The Elections and Conflict topic area was developed by Sead
Alihodzic and Erik Asplund. Part I is original contribution, apart from section
on gender based violence in elections that is contributed by IFES. Part II is
largely based on International IDEA’s publications: The Guide on Factors of Election-related Violence Internal to Electoral
Processes (2013) written by Sead Alihodžić and Erik Asplund, and The Guide on Factors of Election-related
Violence External to Electoral Processes (2013) written by Sead Alihodžić
and Catalina Uribe Burcher. Part III is largely based on The Guide on Action Points for the Prevention and Mitigation of
Election-related Violence (2013) written by Sead Alihodžić and Erik
Asplund, and Alihodžić S. (2013), Electoral Violence Early Warning and
Infrastructures for Peace, Journal of Peacebuilding & Development, 7:3,
54-69.
Special thanks go to Virginia Beramendi,
Oliver Joseph, Natasha Ikners, Mark Salter and
Sofia Bingermark for their support in editing, and to Eva Johais and Alexander
Raffoul for their research contributions. Thanks further extend to
peer-reviewers from ACE partner organizations who provided insightful comments,
in particular to Virginia Spinks and Avery Davis-Roberts from The Carter
Centre, Aleida Ferreyra and Risa Arai from the UNDP, Gabrielle Bardall, Ryan
Bennett and Vasu Mohan from IFES for reviewing and
contributing to the final draft and, to IFES for contributing section on
violence against women in elections (2.3), and to Sara Staino and Heather
Szilagyi who both coordinated partners’ inputs.
Sead Alihodzic has over 20 years of professional
experience working with elections, democratization, and peace building. In
2008, Sead joined the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral
Assistance (International IDEA) where, as Senior Programme Officer, he is in
charge of the Elections and Conflict project work. In addition to afore
mentioned publications, Sead authored several articles on the topics of
elections, violence, early warning, risk management in elections, and democracy
promotion, including: Risk Management in
Elections (International IDEA Policy Paper No.14, 2016); The
mechanics of democracy promotion tools: bridging the knowledge-to-practice gap (Development in Practice, 2016); Prevention and Mitigation of
Election-related Violence – A Three Layered Approach (New Routes – A
journal of peace research and action, 2012); ‘Elections, Violence and Peace’ (‘Ballots or Bullets: Potentials
and Limitations of Elections in Conflict Contexts; Swisspeace Annual Conference
2010’). Sead holds a Master’s degree
from the University of Essex
Erik Asplund is a Programme Officer with International
IDEA’s Electoral Processes Programme. He joined the institute in 2009
working on Democracy Analysis and Assessment and the Electoral Risk Management
Tool. His current work on institutional strengthening and professional
development in elections focuses on: Building Resources in Democracy,
Governance and Elections (BRIDGE) project; the ACE project; electoral risk
management; and electoral management design, with a focus on electoral training,
education and research facilities. From 2015–16 he worked as the Coordinator of
the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network. He has worked with electoral management
bodies in Africa, Asia, the Arab World, Europe, North America and Latin America
on various electoral capacity development projects. Before joining
International IDEA, Asplund worked in the Gambia on democracy and human rights
projects. He has also worked for several think tanks including Stockholm
International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). He holds a Master’s degree
in international studies from Uppsala University, Sweden.
