See ACE Topic Area: Civic and Voter Education

CVE forms an important part of educational activities. While civic education is a continuous process that is not specifically linked to an electoral cycle, voter education is tied closer to individual electoral periods. Despite this broad conceptual distinction, civic and voter education are mutually reinforcing. By partnering with ministries and authorities responsible for education, EMBs can ensure that youth are reached outside electoral periods and that the necessary knowledge is transmitted from an early age.

CVE can be taught in the spheres of school ethos, the formal curriculum, extra-curriculum programs and through community service. Students can get engaged in decision-making processes through meaningful youth voice forums and volunteer opportunities. EMBs can support schools in numerous ways in bringing democratic values into practice by setting up mock elections, debates, class and through student elections, among other strategies.

EMBs in several countries have established collaborations with schools to deliver effective voter and civic education.

Example: In Honduras, the EMB signed an agreement with the Ministry of Education to provide trainings to teachers in primary and secondary schools to organize elections for student boards. By organizing elections in schools from an early age, students are learning about democracy and electoral processes.

Example: In the lead-up to the 2018 national elections, the Fijian Elections Office (FEO) collaborated closely with the Ministry of Education in developing a nation-wide voter education curriculum for 16-year-old students. The roll-out of the programs included: teacher training; development of a learning module (student workbook and teacher manual); accompanying resources, including a mock election kit and a dedicated website; and integration of the new curriculum into the updated national curriculum. Every Year 10 Fijian student participated in the programs, which consisted of 10 classes delivered intensively over a two-week period. See Annex: FEO Voter Education Case Study.

Example: In Bhutan, 153 “democracy clubs” were established in 2012 in schools and educational institutes to engage and teach students on their roles and responsibilities in a democratic society. The clubs work as “mini election commissions” in which they organize activities to teach students about the country’s electoral system and seek to increase youth participation in decision-making processes.[i] As part of an effort to further expand the role and impact of the democracy clubs, student representatives from 153 clubs in 2015 signed a constitution establishing a children’s parliament.[ii]

Useful voter education materials

Many established EMBs develop a range of CVE materials for children, youth and other target groups, as well as research papers on the topic of CVE, which are freely available on their websites. Materials are available in English from the EMBs in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, various states in the U.S., South Africa, Kenya and from CVE organizations and clearing houses. Also, educational organizations and electoral assistance organizations, such as IFES and UNDP, also provide free educational materials. ACE Electoral Materials includes examples published in the 2010s.

For example, from the Mexican election commission (in English):

• “Strategy for the training of children and young people in the exercise of their citizenship”
• “Educate for democracy” (curricular support program)
•  “We the young ...” citizen project (curricular support program for secondary and high school)

See ACE Election Materials: Final report of the observatory for civic education programs and promotion of youth vote in the federal electoral process (published by Mexico Instituto Nacional Electoral).

See ACE Election Materials: Civic Education in the Kyrgyz Republic (American University – Central Asia, Social Research Center).