How do we know if elections meet international democratic standards?  In this presentation, Dr. Mary Stegmaier will discuss the process of international election observation done by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), her experience observing parliamentary elections in Belarus, and the Belarusian democratic uprising that began in August after the rigged Presidential Election. The presentation will conclude with a discussion about OSCE election observation in the US.

Moderated by Christopher Harwood, Ph.D., Columbia University.

Mary Stegmaier, PhD

Mary Stegmaier, Ph.D., a long-time member of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU), is the Vice Provost for International Programs and an Associate Professor in the Truman School of Public Affairs at the University of Missouri. As a scholar of comparative politics, she has spent extensive time researching in the Czech Republic. Her work on international elections and voting behavior has been published in academic journals. Dr. Stegmaier has also contributed to the Washington Post and the Brookings Institution blog and served as an international election observer with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Albania, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Macedonia.

The lecture will be presented live online on ZOOM and on YouTube. RSVP through Eventbrite to receive a Zoom link.

Free and open to the public.

This event is organized by the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU), New York Chapter in cooperation with the Harriman Institute at Columbia University, with the support of the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association (BBLA).