Credible elections are underpinned by transparency, accountability and trust. However, anti-democratic actors are increasingly engaging in information manipulation to obfuscate credible sources for information surrounding elections, tilt the playing field for unfair advantage, and erode confidence in electoral institutions and safeguards. Amidst these efforts to undermine credible elections comes the emergence of widely available generative AI (gen AI) tools, exacerbating these concerns and complicating ongoing efforts to improve electoral integrity.

This primer for the electoral integrity community to better understand the AI landscape and distill how it intersects with electoral information, electoral content creation and dissemination, as well as a new source of electoral information. International and nonpartisan citizen observers have an important role to play at this critical moment, while the use cases and norms around gen AI and elections are still taking shape. Organizations should take every opportunity to advocate for transparency and accountability around these use cases, provide informed recommendations on gen AI in electoral assessments where relevant, and mount pressure around policies and technology that supports standards for genuine, democratic elections. Safeguarding electoral integrity in the age of gen AI should still be grounded in participation, transparency and accountability and the importance of trust in the electoral process.