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New Hurdles for Elections in Latin America
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Overview
One of the signature achievements in Latin America since the return of democracy beginning in the 1980s was the guarantee of free and fair elections, organized by competent and independent authorities. Though the region has long struggled to strengthen its democratic institutions, the reliability of elections, a democratic cornerstone, has rarely been questioned. Unfortunately, that is no longer true. Today, Latin Americans have largely lost faith in elections.
This year, Latin America has held presidential elections in El Salvador, Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico, and Uruguayans will go to the polls in October. With confidence in electoral institutions averaging 31% in 2020, electoral authorities face daunting challenges in rebuilding public trust, including tight budgets, politically motivated criticism, antiquated electoral technologies, imperfect campaign finance systems, and disinformation.
Please join the Wilson Center’s Latin America Program on Wednesday, June 12, 2024, from 10:00am to 11:30am ET, to discuss the challenges Latin America’s election systems face, the lessons learned from recent elections in the region, and opportunities to reassure voters in the region of the credibility of elections and the democratic legitimacy of the winners.
This is the first event of a new Latin America Program special initiative designed to identify best practices and produce recommendations to strengthen election management and increase public confidence in elections at a time of democratic backsliding in the region.
Speakers
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Latin America Program
The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action. Read more
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