Category: English

Source: The Conversation – USA (3) – By Kaylin Klie, Associate Professor of Family Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

In Colorado, from 2016 to 2020, 33 women who were pregnant or had recently given birth died from accidental overdoses. That’s more than died from traditional obstetric complications like infection, high blood pressure or bleeding combined.

More recent data shows an encouraging turnaround. The number of maternal overdose deaths dropped 60%, from 20 in 2022 to eight in 2023. I think one contributing factor might be increased access to naloxone for moms and families across the state.

As a perinatal addiction medicine physician, I specialize in taking care of pregnant people and families impacted by substance use disorder. Part of the care I provide is prescribing or distributing naloxone directly to patients and their family members. Naloxone is an over-the-counter medication that reverses the effects of opioid overdose.

I served as a member and then co-chair of the Colorado Maternal Mortality Review Committee from 2017 to 2023. The committee reviews every death of a person in Colorado that occurs during a pregnancy or within 12 months of the end of a pregnancy. I personally reviewed the records of Colorado mothers who died from overdoses.

In Colorado, unintentional overdose and suicide have been the top two causes of maternal mortality each year since 2016. Nationally, the leading cause of maternal mortality is overdose, followed by homicide and then suicide.

Almost all overdose deaths occur in the community, outside of a medical center: in homes, cars and public places. In almost all circumstances, the review committee determined that if naloxone had been present, there was a good chance the mother would have survived.

Giving naloxone directly to patients and families

In 2023, The Naloxone Project, a nonprofit, started distributing naloxone directly to pregnant and postpartum moms and their families before leaving one of the 48 birthing hospitals in Colorado. The distribution is through a program called the Maternal Overdose Matters Initiative, also known as MOMs. The initiative was in direct response to the number of women dying from overdose during pregnancy or within a year after pregnancy.

The Naloxone Project was started in Colorado in 2021 by an emergency and addiction medicine physician. The project distributes naloxone directly to patients in Colorado hospital emergency rooms at risk for opioid overdose.

To date, The Naloxone Project has distributed more than 2,500 naloxone kits to 107 hospitals to give to patients across the state. The project also works to normalize the conversation about opioid overdose and prevention in health care settings. It’s grown, and now it has chapters in 16 states.

Naloxone can make recovery possible

The American Society of Addiction Medicine defines substance use disorder as “a treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment and an individual’s life experiences.” People with the disease of addiction can, and do, recover – but only if they can stay alive to receive the support and treatment they need.

Research shows direct distribution of naloxone to people, families and communities saves lives. Access to naloxone gives people, including Colorado moms, a literal second chance at life.

Naloxone for more than substance use disorder

While people with substance use disorder are at the highest risk for overdose, they’re not the only ones. In 2024 alone, 1,603 people died of accidental opioid overdoses in Colorado.

Prescription opioids, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone and morphine, are commonly prescribed after a surgery, including C-sections. Opioids like these taken at home, even with a prescription, can be a source of accidental overdose. For example, a person prescribed these medicines may take too much at once or have an unexpected interaction with other medications or alcohol.

Accidental overdose also occurs in people the prescription was not intended for. That includes children who find medications in their homes. In Colorado, 17 children died from opioid overdoses in 2024.

Today, parents leaving the hospital with their new baby are given naloxone and education. They learn about safe storage and disposal of medications, how to recognize an opioid overdose, and how to give naloxone in case of emergency. Nasal-spray naloxone, the most common form provided by The Naloxone Project, is safe for all ages, including infants and toddlers.

Naloxone as a standard of care

Caring for people impacted by substance use disorder has convinced me that naloxone has a place in every home, school and workplace in our community.

Recognizing and responding to opioid overdose, including giving naloxone, is now a standard part of Basic Life Support training. Opioid overdose reversal is now seen as a critical, lifesaving skill comparable to CPR. Including this skill in training empowers bystanders to intervene.

For some of my patients, receiving naloxone during an overdose event gave them a chance to seek treatment and enter long-term recovery from substance use. Opioid use disorder treatment includes evidence-based medication for opioid use disorder, such as methadone, buprenorphine or naltrexone, residential or intensive outpatient treatment, individual therapy and peer support services, especially programs designed for pregnant and parenting moms.

How these facets of treatment come together in an individual person’s journey is unique. As much as I seek to individualize treatment plans, naloxone is for everyone. It can build a bridge between despair and hope — life and death — and as the data shows, it might be a part of saving Colorado moms’ lives.

Kaylin Klie receives funding from Colorado State Opioid Response funding. She is affiliated with The Naloxone Project as the Physician Lead for MOMS Plus.

