Countries and organizations globally have developed
multifaceted programs to target youth inclusion in the electoral process. Not
only is there a focus on using youth as observers, but also on tracking youth
engagement as they participate in the electoral cycle.
The European Students’ Forum (AEGEE) Election
Observation Mission provides a youth perspective on elections in Europe, by
deploying student observers specifically to assess youth engagement. They do
this using a variety of measures, and taking in local legislative conditions
that will favor youth inclusion and participation.
Example: In April 2018, the AEGEE Observation Mission deployed
29 young observers to Hungary for the parliamentary election.[i]
Observers monitored electoral activities in the lead-up to election, as voting
took place in 130 voting stations and mobile voting units, and reported
post-election. Among other reporting, observers recorded: the number of voters
under 30; the presence of young electoral staff (underrepresented in this
election); and also noted local laws that would favor youth voters, such as
enabling voting outside their home constituency, or disadvantage youth voters,
such as the lack of legislation permitting domestic observation, thus excluding
young citizen observers.
Example: Women for Change Mongolia, is an NGO that advocates
for women and young people. Its Youth Civic Engagement program[ii]
drives youth participation in the democratic process. In 2012, 2016, and 2017
Women for Change and Youth Policy Watch (a CSO) organized and mobilized a civil
society observation project and acted as impartial election observers in
Mongolia’s parliamentary and presidential elections as a part of the “Fair
Election” civil society coalition. Two hundred young people were recruited and
trained during each election to observe the process of voting, vote count and
result tabulation. Equipped with new skills and training, volunteers were able
to observe and assist voters at 100 voting stations across Ulaanbaatar. This
equates to 30 per cent of voting stations in the nation’s capital city, which
is home to over 50 per cent of the country’s population.[iii]
See Annex: Youth Observers in Mongolia.
Example: During the 2012 federal election
process, UNDP Mexico managed and operated a Fund that supported electoral
observation projects. The Fund’s public call for proposals clearly stated the
topic of youth as one of the priority topics in the selection process. In
total, five of the selected projects were not only focused on youth, but were
also run by youth organizations. The projects observed a wide array of aspects
and actors in the electoral process. For instance, one of them monitored the
EMB’s youth participation campaigns and policies. Another one monitored youth
candidacies for Congress and observed the conditions in which the Mexican youth
has access to these candidacies, focusing on practices within the various
political parties. Beyond the traditional observation during election day, the
youth-led projects that were supported by the Fund observed a variety of
actors, including the EMB, political parties, and the media, throughout the
electoral process.
