"Are Your Elections Free and Fair?"

Robbin Stewart pointed me to this BBC News report, about The Gallup International Voice of the People Poll 2005. One of the questions asked around the world is "Are your elections free and fair?" The article reported that 55% of North Americans (U.S. and Canada) answered yes to this question, but the published poll results did not break down the U.S. and Canada numbers.

I have had Loyola's librarians contact the Gallup International organization, and I have obtained permission to post their country by country results for this question. You can find these results of the Gallup International
Voice of the People 2005 survey here. On page 27, you will see that 66% of Canadians answered the free and fair question affirmatively, compared to 54% of USA residents. I had expected an even larger gap, but I believe that some respondents might have interpreted the question to be not about election administration, but about the level of competition in elections. Canada has excellent election administration, but not as competitive an election system as in the U.S. Thanks again to the Gallup Organization for letting me post this material.

Posted by Rick Hasen at September 27, 2005 08:58 AM