With nearly half of the world’s population voting this year, illiberal governments and authoritarian forces are ramping up their efforts to undermine the credibility of elections and overall faith in democracy. Recognizing the gravity of this moment, NDI partnered with Foreign Policy on an event, Safeguarding Global Elections in 2024, the third installment in NDI’s “Defending Democracy” series.

Six of an estimated 50 Roma candidates who ran in Slovakia’s September 2023 parliamentary elections were elected, bringing to office the greatest number of Roma members of parliament (MPs) in the country's history. Roma, a historically disenfranchised minority, now comprise four percent of the 150-member body. These elections tell the story of two different approaches to boosting minority political representation: direct voter engagement and mainstreaming candidates through their positions on the candidate list.

In a democracy, the government is “of, by and for the people” – and genuine elections are about honoring the principle that the authority to govern flows from the people through universal and equal suffrage. Viewed holistically, elections are thus about people’s empowerment. They are a means of holding accountable those in government and endorsing policies of those who seek to be elected. Put succinctly, elections belong to the people, because they are an expression of popular sovereignty. 

Chile’s September 11 happened in 1973, when on that date, a bloody military coup smashed one of Latin America’s strongest democracies with roots stretching back 140 years. The military assaulted the presidential palace, leading to the death of validly elected President Salvador Allende, while it rounded up thousands across the country. 

From 1965 to 1986, Ferdinand Marcos successfully perpetuated his kleptocratic dictatorship, including through the imposition of martial law (1972-1981) and election fraud. As his autocratic rule stretched from years into decades, political unrest and public outrage intensified with the country’s economic collapse in the 1980s, the systematic suppression of political rights, and the assassination of opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr. in 1983.