The family of best electoral practices is growing in most democracies. It can be found in mature and new, as well as in emerging democracies, perhaps more common in the former than in the latter two categories. The goal of best electoral practices is to improve election administration and services to the electorate. Best electoral practices are showing steady upward growth in emerging democracies and the potential for continued growth is positive. Widespread international interest in democratic elections and improved international and national election observation harmonization procedures will continue to assist in improving election administration. The use of electoral technologies and the notional entry into the age of digital democracy will undoubtedly aid and enhance best electoral practices aspirations in many emerging democracies.

During the 2016 presidential election, America's election infrastructure was targeted by actors sponsored by the Russian government. Securing the Vote: Protecting American Democracy examines the challenges arising out of the 2016 federal election, assesses current technology and standards for voting, and recommends steps that the federal government, state and local governments, election administrators, and vendors of voting technology should take to improve the security of election infrastructure. In doing so, the report provides a vision of voting that is more secure, accessible, reliable, and verifiable.

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Building trust and professionalism in the management of electoral processes remains a major challenge for Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs), institutions and/or bodies responsible for managing elections. The 'credibility gap' - the diminished public confidence in the integrity and diligence for many electoral institutions and their activities - is a common problem for EMBs around the world. Many EMBs face basic design questions as they seek to work better: how should EMBs be structured to ensure that they can act independently? How do EMBs relate to stakeholders such as the media, political parties and donors? How can EMBs evaluate their performance and use experience to build sustainable elections? "The Electoral Management Design Handbook" is written for electoral administrators, electoral administration designers and other practitioners involved in building professional, sustainable and cost-effective electoral administrations which can deliver legitimate and credible free and fair elections. It is a comparative study that shares best practices and know-how from around the world on financing, structuring and evaluation of Electoral Management Bodies

The use of computers and other technology introduces a range of risks to electoral integrity. Cybersecurity for Elections explains how cybersecurity issues can compromise traditional aspects of elections, explores how cybersecurity interacts with the broader electoral environment, and offers principles for managing cybersecurity risks.

This work aims to promote the concept of reducing the incidence of election irregularities and requiring less intervention by the court or similar disputes resolution mechanisms. The essence of this new approach is to place much greater emphasis on drastically reducing errors through noncompliance with electoral laws and particularly rules, regulations, and directives, which result in election irregularities. This approach may require greater clarity in drafting election rules and regulations as well as more intense monitoring and warning systems developed by EMBs to ensure a high degree of accuracy in the preparation and polling processes. This concept proceeds on the basis that, in general, election stakeholders wish to see the genuine results of the democratic process without diversions to the court or similar assistance being brought into action.

Many election officials look to electronic voting systems as a means for improving their ability to more effectively conduct and administer elections. At the same time, many information technologists and activists have raised important concerns regarding the security of such systems. Policy makers are caught in the midst of a controversy with both political and technological overtones. The public debate about electronic voting is characterized by a great deal of emotion and rhetoric. Asking the Right Questions About Electronic Voting describes the important questions and issues that election officials, policy makers, and informed citizens should ask about the use of computers and information technology in the electoral processâ€"focusing the debate on technical and policy issues that need resolving. The report finds that while electronic voting systems have improved, federal and state governments have not made the commitment necessary for e-voting to be widely used in future elections. More funding, research, and public education are required if e-voting is to become viable.