The ACE Electoral Knowledge Network is a global online resource for election policy, planning, organization and management. ACE was established in 1995 as a cooperative endeavor among three founding organizations: IFES, the International Institute for Democracy and Elections (IDEA), and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). In 2004, four new partners--all long-term supporters of the original ACE Project--were added: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Instituto Federal Electoral (IFE) of Mexico, Elections Canada, and EISA. USAID provided the initial funding for IFES’ participation in ACE.

Highlights

In a relatively short time, IFES and its partners produced some of the most valued and best-known products on elections and elections management. IFES participates in ACE as a leading provider of technical expertise in election administration, produces ancillary print and electronic publications, and designs programming to complement and synthesize the work of other ACE partners.

The Reach of ACE

The extensive use of ACE is testimony to the fact that it is fulfilling an important need for a diverse audience. An average of 200,000 professionals visit the ACE website each month in its English, French and Spanish versions; and user statistics from www.aceproject.org indicate that one of every two ACE users accesses the website from outside the United States.

The seven partner organizations officially launched the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network on 4 May 2006. The new Web site includes six information products on elections management, introduces access to a network of experts offering “real-time” knowledge on elections through two new networking components and provides capacity development solutions for donor consideration. The primary target group of the project is electoral administrators in developing countries. However, the beneficiaries also include parliamentarians, government officials, members of political parties, academics, civil society representatives, development practitioners, the media and electoral administrators from developed countries.

Go to the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network web site (external link) »