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Free and fair election

Afree and fair election is defined by political scientist Robert Dahl as an election in which "coercion is comparatively uncommon". A free and fair election involves political freedoms and fair processes leading up to the vote, a fair count of eligible voters who cast a ballot, a lack of electoral fraudorvoter suppression, and acceptance of election results by all parties. An election may partially meet international standards for free and fair elections, or may meet some standards but not others.^[1]

A 2016 study evaluated ten dimensions of the conduct of elections between 1975–2011:^[2]

1. legal framework (whether there was a constitutional right of citizens to vote and seek office, whether elections were held at regular intervals, and whether election-related laws were not changed immediately before an election);
2. electoral management (whether gerrymandering occurred and whether election management bodies, if they existed, were independent, impartial, and accountable);
3. electoral rights (whether citizens were generally able to vote on the basis of equal suffrage and access);
4. voter registers (whether they were accurate, current, and open to voters for easy and effective voter registration);
5. nomination rules/ballot access (whether candidates had in practice a right to compete in the election, with rejections of candidate applications being based on "internationally recognizable and acceptable norms" and with no candidate receiving more than 75% of the votes, a signal of malpractice or election boycotts);
6. campaign process (whether elections were carried out without violence, intimidation, bribery (vote buying), use of government resources to advantage the incumbent, or a "massive financial advantages" for the incumbent);
7. media access (whether freedom of speech was protected and whether the ruling party was disproportionately benefited by government-owned media);
8. voting process (whether elections were conducted by secret ballot on a one person, one vote basis, with adequate security to protect voters and protection against ballot box stuffing, multiple voting, destruction of valid ballots, and other forms of manipulation);
9. role of officials (whether the election was administered with adequately trained personnel, free from campaigning or intimidation at polling places, and with the ability of international election observers and party representatives to observe polling places); and
10. counting of votes (whether votes were tabulated transparently and free of fraud or tampering)

The V-Dem Democracy Indices codes free and fair elections separately from the extent of suffrage.^[3]

The study of 169 countries from 1975 to 2011 estimated that only about half of elections were free and fair.^[2] The study wondered whether the increase in non-democratic regimes holding elections over time alongside a rise in global efforts around election observation led to a rise in the proportion of elections that were deemed to not be free and fair. The presence of election monitors and constraints on executive power were associated with a 31% higher probability of a free and fair elections in the study.^[2]

• Election subversion
• Electoral integrity
• Unfair election
• Voter suppression

• Katz, Richard S. (2005). "Democratic principles and judging tree and fair'". Representation. 41 (3): 161–179. doi:10.1080/00344890508523309. S2CID 154352155.
• Geisler, Gisela (1993). "Fair? What Has Fairness Got to Do with It? Vagaries of Election Observations and Democratic Standards". The Journal of Modern African Studies. 31 (4): 613–637. doi:10.1017/S0022278X00012271. S2CID 154664000.
• Mercurio, Bryan; Williams, George (2004). "Australian Electoral Law: 'Free and Fair'?". Federal Law Review. 32 (3): 365–395. doi:10.22145/flr.32.3.3. S2CID 220285411.
• Fick, Glenda (1999). "The Gender-Sensitive Check-List for Free and Fair Elections". Agenda. 15 (40): 66–74. doi:10.1080/10130950.1999.9675739.
• Shah, Seema (2015). "Free and fair? Citizens' assessments of the 2013 general election in Kenya". Review of African Political Economy. 42 (143): 44–61. doi:10.1080/03056244.2014.995162. hdl:10.1080/03056244.2014.995162. S2CID 154891103.
• Goodwin-Gill, Guy S. (2006). Free and Fair Elections. Inter-Parliamentary Union. ISBN 978-92-9142-277-7.
• Falade, Adesola; Adebiyi, Ayodele A.; Ayo, Charles K.; Adebiyi, Marion; Okesola, Olatunji (1 January 2019). "E-voting system: the pathway to free and fair election in Nigeria". Electronic Government. 15 (4): 439–452. doi:10.1504/EG.2019.102578. ISSN 1740-7494. S2CID 204539213.
• Bjornlund, Eric (2004). Beyond Free and Fair: Monitoring Elections and Building Democracy. Woodrow Wilson Center Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8048-3.

• Explainer: Free and Fair Elections