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International IDEA’s Board of Advisers had its first meeting of the year on 22 February 2021, welcoming seven new Board members. During the meeting, Ms Njeri Kabeberi was elected as the new Chair of the Board and Ms Laura Chinchilla as the Vice Chair for 2021.

While Latin Americans struggle to leave behind the bleak year of 2020 they’re dealing with a pandemic that has left more than 550,000 dead; their economies are trying to recover from the worst recession in a century; and they are going through a new super-cycle of elections that began with Bolivia’s October 2020 general elections and that will not culminate until late 2024.

Five former presidents of Latin America were of the view that Latin America has to achieve integration to be able to seek solutions to the economic and social challenges facing the region, as well as the health challenges posed by the spread of COVID-19. Former presidents Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Republic, Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica, Fernando H.

The right to cast a vote in democratic elections stands at the core of people’s political rights. However, for citizens residing abroad the issue is less straightforward. Should people that have made a choice to live in another country still have voting rights in their country of origin? If so, should the state be responsible for facilitating their vote from abroad—or should citizens simply have the option of returning to exercise their right?

GUEST PODCAST: The Votes and Ballots podcast interviewed Erik Asplund, International IDEA's  Electoral Processes programmer officer about Elections and COVID-19. This external podcast is only available on the Votes and Ballots Soundcloud platform.

When constitutions are written in response to violent conflict or as part of a peace process, a key aim of constitution-building is to end the fighting and channel disputes through political institutions. Because of this, people at the negotiating table tend to be parties to the conflict, who are predominately men. When constitution-building responds to broad social unrest, in comparison, a key aim is to create a new social and political order.

If the most recent elections in Venezuela have already been marked by distrust, the election scheduled for 6 December, in which the entirety of its National Assembly will be renewed with a five-year term, has given rise to even more questions about its integrity.

International IDEA celebrated its 25th Anniversary on the 19-20 of November through a 25-hour conference, "Democracy Now and Next." During the meeting, the Institute showcased its thematic expertise through 12 sessions and 63 speakers organized by our regional and country offices. The conference generated a global conversation about the future of democracy and the role of International IDEA.

Venezuela has scheduled parliamentary elections for 6 December where it will completely renew its National Assembly for a five-year term. Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB) and International IDEA published a report to provide a diagnosis and conclusions on the election, as well as to formulate recommendations on key aspects of electoral integrity.

In his final appraisal of the comprehensive evolution of the 2020 general election, Dr Salvador Romero, Chair of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), praised the support of international organizations from International IDEA and other national electoral observation missions engaged in the strengthening of democracy, describing the election as "the most complex in the country's democratic history".

With an important voter turnout on the National Plebiscite of 25 October, Chileans decided to draw up a new constitution, by the future election of a citizen constitutional convention. What are the next steps for this constitutional process that had just begun?

Bolivia marked a new milestone in the building of its democracy. On Sunday, 18 October, the 2020 general election’s polling day, the commitment and active participation of 16 civil society organizations that make up Observa Bolivia—a citizens’ initiative aimed at monitoring the election—became evident.

This Sunday, 25 October, Chile will define if they want (or not) a new Constitution and through what mechanism. This could lead to an unprecedented process in the history of the country, allowing citizens to choose the representatives in charge of drafting and preparing a new constitutional proposal.

In this Sunday, 18 October, general elections' voters will elect the principal executive and legislative branch authorities at the national level. Bolivia elects the president and vice-president by popular and direct vote, along with the members of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly (senators and members of the Chamber of Deputies, i.e. the lower house), in concurrent elections.

The Center for the Implementation of Public Policies for Equity and Growth (CIPPEC) and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) are jointly undertaking the “Elections in times of the pandemic” project.

Este artículo está disponible en español.

Within the framework of a series of international conferences, in commemoration of 25 years of the work carried out by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), a second such conference was held to analyze the future and challenges of the Bolivian governmental system of representation and those in the wider Latin American region, where it has become evident to society that there is a latent deterioration of the reputation of systems of political