Credible elections involve transparency, inclusivity, and accountability. The enforcement of credible, free and fair elections in democratic states and entities would strengthen global peace, serving as an effective mechanism to prevent state fragility. This study explores the interconnected relationships between electoral integrity, governance quality, and international security. The study argues that the international community needs to shift from a passive approach to monitoring and observing democracy, grounded in respect for sovereignty, to an active enforcement model. The study highlights that fraudulent elections can threaten the stability of countries, thus leading to regional and global disputes with grave consequences for humanity and global peace. The issues and challenges to credible elections, as well as frameworks for their enforcement, were discussed. These dovetailed to the proposal of a new mechanism, termed ‘Responsibility to Safeguard Elections’ (RSE), to uphold electoral credibility and deepen democratic principles worldwide. RSE mirrors the UN Doctrine of Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and the study recommends that its implementation should be predicated on observed breaches of democratic principles and established redlines for credible elections in democratic countries. The RSE protocol would enhance good governance across nations and provide an active recipe for checkmating unilateralism and promoting global peace.
NOSAKHARE UGBO (Thu,) studied this question.