Election Observation and Public Confidence in Elections

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

A number of countries around the world are currently facing low confidence in election outcomes among some portions of the public, in part due to false claims of malfeasance and other forms of misinformation. At the same time, election observation, conducted by both international and domestic actors, has become increasingly ubiquitous. This panel seeks to examine the effects of election observation on public confidence in elections from a comparative perspective. Under what contexts can election observation boost confidence in electoral outcomes when warranted? Cohen and Smith focus on the presence of partisan poll observers in Peru, using a survey experiment, exit poll, and focus group interviews to analyze the impact of their presence on voters’ trust in the outcomes of the election. Turning to the case of the United States, two papers use survey experiments to probe the effects of different types of observers on voters. Curtice and Crabtree examine the impact of partisan endorsements of international observer missions on public support for their deployment, while Hyde, Samet, and Barker test the effects of different nonpartisan identities of domestic election observers on voters’ perceptions of their assessments. Donno, Morrison, Savun, and Davutoglu assess the consequences of the presence of multiple monitoring groups in elections in developing countries, which is increasingly common. Using data on election observation mission verdicts and a survey experiment in Turkey, they show that competing verdicts from different monitoring groups can reduce contention among the public after the election, even when there has been manipulation. Finally, Lean and Lacouture consider the conditions under which domestic election observers in Latin America may be constrained in their activities, which has implications for their effects on public confidence.

Sub Unit

• Theme Panel

Individual Presentations

• How Partisan Poll Watchers Affect Citizen Confidence in Elections - Mollie Cohen, Purdue University; Amy Erica Smith, Iowa State University

• Democratic Erosion, Partisanship, and Election Observers - Travis B. Curtice, Drexel University; Charles David Crabtree, Dartmouth College

• Domestic Election Observation and Public Confidence in U.S. Elections - Susan D. Hyde, University of California, Berkeley; Jennie Barker, University of California-Berkeley; Oren Samet, University of California, Berkeley

• Competing Verdicts: Multiple Election Monitors and Post-Election Contention - Daniela Donno, University of Oklahoma; Kelly Elizabeth Morrison, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Burcu Savun, University of Pittsburgh; Perisa Davutoglu, University of Pittsburgh

• Constraints on Nonpartisan Election Observation - Sharon F. Lean, Wayne State University; Matthew Thomas Lacouture, Wayne State University

Chair

• Lauren Prather University of California, San Diego

Discussants

• Andy Andrew Harris New York University Abu Dhabi

• Travis B. Curtice Drexel University