Free Elections

Extracted Attributes

• Definition

  A formal group decision-making process whereby a population or group votes to choose individuals for public office or positions of responsibility.

• Field of Study

  Psephology (the study of election results and statistics).

• Historical Origin

  Prevalent in modern representative democracies since the 17th century.

• Measurement Index

  V-Dem Clean Elections Index (measures absence of fraud, irregularities, and intimidation).

• Alternative Method

  Allotment (Sortition), used in ancient Athens to fill political offices by lot.

• Key Proponent (Iran)

  Reza Pahlavi, exiled Crown Prince of Iran.

• Economic Impact (Iran)

  Estimated 1 Trillion Dollar Economic Opportunity for global markets over a decade.

Timeline

• Elections begin to serve as the usual mechanism for modern representative democracy. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1600-01-01

• Start of a multi-decade study (ending 2011) evaluating ten dimensions of election conduct across 169 countries. (Source: Web Search)

  1975-01-01

• The Iranian Revolution occurs, leading to the establishment of the Islamic regime and the exile of the Pahlavi family. (Source: Document f0213d0c-37fd-4bb7-9640-de0fb4f826f3)

  1979-02-11

• NAMFREL emphasizes the importance of regular elections for fresh mandates in response to proposed postponements in the Philippines. (Source: Web Search)

  2019-12-04

• National and local elections held in the Philippines, monitored by citizen groups like NAMFREL. (Source: Web Search)

  2022-05-09

• V-Dem dataset v14 maps the state of electoral integrity globally, noting declines in autocracies. (Source: Web Search)

  2023-01-01

Election

An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a portion or all of a population or group votes to choose an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office or other position of responsibility. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local government, such as cities or towns. This process is also used in many other Standardized Associations, public businesses, and organizations, from clubs to voluntary association and corporations. The global use of elections as a tool for selecting representatives in modern representative democracies is in contrast with the practice in the democratic archetype, ancient Athens, where the elections were considered an oligarchic institution and most political offices were filled using allotment which is also known as "Sortition", by which office holders were chosen by lot. Electoral reform describes the process of introducing fair electoral systems where they are not in place, or improving the fairness or effectiveness of existing systems. Psephology is the study of results and other statistics relating to elections (especially with a view to predicting future results). The term elect means "to select or to nominate", so sometimes other forms of balloting such as referendums are referred to as elections, especially in the United States.

Web Search Results

• Free and fair election

  A free and fair election is defined as an election in which "coercion is comparatively uncommon". This definition was popularized by political scientist Robert Dahl. A free and fair election involves political freedoms and fair processes leading up to the vote, a fair count of eligible voters who cast a ballot, a lack of electoral fraud or voter suppression, and acceptance of election results by all parties. An election may partially meet international standards for free and fair elections, or may meet some standards but not others. ## Factors [edit] A 2016 study evaluated ten dimensions of the conduct of elections between 1975–2011: [...] ## Estimates [edit] See also: Democracy indices The study of 169 countries from 1975 to 2011 estimated that only about half of elections were free and fair. The study wondered whether the increase in non-democratic regimes holding elections over time alongside a rise in global efforts around election observation led to a rise in the proportion of elections that were deemed to not be free and fair. The presence of election monitors and constraints on executive power were associated with a 31% higher probability of a free and fair elections in the study. [...] 8. voting process (whether elections were conducted by secret ballot on a one person, one vote basis, with adequate security to protect voters and protection against ballot box stuffing, multiple voting, destruction of valid ballots, and other forms of manipulation); 9. role of officials (whether the election was administered with adequately trained personnel, free from campaigning or intimidation at polling places, and with the ability of international election observers and party representatives to observe polling places); and 10. counting of votes (whether votes were tabulated transparently and free of fraud or tampering)

• National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections | Asian Network for Free Elections

