Strengthening the role of the United Nations in enhancing periodic
and genuine elections and the promotion of democratization
A/RES/74/158
Recognizing also that Member States are responsible for ensuring transparent,
free and fair elections, free of intimidation, coercion and tampering with vote counts,
and that all such acts are sanctioned accordingly,
Emphasizing that Member States are responsible for respecting the will of the
voters as expressed through genuine, periodic, free and fair elections, which shall be
by universal and equal suffrage, and in this respect expressing serious concern about
the unconstitutional or unlawful disruption of representative governance and
democratic institutions and the unlawful removal of any democratically elected
officials, whether by States or non-State actors,
Recalling its previous resolutions on the subject, in particular resolution 72/164
of 19 December 2017,
Recalling also all relevant Human Rights Council resolutions on the topic,
including resolutions 19/11 of 22 March 2012, 1 31/14 of 23 March 2016, 2 31/37 of
24 March 2016, 2 33/22 of 30 September 2016, 3 34/41 of 24 March 2017 4 and 39/11
of 28 September 2018, 5
Reaffirming that United Nations electoral assistance and support for the
promotion of democratization are provided only at the specific request of the Member
State concerned,
Noting with satisfaction that an increasing number of Member States are using
elections as a peaceful means of discerning the will of the people, which builds
confidence in representational governance and contributes to greater national peace
and stability, and which may contribute to regional peace and stability,
Recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted on 10 December
1948, 6 in particular the principle that the will of the people, as expressed through
periodic and genuine elections, shall be the basis of government authority, as well as
the right of everyone to freely choose representatives through periodic and genuine
elections, which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret
vote or by equivalent free voting procedures,
Reaffirming the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 7 the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 8 the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 9
and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 10 and reaffirming also
that no distinctions are permitted among citizens on any grounds, such as race, colour,
sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property,
birth or other status, or on the basis of disability, in the enjoyment of the right to
participate, directly or through freely chosen representatives, and to vote and to be
elected in genuine periodic elections, which shall be by universal and equal suffrage
and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the
electors,
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See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 53 and
corrigendum (A/67/53 and A/67/53/Corr.1), chap. III, sect. A.
Ibid., Seventy-first Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/71/53), chap. IV, sect. A.
Ibid., Supplement No. 53A and corrigendum (A/71/53/Add.1 and A/71/53/Add.1/Corr.1), chap. II.
Ibid., Seventy-second Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/72/53), chap. IV, sect. A.
Ibid., Seventy-third Session, Supplement No. 53A (A/73/53/Add.1), chap. III.
Resolution 217 A (III).
See resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.
United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1249, No. 20378.
Ibid., vol. 660, No. 9464.
Ibid., vol. 2515, No. 44910.
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