• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Events
  • Civic Ed
  • Campaign Finance
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • Independent Voter News
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. Election Dissection>
  3. election integrity>

What the Carter Center is up to in the U.S.

Jeff Plungis
October 27, 2020
Former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter

Reversing a view the GOP cites often, Jimmy Carter embraces vote-by-mail.

Scott Cunningham/Getty Images

The Carter Center's work on the U.S. election this year has drawn a lot of attention. It's a first for the organization, which is known for sending official election observers to emergent democracies in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Election Dissection spoke with David Carroll, director of the Atlanta-based nonprofit's democracy program, to get a better understanding of what they're doing in the United States, the difference between their work here and their projects overseas, and why they turned their attention to America for the 2020 vote.


What is the Carter Center doing in the United States for the 2020 election?

We are focusing our activities on public information, on raising awareness of the importance of accurate information and transparency around elections. With this election, with the COVID pandemic and the expansion of absentee voting, we thought it would be very important for people to know about accurate sources of information. We also wanted to encourage election officials at all levels to be transparent so the public really understands things, so there's less room for misunderstanding.

We know from our work internationally how important it is for there to be public trust. That's what we see increasingly under threat in the U.S.

Why now?

While we've known for some time that the U.S. is deficient in many key areas of election standards, we typically focus on countries with the most at stake in terms of the health of their democracy. Is democracy facing a serious threat? Is there backsliding? Those are the kinds of countries where we've engaged.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Over the past 10 years, it's been increasingly clear there's been a threat to the quality of democracy in the U.S. It became very clear this year's election would be a significant challenge. Is there a transparent process? Will the candidates accept the results? Those are some of the key indicators for whether an election is under threat.

While, some standards we look for in strong democracies haven't been met in the U.S. previously, there hasn't until now been serious doubt among significant portions of the population about accepting election results. Or campaigns signaling they wouldn't accept the results.

What's the difference between the Carter Center's overseas work and what it's doing in the U.S.?

When we do our work internationally, we're there in an official capacity to observe, to provide our assessment of the process. It involves meeting people over a long period of time, writing public reports and assessing key aspects of the elections. That's not what we're doing in the U.S.

The U.S. is a very big country. There are 50 state elections. It's a very complicated framework to analyze, compared to other countries. And we're associated with a former head of state and a senior statesman from the Democratic Party. Some might not see us as an unbiased observer here.

Plus, when we work in the capacity of observers of an election, we're invited by an election authority, In the U.S., that would typically be a secretary of state or a state election director. We've never been officially invited to observe an election in any U.S. state.

From Your Site Articles
  • Politicians, philanthropists push election integrity - The Fulcrum ›
  • Global election veterans implore U.S. to secure 2020 vote - The ... ›
  • election integrity ›
  • Election integrity doesn't outweigh voter access - The Fulcrum ›
Related Articles Around the Web
  • Election Integrity | Freedom House ›
  • Electoral Integrity Project ›
  • Election Integrity | The Heritage Foundation ›
election integrity

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Confirm that you are not a bot.
×
Follow
Contributors

Why does a man wearing earrings drive Christians crazy?

Paul Swearengin

DeSantis' sitcom world

Lawrence Goldstone

Hypocrisy of pro-lifers being anti-LGBTQIA

Steve Corbin

A dangerous loss of trust

William Natbony

Shifting the narrative on homelessness in America

David L. Nevins

Reform in 2023: Leadership worth celebrating

Layla Zaidane
latest News

Ask Joe: Two sides of a story

Joe Weston
02 June

Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Our Staff
01 June

Default? Financial crisis? Political theater?

David Butler
01 June

Three practical presidential pledges to promote national prosperity

James-Christian B. Blockwood
31 May

Meet the Faces of Democracy: Justin Roebuck

Mia Minkin
31 May

Podcast: Why Is Congressional Oversight Important, and How Can It Be Done Well? (with Elise Bean)

Kevin R. Kosar
Elise J. Bean
30 May
Videos

Video: Why music? Why now?

David L. Nevins

Video: Honoring Memorial Day

Our Staff

Video: #ListenFirst Friday YOUnify & CPL

Our Staff

Video: What is the toll of racial violence on Black lives?

Our Staff

Video: What's next for migrants seeking asylum after Title 42

Our Staff

Video: An inside look at the campaign to repeal Pennsylvania’s closed primaries

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Our Staff
01 June

Podcast: AI revolution: Disaster or great leap forward?

Our Staff
25 May

Podcast: Can we fix America's financial crises?

Our Staff
23 May

Podcast: Gen Z's fight for democracy

Our Staff
22 May
Recommended
Why does a man wearing earrings drive Christians crazy?

Why does a man wearing earrings drive Christians crazy?

Diversity Inclusion and Belonging
DeSantis' sitcom world

DeSantis' sitcom world

Opinion
Ask Joe: Two sides of a story

Ask Joe: Two sides of a story

Pop Culture
Video: Why music? Why now?

Video: Why music? Why now?

Big Picture
Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Technology
Default? Financial crisis? Political theater?

Default? Financial crisis? Political theater?

Budgeting