Carter Center, Inc.
Project Title
For support of local election observation networks in the United States
Date
Mar. 05, 2026
Duration
24 months
Description
The Carter Center, founded in 1982 by former United States President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization committed to advancing peace, strengthening human rights, and alleviating human suffering worldwide. Since 1989, the Carter Center has observed over 126 elections across forty countries while pioneering the techniques that set today’s global standards for election monitoring. The erosion of trust in United States democratic institutions and the rising risk of political polarization have left elections vulnerable. This has led the center to monitor U.S. elections through its Strengthening Trust and Resilience (STAR) initiative, which has trained more than 500 citizen observers and conducted more than 2,700 election observations to advocate for transparent election processes. With Carnegie support, the Carter Center will expand strategies to strengthen democratic resilience in the United States, including undertaking statewide nonpartisan election observation, expanding cross-partisan community networks, and increasing public education on trusted democratic practices in key states as elections occur.