Elections and Voters' Rights

Though democratic, universal suffrage has been enshrined as a basic human right by the United Nations (UN), many countries continue to struggle to hold free and fair elections in which all citizens enjoy full voting rights. Fraud, corruption, election interference, and other misconduct undermine confidence in the voting process. Discriminatory policies have deprived entire demographics from being able to exercise their vote, while some electoral systems operate in such ways that outcomes are not determined by the citizens but by those able to wield political power.

In 1948, as part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the UN identified the right to participate in government as a basic right. Article 21 of UDHR calls for "periodic and genuine...