As part of our 2025 Spring Series: Public Opinion and Political Behavior in Latin America, Mollie Cohen (Purdue University) will give a talk entitled “How Partisan Poll Watchers Affect Citizen Confidence in Elections.”

Around the world, partisan poll watchers observe as elections are conducted and votes tallied. Poll watchers are meant to safeguard elections by ensuring fair vote counting and addressing irregularities in real time. Ideally, partisan poll watchers could boost citizen confidence in elections. However, their involvement in malfeasance may instead raise suspicion and decrease voter trust. This talk examines how partisan poll watchers affect voter confidence using data from a survey experiment and exit poll in Peru. Results show that partisans tend to trust elections more when partisan poll watchers are present, while voters with negative affiliations toward the represented party express less trust. These findings have significant implications for perceptions of electoral fairness and the long-term legitimacy and stability of democracy.