2024 is a pivotal year for democracy around the world as many countries will be holding elections to determine their future. Authoritarian leaders are increasingly seeking to gain unfair advantages by restricting political space and undermining electoral processes. Citizen election observers play a key role in the struggle to ensure democratic resilience and electoral integrity. Citizen observers employ a variety of methodologies for election observation, most notably the Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT). In 2023 alone, PRVTs by nonpartisan citizen observers helped build public confidence in the electoral process in Guatemala, exposed electoral fraud in Sierra Leone, and provided critical information about the quality and subsequent results of Nigeria’s elections. In this year of elections, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) has released an updated guide for PRVTs that will serve as a critical tool to empower citizens to increase transparency and accountability in electoral processes.

Access NDI’s updated PVRT guide here.