Election Superheroes - Poland
For the October 2023 Polish parliamentary elections and referendum, Unhack Democracy in collaboration with EPDE and the Political Accountability Foundation (PAF) in Poland organized a 4 day election observation study trip for five members of Hungarian civil society, working on electoral integrity.
Poland’s civil society, the engine behind the historic 2023 parliamentary elections, provides a blueprint for Hungarian NGOs and all those working in electoral autocracies on how to mobilize the electorate and safeguard the electoral process but also highlights the significant weaknesses of Hungary’s civil society operating in a captured state.
Election Health Check
Election Health Check was a transnational project led by Unhack Democracy to entertain, educate and activate young voters by bringing together artists and election watchdogs in Hungary, North Macedonia and Serbia to protect electoral integrity ahead of elections in their respective country.
The participating artists had a key role in creating videos that allowed citizens to better understand how they can strengthen democracy. Election Health Check provided Unhack Democracy’s team, collaborating researchers and artists, with the unique opportunity to learn from each other while bringing our methodologies and points of views into consensus.
Hungary
Unhack commissioned renowned artists to write and direct a series of interrelated short films inspired by our research. The video series highlights the impact of polling day corruption, the co-dependent system and the heroic role well-trained poll workers’ play in defending democracy. The videos were part of Unhack’s Count for Democracy! campaign.
North
Macedonia
A collaboration between Lokomotiva (Centre for New Initiatives in Arts and Culture) and human rights organisation CIVIL, the "We Vote!" video series aired on North Macedonian TV and on social media ahead of elections in October 2021 to encourage young voters to actively take part in the democratic process.
Serbia
Ahead of the April 2022 local elections, civil society organisation CRTA worked with activists, creators and influencers “Marka Žvaka” and socially engaged choir “Horkestar” to produce a series of videos aimed at promoting the belief that elections can deliver real change specifically targeting younger voters.
Europe for Citizens
Led by the European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE) and financed by the European Commission, this project brought together citizen election observation organizations from seven EU member states united in the effort to contribute to fair and transparent elections both on a national and European level.
Covering a range of EU member states, from those that demonstrate blatant non-compliance with ODIHR observation standards to ones with long standing records in good electoral practice, the project aimed to provide a broad platform to highlight and address the main internal threats to democracy within the bloc.
An initial consultation stage involving election and democratic experts in each country was followed by domestic campaigns aimed at addressing specific democratic challenges in each participating country and an EU-wide campaign and events programme focusing on the most pressing common threats to the democratic process in Europe.
For more information, read ACTIVE CITIZENS FOR A VIBRANT DEMOCRACY: The Role and Regulation of Citizen Election Observation in the EU