The legal definition of election fraud in established democracies: Comparing the Netherlands and the United Kingdom

There has been a considerable increase in the academic attention that is paid to election fraud in established democracies, in recent years. Electoral fraud is problematic because having clean elections is necessary for the trust of citizens in their government. However, although the term “election fraud” is often used in law, there is no agreed legal definition of what actions are and are not election fraud; legislation therefore differs from country to country. To date, there is no explanation of why these differences in legislation occur. This thesis seeks to make both an empirical-descriptive and a theoretical contribution to how election fraud legislation is shaped. The empirical-descriptive contribution is made by providing two in-depth case studies that show the historical development of election fraud legislation in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom in the period of 1830-2020, based on parliamentary records. While some accounts have been provided on this topic for the United Kingdom, very little has been written about the Netherlands. Comparative research on election fraud rules is entirely absent. The study aims to make a theoretical contribution to explaining why electoral laws take the form that they do, by focusing attention on the previously unnoticed role of legislatures and courts in this part of election administration. The thesis also provides a new analytical tool for comparing electoral fraud legislation in different countries. An original matrix is developed by the author to enable the comparison of the main properties and characteristics of legislation that can be used for comparative research. This thesis provides new insights with regard to the question of what is considered election fraud and why this differs between countries, that can be useful for both country-specific policies and the practical field of electoral assistance and election observation

Who runs elections and how can they be improved? independence, resources and workforce conditions are essential for good election management

In new research published today about how elections are run around the world, Toby S. James, Leontine Loeber, Holly Ann Garnett and Carolien van Ham find that organisational independence matters for well-run elections, and that election management could be improved with more resources, improved working conditions for election employees – and a better gender balance in electoral management bodies

Electoral management and the organisational determinants of electoral integrity

Achieving the ideals of electoral democracy depends on well-run elections. Persistent problems of electoral integrity in transitional and established democracies have prompted a burgeoning literature seeking to explain the determinants of electoral integrity around the world. However, the study of the organisations responsible for managing the electoral process has been limited to isolated national case studies. This article opens up an interdisciplinary and international research agenda on the global study of the organisational determinants of electoral integrity. It defines the concept of electoral management and provides a framework to understand how electoral management body (EMB) institutional design, EMB performance and electoral integrity are related. Findings from new data derived from cross-national surveys of EMBs are described, providing new insights into how elections are managed worldwide