Carter Center staffer Jordan McNary monitors voting Nov. 5, 2024, at Lang-Carlson Community Center in Atlanta, where the Center conducted nonpartisan election observation.
From Zimbabwe to New Mexico, Sierra Leone to Montana, and Tunisia to the Peach State of Georgia, the Carter Center’s recent election observation work has spanned the globe.
“The United States is increasingly similar to many other countries around the world where there are questions, doubts, and criticisms about the quality of elections,” said David Carroll, director of the Carter Center’s Democracy Program, which is dedicated to reinforcing democratic institutions through nonpartisan election observation. “The goals of The Carter Center and its nonpartisan observation partners are to provide an extra set of eyes and analysis, generating detailed reports on what happens throughout the electoral process.”
In 2024, the Center conducted nonpartisan election observation in Fulton County, Georgia, where Atlanta is located. Working with state-specific organizations, it also launched two grassroots observation networks — one in New Mexico and one in Montana — where it provided training, technical expertise, and funding, making it possible to deploy more than 300 people across the two states to observe everything from early voting and ballot counting to machine testing and post-election audits.
“Our theory is that as people understand what it takes to conduct elections, and really understand the minutiae of the process, a new level of transparency is generated that helps to increase people’s trust in elections,” said Carmen López, co-lead of Observe New Mexico Elections.
Furthermore, the hope is that what these election observers saw firsthand working behind the scenes gets shared with friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors, thereby helping to boost confidence in our democratic process from the ground up.
One person likely to spread that good news is Patricia Hixson, a volunteer observer with the Montana Election Observation Initiative.
“The systems that they have in place just boggle the mind,” she said. “I really feel like I don’t see how you could have a fraudulent election.”
While nonpartisan election observation is common around the world, only about half of U.S. states allow it. Georgia, for instance, does not, but a special process allowed for nonpartisan observation in 2024 in highly scrutinized Fulton County.
The citizen observers who worked on Carter Center-sponsored projects during the 2024 elections came away with a deeper understanding of the value of these nonpartisan efforts.
“People’s faces light up, and they realize they have a role,” said Sharon Berman, co-lead of Observe New Mexico Elections. “They’ll go back to their communities and let their friends and neighbors know how incredibly careful and conscientious poll workers are across the state. It has nothing to do with political affiliation. It has everything to do with commitment to a fair process.”
The nonpartisan observation projects in all three states have publicized reports and statements detailing what went well and what needed improvement. And, though the 2024 election largely lacked the unsubstantiated allegations of fraud made in 2020 and 2022, Carroll believes that the work remains critical in our increasingly polarized country.
“I didn’t anticipate that we would be in this kind of environment in 2024 and looking ahead to 2025,” he said. “But it makes me feel that this work is more important than ever and that we’re well placed to try to keep it moving.”
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