Interestingly, the phrase "democratic elections" seems to come up most often in news stories from countries where fair elections are conspicuously absent. They're stories that tell of opposing candidates threatening each other with violence, whole boxes of ballots being thrown out, or scores of people being turned away from voting centers due to their ethnicity or religion.
In cases like those, many who call for "democratic elections" want nothing more than to be able to vote without fear and know their ballot will be counted. They're too busy dealing with immediate problems to look at the nuances of democracy.
At the same time, there are those who even say in countries considered highly democratic, like the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and many Western European countries, elections aren't truly fair. So what exactly does the term "democratic elections" mean anyway?
Free competition: the key to democratic elections
Fair competition and open debate are of the hallmarks of free and fair elections in any democratic country. Just because the ballot has more than one name on it does not mean there's fair competition though. If the ruling powers continually threaten opponents and opponents' supporters with reprisals, open debate is next to impossible.
Free elections are run fairly
Another major issue when it comes to democratic elections is the way the elections themselves are administered. In a fairly run election, all citizens registered to vote can do so without fear or extreme difficulty. An honest effort is made to ensure ballots are counted correctly. In countries just starting to hold elections, part of fairly running things means making sure people understand how to register to vote, where to vote, how to fill out a ballot, and other topics people in long-time democracies consider common knowledge.
No one-shot wonder elections
Democratic elections don't happen just once. In democratic countries, elections re-occur after a set period of time. For general elections, that's usually somewhere between 2 and 5 years. People, public opinion and important issues change over time so citizens are frequently given a chance to change elected officials.
Of course, it's entirely possible to elect a dictator or an elected head of state to turn into a dictator, but once that happens, the country is no longer a democracy. In this case either elections are eliminated or only sham "fixed" elections are held to maintain the farce.
Citizenship and voting rights for all
Giving "adult citizens" the right to vote doesn't mean much if the government refuses to grant full citizenship to a large portion of the population. If women or people of a certain race, ethnic group, or religion are barred from holding full citizenship and voting, the elections are not considered fully democratic.
Truly fair and democratic elections offer considerable benefits to a country's population. When the majority of adults are free to vote without fear and have the opportunities to change or re-elect officials on a regular basis, the government is far more likely to act for the good of the people. The details of how democratic elections are run can get a little confusing but they are well worth learning about, especially for the voters.
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