Promoting Electoral Integrity: A Project for Jordan

Ensuring the integrity of the electoral process is critical to protecting and advancing democratic processes around the world. To further this principle, eight Jordanian election professionals participated in an International Visitors Leadership Program that investigated how the United States approaches political transparency and its role in ensuring free and fair elections. During a three-week program in the United States, the participants travelled to Washington, DC; Des Moines, Iowa; Iowa City, Iowa; Boston, Massachusetts; and Cleveland Ohio.

The meetings and resources in Washington, DC were centered around the importance of ethics in society, the protection of democracy through national and local policies and laws, and the role of federal and local government in the electoral process. During their time in the nation’s capital, the visitors had the opportunity to further examine these topics through engagements with the United States Office of Government Ethics, a meeting with representatives at the National Whistleblower Center, and a visit to the Arlington County Office of Voter Registration. One visitor participating in this project shared how their visit in Arlington at the Office of Voter Registration was not only informative and inspiring, but also highlighted the “unwavering commitment to democratic values” that volunteers and staff members share at local election offices in the United States.

The visitors later travelled to Iowa, where they were able to engage in topics around effective election and campaign management as well as local and regional government accountability in Des Moines. With a short trip to Iowa City, Iowa a week later, the participants investigated volunteerism and community service in addition to youth civic participation and engagement. After a meeting with several legislative staffers at the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Iowa, a visitor remarked that she now had a better understanding about how the “needs and opinions of constituents” in the United States profoundly impacted the policies implemented by both elected Senators and Congress members in the country. The visitors were certainly appreciative of their meetings in Iowa which carried into their enthusiasm for the speakers they met with in Boston and Cleveland.

“[The IVLP is] one of the most valuable experiences I have had in my life. It has not only contributed to my professional growth but has also influenced my perspective on numerous matters.” - "Promoting Electoral Integrity" IVLP participant

To explore election supervision and monitorization in addition to election integrity, visitors met with experts at Voatz in Boston to discuss how the utilization of blockchain technology is currently being used as a mechanism to increase the accessibility to vote. This expertise and dedication to the subject matter by the Voatz speakers were evident, which left a strong impression on the participants. For the final city stop in Cleveland, Ohio, the participants met with interlocuters from the League of Women Voters of Great Cleveland, Cleveland VOTES, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to learn more about encouraging minority civic engagement and promoting gender equality and policy reform. At the conclusion of the project, one visitor mentioned that the IVLP program was “one of the most valuable experiences I have had in my life. It has not only contributed to my professional growth but has also influenced my perspective on numerous matters.” Through this Promoting Electoral Integrity IVLP project, this participant now has gained “firsthand insights into the mechanisms of governance and operations at every level” which has provided them with a “reservoir of knowledge that I can apply to my professional development.”