaign, is it utopian to believe that the public ones can be a synonym of no bias editorial policy?

Strengthening democracy by guarding the vote: Exchange of experiences and tools among citizens' observation missions

For various reasons, it doesn’t feel quite the same to be an international and a domestic election observer. After all, it’s not the same if a country of election fraud is a foreign one or your own. Citizens’ election observation missions are facing many different challenges in their work, but they all share the same goal – to protect the integrity of elections as the public interest.

Ensuring Voter Registry integrity

A public mistrust in the electoral process reaches an almost utmost depth when citizens lose trust in the accuracy of the voter register and start perceiving it as a tool primarily used for election manipulations and abuse of voters’ rights. What is a way out of a crisis like that and who bears the biggest responsibility to provide a trustworthy document, which is a precondition for elections that may reflect the voters’ will?

Ensuring media pluralism: The role of regulators in safeguarding diversity

Is it the same to manipulate mass media as to rob an election? Such a dilemma may sound too radical, but many examples around the world prove that radical unfairness in elections is mostly embodied in incomparable access to money and media. If there is no political pluralism in the media, how can an election race be competitive? If daily there is more propaganda than objective reporting in the media, what a difference an official campaign period can make, with all its quotas and regulations? And what if even then most of those regulations are not respected?

Local insights: How grassroots groups monitor elections and ensure fairness

Observers must be impartial and politically neutral, but that does not mean that election observing is not activism. On the contrary, observers are the people who invest their time and energy for a great cause – to support democracy, which is not possible without free and fair elections. What is specific about that kind of activism in local communities, where grassroot groups are mobilizing to watch over municipal elections?

Protecting electoral integrity: The role of prosecutors in safeguarding voter rights

Kako se boriti protiv nekažnjivosti ako se ne gone i ne kažnjavaju počinioci krivičnih dela u izbornom procesu? Kako da javni tužioci budu zaštićeni od političkih uticaja, odnosno pritisaka? Dok u vezi s izborima raste broj kršenja zakona, pitanje je da li tužilaštvo raspolaže neophodnim mehanizmima za efikasniji rad.

Unveiling media influence in the Western Balkans: Strengthening democratic resilience against information manipulation

Demokratija trpi kad dezinformacije i medijske manipulacije cvetaju, posebno ako se one šire iz geopolitičkih razloga. Jezičke i kulturne bliskosti su prednost regiona Zapadnog Balkana, ali mogu biti zloupotrebljene za lakše širenje toksične propagande. Zašto kažemo strani kada mislimo na maligni uticaj?

Inspiring action: A conversation on the motivations for citizen election monitoring

* događaj zatvorenog tipa samo za Crtine posmatrače izbora

Kako da nam istorijsko pamćenje bude saveznik u odbrani demokratije? Mogu li nacionalne granice da se ispreče između civilnih društava? Gde je linija između principa, odnosno vrednosti i pragmatizma? Šta će inspirisati nove generacije na borbu za ideale u vremenu krize imaginacije?

Presentation of conclusions and recommendations from the discussion table sessions