– ref. Fewer new moms are dying in Colorado – naloxone might be one reason why – https://theconversation.com/fewer-new-moms-are-dying-in-colorado-naloxone-might-be-one-reason-why-273761

Source: The Conversation – USA (3) – By Christy Cobb, Associate Professor of Christianity, University of Denver

Of Jesus’ 12 disciples, Saint Peter is one of the most important. In the Book of Matthew, Jesus declares that Peter is the “rock” on which “I will build my church,” and Catholic tradition considers him the first pope. Martyred in Rome in the first century, Peter asked to be crucified upside down so that he would not die in the same way as Christ.

However, that famous story is not in the Bible. It appears in a text called “Acts of Peter,” an “apocryphal” writing.

In ancient Greek, “apocrypha” means “hidden.” The word is used for texts that are not part of an approved set of religious books, especially Christian texts outside the official biblical canon.

Yet these books are not so hidden. Some of them, like Acts of Peter, have shaped Christian tradition for centuries and are read by many people today. These stories are not only fun to read, but also provide valuable information about ideas that interested early Christians.

In my research as a scholar of early Christianity, I read and interpret apocryphal texts to explore the ways that early Jews and Christians understood and practiced their religion.

Capital-A ‘Apocrypha’

When the word is capitalized, “Apocrypha” refers to a set of Jewish texts that are found in Roman Catholic Bibles, but they are not included in most Protestant Bibles.

These texts were valued within ancient Judaism, yet are not included in the Jewish sacred text the Tanakh. The Tanakh is similar to what Christians call the “Old Testament” or the “Hebrew Bible,” but there are many important differences, including the order of texts and the books that are emphasized.

Examples of these Apocryphal books include Judith, Sirach and the First and Second Books of Maccabees. The story of Hanukkah comes from the Books of Maccabees when Jewish rebels overcame an oppressive ruler and rededicated the temple in Jerusalem – a reminder of the Apocryphal books’ significance.

Most Christians viewed the Apocrypha as scripture until the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. During this period, Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther argued that these texts were valuable to Christians but should not be viewed as scripture.

Today, Roman Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity affirm these texts as a part of their canon. Thus, not all Christian Bibles include the same number of books.

Lower-case ‘apocrypha’

The word apocrypha is also used to reference a second set of texts: Christian books that are not included in the New Testament, the faith’s officially recognized set of texts.

The New Testament canon usually includes 27 books, including the four gospels that describe Jesus’ life – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – and Acts, which describes the works of the apostles who continued Jesus’ ministry after his death. The New Testament also contains many books of letters, or Epistles, written by early Christian leaders, and Revelation, a vision of the end of the world.

Yet early Christians wrote more than just these books. These additional texts are often grouped together and referred to as “Christian apocrypha.” They include a number of different genres.

For example, apocryphal gospels tell of the life, ministry and death of Jesus. One of the earliest is the Gospel of Thomas, probably written in the mid-second century. Unlike the New Testament gospels, Thomas does not include the death of Jesus. Instead, it is a collection of sayings, many of which are also found in the New Testament gospels.

There are other apocryphal gospels named after important people in Jesus’ life and ministry, such as the Gospel of Mary. Named after one of Jesus’ female followers, Mary Magdalene, it notes that Jesus loved her more than any other woman.

Another genre is “apocryphal acts” – books that expand upon stories of the apostles who followed Jesus. One example is the Acts of Thecla, a story about a female follower of Jesus who was called to preach and teach the gospel. There are also apocryphal letters, apocalyptic texts and passion narratives that add details to the death and resurrection of Jesus.

One way to think about Christian apocryphal texts is as fan fiction written about the stories found in the New Testament. The New Testament gospels do not provide information about Jesus’ experience as a child. Yet there are apocryphal texts called “infancy gospels” that fill in the gaps, saying more about Jesus’ birth and how he navigated his perceived divine powers. In the “Infancy Gospel of Thomas,” the young Jesus brings a set of clay birds to life, rebukes his teacher and even kills his playmates.

Creating the canon

So why were these interesting texts not included in the New Testament?

The process of canonization was a slow one. Contrary to popular belief, there was not one early meeting of Christians to vote on which books should be in the New Testament. Instead, much of the canon developed slowly, as widely read texts circulated among the people and were read aloud.

Theology seems to have been a primary factor behind how the canon took shape. Early Christians fiercely debated things like Jesus’ nature: whether he was divine, human or both. Bishops and priests often challenged texts that did not conform with what became orthodox doctrine. Early Christians tended to read, copy, share and preserve the texts whose contents they already agreed with.

Even still, some Christians continued to read and value apocryphal texts. One of the oldest complete versions of the New Testament, the Codex Sinaiticus, dates to the fourth century and includes two apocryphal texts: the Shepherd of Hermas and the Epistle of Barnabas.

