Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Carter Center Works to Educate US Voters

Kane Farabaugh

   CHICAGO, ILL - When formerpresident Jimmy Carter and his
   wife,Rosalynn,launched the Carter Center in 1986, one objective was
   promoting peace and democracy around the globe.

   As part of that mission, the Carter Center became a leading election
   monitoring organization, observing more than 110 contests in Asia,
   Africa, and Latin America.

   "We've always worked for peace around the world, but we've always
   ignored the United States," Carter told Voice of America in an
   exclusive 2019 interview.

   That same year, during a "Conversations at the Carter Center" event, he
   told an Atlanta audience one country that wouldn't qualify for
   hiscenter's election observation mission'¦ is his own. Among the
   reasons:judging the fairness of elections is a monumental task in a
   nation like the United States,where all 50 states have differing laws
   and rules for voting and counting ballots.

   "The Constitution basically says that each state is independent and
   that's why we have such a diverse way of conducting elections," Carter
   told the crowd. "We don't have a uniform way to mark ballots, count
   ballots or anything else."

   But after U.S. intelligence agencies documented foreign interference in
   the 2016 U.S. election and predicted a repeat in 2020, the Carter
   Center concluded their international experience might help at home by
   focusing on voter education.

   "The decrease in public trust in the electoral process was something
   that was a real concern to us," said Avery Davis-Roberts,
   anassociatedirector in the Carter Center's Democracy Program.

   "A majority of Americans don't have trust in the election," she said.
   "We're seeing real issues around political polarization. We're seeing
   sort of long-standing tensions around race bubble up to the surface
   much more explicitly this summer and all of these issues sort of
   coincided for us."

.