State of world elections report out Friday

The Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security will on Friday, release a landmark report on the state of the world’s elections with a focus on Ghana and some other African countries.

The report, scheduled to be released in London, will highlight the global threat and challenges to democratic progress as well as measures to improve electoral integrity.

Among other areas, it will look at some of Africa’s biggest successes and failures in recent years in the conduct of elections with integrity, and the management of the fallout from those that are poorly organised, focusing on Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The commission is constituted by prominent international figures under the chairmanship of Kofi Anan, a former Secretary-General of the United Nations, who is billed to present the report.

Titled ‘Deepening democracy: A strategy for improving the integrity of elections worldwide’, the report will include radical recommendations to strengthen election processes and norms across the world.

One of the major issues to be highlighted is uncontrolled campaign financing, which the commissioners believe, poses a great threat to democracy in all countries across the world.

The report is the outcome of two years of deliberations and extensive research by the commission.

The Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security was jointly established by the International Institute for Democracy and Election Assistance (International IDEA) and Mr Kofi Annan Foundation, with the view to highlighting the importance of elections with integrity for achieving a more stable and secure world.

The members of the commission include a former Mexican President, Dr Ernesto Zedillo, other former heads of state, Nobel Prize winners and globally renowned academics.