Conducting Credible Elections Under Threat: Results from a Survey of Election Administrators

Abstract This article assesses how election administrators fulfill their responsibilities when state sovereignty is threatened, focusing on the case of Ukraine. Using data from a unique survey of administrators during the 2014 snap parliamentary elections, we explore how institutional, temporal, spatial, partisan, and experiential factors are associated with variation in responses to survey items designed to reveal administrative capabilities. We find evidence that some factors, notably spatial and experiential variables, are associated with assessments of readiness, security, and integrity. The findings speak to the scholarly literature on election administration and to the efforts of practitioners providing technical assistance in the conduct of democratic elections.