Scrutinizing Citizen Election Observation: The Toxic Cocktail of USAID Closure and Shrinking Civic Space

Since the 1990s, citizen election observation has been an integral part of the global agenda for promoting democracy. As part of this agenda, monitoring domestic elections has been seen as a pivotal way of increasing transparency, public trust and accountability in electoral processes. For many years, citizen observers also stood at the frontier of domestic civil society organizations (CSOs) countering democratic backsliding. However, the introduction of restrictive ‘foreign agent’ laws, coupled with the closure of USAID as one of the main international funders of citizen observation, have significantly undermined the ability of citizen observers to operate. Consequently, citizen election observation has become increasingly silent. For instance, while several CSOs were involved in monitoring the 2020 and 2021 elections in Kyrgyzstan, no citizen election observation group was operational ahead of the 2025 parliamentary election. This paper examines how the combined effects of donor-side democratic backlash and recipient-side restrictions have reshaped the landscape of citizen election observation. Drawing on comparative case studies and recent trends in electoral processes, the paper explores the implications for democratic elections and electoral integrity. The study argues that safeguarding citizen observation is essential for credible elections and sustaining democratic resilience in an era of growing authoritarianism. Therefore, it should continue to play an important part in the agenda for supporting democracy, particularly as the combined dynamics pose a toxic threat to domestic democratic actors.