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.