which concerns me, too.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Laura Ingalls in Washington, 202-350-6729,
[email protected]IFES and ACE PARTNERS LAUNCH ‘ESSENTIAL’ ELECTIONS TOOL IN MEXICO
Washington, DC – JULY 3, 2006 – IFES and other leading international election experts launched the
world’s largest online resource for elections at a ceremony June 30 in Mexico City. The ACE Electoral
Knowledge Network (www.aceproject.org) is designed to develop the professionalism of those on the
ground – from election administrators to journalists – who are responsible for designing, organizing,
overseeing or writing about elections.
The newly launched network is an updated and expanded version of the original ACE Project that began
in 1997, which has attracted over 2.4 million visitors annually.
“The ACE Electoral Knowledge Network represents the most essential resource in the tool kit of election
administrators worldwide,” said IFES President Richard Soudriette.
An estimated 100 people attended the launch during the Forum for International Visitors at the Hotel
Royal Pedregal. The launch was hosted by the Federal Electoral Institute of Mexico (IFE) in the lead-up
to Mexico’s July 2 elections. A panel of elections experts examined recent trends in the democracy
promotion industry, including the importance of democratic governance as a means to combat poverty
and the impact of having election observer missions in countries affected by conflict.
The ACE network is the result of cooperation between seven leading international election institutions:
IFES, EISA, Elections Canada, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
(International IDEA), IFE, the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA)
and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The ACE network provides ready access to a global network of experienced election specialists, along
with a comprehensive calendar of upcoming elections, an extensive elections encyclopedia, and
comparative elections data from different countries and regions on topics including voter registration,
political parties, candidates and vote counting.
Currently, the materials on the ACE website are available in Spanish, English and French with plans to
expand the project to include Russian and Arabic. The ACE partners also plan to offer regional resource
centers, training for election staff and election management programs at universities.
# # #
IFES is an international, nonprofit organization that supports the building of democratic societies.