  MANDALUYONG CITY - The National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) today said that it is encouraging all Filipinos to guard the election process in all its phases, from the pre-election period, to Election Day, to the post-election period. This is in line with NAMFREL's belief that all voters can be citizen Read More ### Vigilance over fear — NAMFREL Posted by ANFREL With 0 Comment In Network News, The Philippines NAMFREL denies statements circulating on social media that it was involved in discussions of allegations of massive cheating in the forthcoming May 2022 national and local elections. NAMFREL deplores this propaganda, which undermines the outcome of elections that are still to be held, for which different stakeholders are working hard to ensure Read More [...] Press Release 4 December 2019 NAMFREL today emphasized the importance of elected officials submitting themselves to regular elections to receive a fresh mandate from their constituents. This is in reaction to the proposed postponement of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) to December 2022, which has just been signed into law Read More ### The National Citizens Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) Hails Filipinos For Exercising Their Right to Vote and for a Generally Peaceful Election Posted by admin@anfrel.org With 0 Comment In Network News, The Philippines [...] On the occasion of the 39th founding anniversary of the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), allow me to greet everyone, our volunteers, supporters, partners, and friends a happy anniversary! NAMFREL remains true to its vision of strengthening democracy through helping ensure clean, honest and credible elections and to empower the Read More ### NAMFREL urges Congress to rethink the voter registration process Posted by ANFREL With 0 Comment In Network News, The Philippines

• [PDF] Clean Elections Across the World

  measures the extent to which elections are free and fair, meaning an absence of registration fraud, systematic irregularities, government intimidation of the opposition, vote buying, and election violence. [...] 2| ELECTORAL INTEGRITY ACROSS THE WORLD Electoral integrity refers to the fairness of the entire voting process and how well the process protects against election subversion, voter suppression, and other threats to free and fair elections. The world map in Figure 1 shows the state of electoral integrity in 2023 based on the Clean Elections Index from the V-Dem dataset v14. Elections are largely free and fair in Western Europe and North America, South America, and the Pacific. Countries where elections are less free and fair are concentrated in East Asia, South and Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Figure 2 details developments in the level of clean elections in 2000-2023. The left panel shows that for the average country in the world the quality of [...] • Elections are more than simple voting. For elections to have integrity, voting must be free and fair, inclusive, transparent, and devoid of government intimidation of the opposition, vote buying, and violence. • The integrity of elections is now increasingly threatened both in democracies and autocracies. • Free- and fairness of elections and EMB autonomy are most frequently under attack, worsening substantially in 45 and 42 countries, respectively. • 61% of all deteriorations in the integrity of elections since 2000, are found in countries that are now classified as autocracies. • EMB autonomy is the most frequently attacked aspect of elections in autocracies. 74% of all declines in EMB autonomy correspond to autocracies.

• What are free and fair Elections? - YouTube

  ... free, fair and regular elections as found in section 19(2) of the Constitution. This video is part of the Civics Academy Election Series

• Free and Fair Elections Index, 2024 - Our World in Data

  Oxford Martin School logo University of Oxford logo Global Change Data Lab logo # Free and fair elections index ## What you should know about this indicator #### How is this data described by its producer - V-Dem? Question: To what extent are elections free and fair? Clarification: Free and fair connotes an absence of registration fraud, systematic irregularities, government intimidation of the opposition, vote buying, and election violence. Scale: Interval, from low to high (0-1). V-Dem indicator name: `v2xel_frefair` `v2xel_frefair` ## Explore charts that include this data ## What you should know about this indicator #### How is this data described by its producer - V-Dem? Question: To what extent are elections free and fair? [...] Question: To what extent are elections free and fair? Clarification: Free and fair connotes an absence of registration fraud, systematic irregularities, government intimidation of the opposition, vote buying, and election violence. Scale: Interval, from low to high (0-1). V-Dem indicator name: `v2xel_frefair` `v2xel_frefair` ## Sources and processing ### This data is based on the following sources #### V-Dem – Democracy report The Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project publishes data and research on democracy and human rights. It acknowledges that democracy can be characterized differently and measures electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, and egalitarian characterizations of democracy. [...] Full citation `V-Dem (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. “Free and fair elections index – V-Dem” [dataset]. V-Dem, “Democracy report v15” [original data]. Retrieved February 26, 2026 from (archived on January 19, 2026).` #### Our World in Data is free and accessible for everyone. Help us do this work by making a donation. Our World in Data is a project of Global Change Data Lab, a nonprofit based in the UK (Reg. Charity No. 1186433). Our charts, articles, and data are licensed under CC BY, unless stated otherwise. Tools and software we develop are open source under the MIT license. Third-party materials, including some charts and data, are subject to third-party licenses. See our FAQs for more details.