In over seventy countries, representing about half of the world’s population, citizens went to the polls this year. While some noted a trend of incumbents losing, NDI saw people-powered democracy triumph on every continent. NDI worked alongside our local citizen partners to play essential roles in many of these electoral hotspots: before, during, and after the polls. 

In Guatemala, President Bernardo Arévalo was inaugurated on a platform to fight endemic corruption and deliver basic services to neglected indigenous communities. NDI helped train the new administration’s staff and improve collaboration with Congress to advance the reform agenda. In Senegal, our longtime work with African leaders to embed constitutional term limits as a democratic norm paid off – the Constitutional Court compelled the incumbent president to hold an election, and young activists stayed in the streets to ensure he implemented the decision. The subsequent snap election and peaceful transfer of power brought Bassirou Diomaye Faye to power as Africa’s youngest head of state, and was a rebuke to coup leaders elsewhere on the continent who were bolstered by Russian blandishments and information manipulation. And in Bangladesh, a student movement ousted a decrepit, corrupt and abusive government, and now a transitional leadership is preparing for elections to renew Bangladesh’s democracy. 

We know that, when citizens have a choice, they choose democracy. Democracy triumphed in many places where Russia, China, and other repressive regimes tried to undermine it. The story of this “Year of Elections” is that a group of autocrats joined forces to press a global offensive against freedom – and they mostly failed. 

In 2024, elected officials, independent courts, and most of all, ordinary citizens and people-powered movements, pushed back on malign authoritarians to keep their democratic progress on track. In Moldova, NDI’s media analysis, polling data, and election observation teams helped sustain the integrity of the election despite a tsunami of Russian-sponsored propaganda and vote-buying. Moldovans’ overwhelming desire to join the West through European Union membership is now enshrined in their constitution. Even in Venezuela, where the brutal Maduro regime imprisoned thousands, disqualified and outlawed opposition candidates, and continued to impoverish ordinary citizens, the brave work of opposition party activists and citizen observers were able to prove, with real-time data, that Maduro falsified the vote count and was not, in fact, the choice of Venezuelans. Their fight will go on, bolstered by support from NDI and others who believe in democracy’s power.

Indeed, we know that the fight for freedom isn’t just about a single election, or its outcome. The long-term impact of our work was visible this year in Botswana. From the time of the country’s independence, NDI worked closely with political party leaders to embed democracy deeply into institutions and politics, and Botswana held regular elections – but a single party always triumphed. This year, after 58 years of control, Botswana's president and ruling party lost reelection, and swiftly and peacefully ceded power to the opposition – a triumph for democratic values and for the people of Botswana. 

We know democracy’s “superpower” – it’s a system that contains within it the seeds of its own renewal, reform, and re-creation. 

Democracy is ending 2024 stronger than it began, because of the work NDI and our local partners do to keep democratic institutions working properly for the citizens they serve. Democracy is stronger because more and more leaders in democratic societies have woken up to the strategic challenge we all face: the new geopolitical competition is fundamentally a question of freedom versus coercion. It’s also stronger, quite frankly, because you and people like you understand what’s at stake, and you support the work needed around the world to bolster democratic actors and institutions against authoritarian assaults. 

Empowering citizens to choose, and thereby to build a better future for themselves and their children – that’s the heart of NDI’s mission to Work for Democracy and Make Democracy Work. NDI helps citizens, candidates, and elected officials stand as the guarantors of their own freedom. We help them stay close to voters, build coalitions, and work constructively across party lines. We help citizens and officials, across the political spectrum, to strengthen their democratic institutions so they become more transparent and accountable to citizens. And when it’s time for another election, NDI and our local partners build on the foundations we’ve laid to protect voters’ free choices from intimidation, manipulation, or distortion. I could not be prouder of what we’ve accomplished on the road to making democracy work for everyone. 

Thank you for being part of our community and supporting our work to ensure that citizens can freely choose the security and prosperity they want for themselves and their communities. I hope you will consider making a concrete investment in our work as we enter 2025 to help us meet the challenges and the opportunities ahead.

Sincerely, 

Dr. Tamara Wittes

President