There is no single definition of election-related violence or a commonly accepted terminology on this topic. Philip Alston’s report (2010:4-6)[1a] points to the main approaches and definitions to electoral violence, which are mainly constructed around motives for influencing the election:

- Höglund (2009:417)[1] notes that: “electoral violence is separated from other forms of political violence by a combination of timing and motive. The time aspect relates to violence carried out during the election period. The objective of electoral violence is to influence the electoral process and in extension its outcome”.

- Laakso (2007: 227)[2] notes that: “electoral violence is an activity motivated by an attempt to affect the results of the elections – either by manipulating the electoral procedures and participation or by contesting the legitimacy of the results”.

- Fischer (2002:4)[3] defines electoral conflict and violence as “Any harm or threat of harm to any person or property involved in the election process, or the process itself, during the election period”.

- Haid (2010:1)[4], according to who electoral violence is: “employed to affect electoral outcomes”.

- Sisk (UNDP, 2009:4)[5] who defines election-related violence more broadly as: “acts or threats or coercion, intimidation, or physical harm perpetrated to affect an electoral process or that arise in the context of electoral competition”.

Additional definitions that deserve attention are proposed by Kehailia and Bardall:

- Kehailia (2014:31-39)[6] distinguishes eight categories, based on who the perpetrators are and why is violence occurring, namely: 1) Party-on-Party Electoral Violence; 2) Party-on-Voter Electoral Violence; 3) Party-on-State Electoral Violence; 4) Voter-on-Voter Electoral Violence; 5) Voter-on-State Electoral Violence; 6) State-on-Voter Electoral Violence; 7) State-on-Party Electoral Violence; and 8) State-on-State Electoral Violence.

- Bardal (2016)[7] provides the right-based definition and finds electoral violence a subtype of “political violence is a means of controlling and/or oppressing an individual or group’s right to participation in political processes and institutions through the use of emotional, social or economic force, coercion or pressure, as well as physical and sexual harm. It may take place in public or in private, including in the family, the general community, online and via media, or be perpetrated or condoned by the state.”

While acknowledging that “much election-related violence is indeed motivated by a desire to influence the conduct or outcome of an election in some way”, Alston (2010:5) also underlines that some electoral killings are not motivated by an intention to influence an election, in particular with killings in the context of riots or protests. While some protests may be intended to influence or change electoral outcomes, others are motivated by indignation, anger or disappointment with a result, and are not necessarily intended to change that result:

“This is even more so for killings in the context of protests. Killings between private citizens in the midst of protests may be better explained, for instance, by the complex dynamics of crowd behaviour or mob violence. More significantly, many killings during riots are committed by security forces while attempting to (legitimately or otherwise) pacify or end a protest. There are many types of such security force killings (e.g. intentional targeting of perceived enemies of a regime, identified by their presence at the protest, or the excessive).”

The United Nations understands electoral violence as a form of political violence, “which is often designed to influence an electoral outcome and therefore the distribution of political power”[8]. Electoral violence can include physical violence as well as coercion or intimidation. These manifestations of violence can occur during all the different phases of the electoral cycle; however, they also show that the political order has not managed to achieve a balance between competing political interests more generally.