‘Elections Don’t Make Democracy’

Can you elaborate on the importance of independent observation in preventing disputes?
Yes. There's been this advancement where governments invite independent observers. From that, there have emerged some democratic-election standards. No election is ever perfect, even in America; we don't have a national electoral commission, for God's sakes. There's all sorts of concerns whether votes are credible, and all democracies face a challenge if people don't feel their voices have been heard. Independent observers help make sure that happens. And if you don't get an acceptable result [to the voters], there ought to be recourse, a period to let things cool off, and it's extremely important to shed some light on any electoral process. It's getting easier to make this case because we have more observation groups involved in global election processes.

Then, what makes a truly democratic election?
In 2005, there was a declaration of observation principals held at the United Nations. Those define the role of observers and the preconditions necessary for good elections: You have to have ballot boxes structured in a way that protects a person's private vote; the counting of votes must be done in an open and transparent manner, and posters for all the candidates have to remain away from the voting sites; you also have to make sure voters are not intimidated by the police. These principals are now being adopted by all the observation groups ... but we will only go into an election if we are invited, if the country wants to adhere to a democratic election. I joke that the only places that we humans are really equal is in the graveyard and the ballot booth.

In Iran's case, you weren't invited. So now what?
The people have to figure it out themselves. Personally, I think the Obama administration had the right balance of signaling they're going to have to deal with who comes to power, and expressing their concern for those in Tehran. Frankly, I would have liked the electoral situation to be transparent, but this is for the Iranians to work out themselves.

You're saying the American government shouldn't get involved?
Ever since the 1977 U.N. General Assembly, we've changed international relations: what happens in countries is no longer the exclusive business of those countries alone. I've got my fingers crossed for the sake of the Iranian people. I'm not calling on the Obama administration to pass judgment, especially since I'm intrigued by recent reports in the press that the results may not have been too far off the mark. This just points again to the real importance of having an international transparent election process.

© 2009