The Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity is a bi-partisan initiative by leading figures in politics, tech, media and business from Europe and the US with the aim of addressing the question of
foreign interference in elections.
Foundation
On the sidelines of the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on June 21, 2018,
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, founder of
Alliance of Democracies and
Michael Chertoff, a former secretary of homeland security in America, launched the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity, which has
Joe Biden,
Nick Clegg,
Toomas Ilves
Toomas Hendrik Ilves (; born 26 December 1953) is an Estonian politician who served as the fourth president of Estonia from 2006 until 2016.
Ilves worked as a diplomat and journalist, and he was the leader of the Social Democratic Party in the ...
, and
Felipe Calderón among its members. The commission is tasked with bolstering the defences of Western democracies against outside interference.
The Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity is Transatlantic and bipartisan in nature. It seeks to share lessons learned between decision-makers and institutions in Europe and the US, raise public awareness about the risks of interference while working to develop new models and technologies to empower civil society and governments to defend democracy.
Stated goals
The Commission aims that over the next 20 elections to be held across EU and NATO countries between 2018 and the next American presidential contest in November 2020, they would advance a more collective approach to tackling election interference.
The Commission attempts to bridge three critical gaps it has identified as having thus far prevented the West from effectively addressing the challenge: a transatlantic gap; a partisan gap; and the gap between the tech community and the rest of society.
According to
Politico, the commission also launched at the
Munich Security Conference, an open call by 14 current and former political leaders for those running in the EU election to sign a pledge in which they promise to adhere to certain principles to counter foreign meddling. The call is for candidates not to spread data or materials for disinformation or propaganda purposes
The Pledge for Election Integrity
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Founding members
Co-chairs:Toomas Ilves
Toomas Hendrik Ilves (; born 26 December 1953) is an Estonian politician who served as the fourth president of Estonia from 2006 until 2016.
Ilves worked as a diplomat and journalist, and he was the leader of the Social Democratic Party in the ...
, President of Estonia (2006-2016)
* Natalie Jaresko, Executive Director of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, Finance Minister of Ukraine (2014-2016)
* Tanit Koch, Editor-in-Chief of Bild Magazine (2016-2018)
* Jeanne Meserve, Anchor and correspondent at ABC news and CNN (1984-2011), Senior Fellow at the George Washington University Center for Cyber and Homeland Security (2011-2017)
* Victor Pinchuk
Victor Mykhailovych Pinchuk ( uk, Віктор Михайлович Пінчук, ''Viktor Mykhailovych Pinchuk''; born 14 December 1960) is a Ukrainian businessman and oligarch. As of January 2016, ''Forbes'' ranked him as 1,250th on the list o ...
, Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist, founder of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation
* Marietje Schaake
Maria Renske "Marietje" Schaake (; born 28 October 1978) is a Dutch politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the Netherlands between 2009 and 2019. She is a member of Democrats 66, part of the Alliance of Liberals ...
, Member of the European Parliament for D66 (ALDE), Vice-President of the European Parliament delegation to the US
* Joanna Shields, Baroness Shields, CEO BenevolentAI and former Under Secretary of State and Minister for Internet Safety and Security, United Kingdom
* John Negroponte, United States Deputy Secretary of State (2007-2009), Director of National Intelligence (2005-2007)
References
{{reflist
Election commissions in the United States
Projects established in 2018
Foreign electoral intervention