Carter Center launches effort to boost trust in elections

September 19th, 2022

A person waits in line to vote in the Georgia's primary election on May 24, 2022, in Atlanta. (Brynn Anderson/AP File)

The Carter Center has launched a bipartisan effort to encourage candidates, political parties, and voters to uphold five core doctrines of democratic elections: integrity, nonviolence, security, oversight, and the peaceful transfer of power.

The initiative is called the Candidate Principles for Trusted Elections, and it is meant to bolster confidence in the election process by promoting respect for the electoral process.

Anyone interested in committing to the principles can pledge their support for the Candidate Principles at principledcandidates.org.

Avery Davis-Roberts is an associate director of the Carter Center’s Democracy program and leads the organization’s election work in the U.S.

She said the Carter Center is very pleased to have a wide range of elected officials and candidates from across the political spectrum, including the three candidates for Georgia Secretary of State: incumbent Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, and his two opponents, Democratic State Rep. Bee Nguyen, and Libertarian Ted Metz.

Davis-Roberts said the Candidate Principles are based on methods that have worked in other countries’ elections.

“I always start from the position that no election or democratic process is perfect,” said Davis-Roberts. “I will say though that we are at a moment where we are seeing unprecedented levels of mistrust.”

The Carter Center is focusing its midterm election and democracy resilience efforts in Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, Arizona and Michigan.

She said these places had faced various forms of contestation in recent elections and places where data shows a heightened level of mistrust and risk of political violence.

The Candidate Principles for Trusted Elections is an initiative of The Carter Center, but it is backed by more than 50 organizations and institutions across the political spectrum, including the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

Christopher Alston contributed to this report.