Christians throughout the years have continued to read and value the texts of the apocrypha. Medieval artwork illustrates this, as many stories only found within apocryphal texts are depicted on the ceilings of basilicas, on altarpieces and in paintings. Today, many Christians remain enthralled by these stories, which fill in gaps from the New Testament and provide intriguing details of the lives and ministries of biblical figures.

Christy Cobb does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. The apocrypha, Christianity’s ‘hidden’ texts, may not be in the Bible – but they have shaped tradition for centuries – https://theconversation.com/the-apocrypha-christianitys-hidden-texts-may-not-be-in-the-bible-but-they-have-shaped-tradition-for-centuries-274103

Source: The Conversation – USA (3) – By Daniel Cueto-Villalobos, PhD Candidate, Sociology, University of Minnesota

I’ve been living in Minneapolis and working on my doctoral dissertation about local religious communities since 2019.

It’s given me a chance to personally witness how the COVID-19 pandemic, the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd by police officers, and the surge in federal law enforcement presence have fostered grassroots networks of what’s known broadly as “mutual aid.”

Simply put, mutual aid is when communities work together to distribute resources people need to survive, whether it’s food, shelter, clothing or help paying bills. Unlike charity or government assistance, mutual aid is decentralized, grassroots-led and not channeled through nonprofits or government agencies.

One reason why mutual aid flourishes in Minnesota is that it has deep roots in the state.

Enduring ‘Operation Metro Surge’

Citing an already prosecuted case of fraud in which some of the perpetrators were Somali American citizens residing in Minnesota, the Trump administration dispatched Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection agents to the Twin Cities in late 2025.

Within weeks, the number of federal agents in what the Department of Homeland Security dubbed “Operation Metro Surge” had topped 3,000, outnumbering those in local police forces and ushering in widespread fear and uncertainty.

Local mutual aid networks quickly mobilized in response to these federal operations. Immigrant advocacy organizations have organized constitutional observer trainings and distributed “know your rights” information on flyers.

As in other cities, including Los Angeles and Chicago, “ICE Watch” volunteers in Minneapolis sound 3D-printed whistles and car horns to alert neighbors during ongoing raids. Constitutional observers document key details and provide support to neighbors.

The participants come from every walk of life.

Churches and sex shops alike have pivoted away from their routines to distribute food, diapers, cash and other household items that immigrant households need. Residents with disposable income have organized targeted “cash mobs” to support struggling local businesses.

Crowd-sourced campaigns have directed rent money to families whose breadwinners are afraid to go to work.

Federal agents have targeted schools and bus stops, apprehending adults and children. Parents and neighbors across the region have begun patrolling school drop-off zones to shield students from federal immigration actions.

---

Read more:
How anti-ICE organising in Minnesota reactivated mutual aid networks started after George Floyd’s murder

---

The North Star State’s heritage

The local grassroots resistance to Operation Metro Surge came as no surprise to me. Mutual aid has deep roots in Minnesota, and this history is closely connected to the violence of European settlement and American expansion.

Minnesota’s harsh winters have always demanded cooperation and neighborliness, not merely as an expression of “Minnesota Nice” – the state’s reputation for a warm, if guarded, way of interacting – but as a survival strategy that predated the first European arrivals in the 17th century.

Generosity, respect and compassion are central values among Dakota and Ojibwe people, Minnesota’s original inhabitants.

From when French fur trappers and Catholic missionaries first made their way to the Great Lakes in the 17th century until the onset of a population boom in the mid-19th century, Indigenous inhabitants sustained relatively stable and mutually beneficial relations with colonial powers.

The North Star State’s Minnesota Nice reputation has long encompassed progressive politics; a polite, if guarded, interpersonal demeanor; and a hearty neighborliness formed out of necessity during frigid winters.

Undergoing demographic changes

After Minnesota gained statehood in 1858, a series of broken treaties, armed conflicts and several laws forced Indigenous people onto reservations, opening up large swathes of land for white settlement. Immigrants from countries like Sweden, Norway and Germany settled in Minnesota in hopes of better opportunities than they had back home. Catholic and Lutheran churches and mutual benefit societies preserved cultural heritage, combated isolation and shaped the new state’s religious culture for generations.

In 1850, 6,100 people lived in the Minnesota Territory. By 1900, the state’s population had reached more than 1.75 million residents, 37% of whom were foreign-born.

Beginning in the 1970s, Minnesota welcomed Somali and Hmong refugees, as well as immigrants from Latin America. Robust social services and Catholic and Lutheran refugee settlement agencies have helped to integrate new arrivals, many of whom fled their countries of origin in response to economic crises and geopolitical instability.

While more than 4 in 5 Minnesotans today are white, the Minneapolis-St. Paul region remains far more diverse in terms of race, religion and national origin.

The seven-county region is 72% white, 10% Black or African American, 8% Asian or Pacific Islander, 7% Latino and just under 1% Native American, according to the 2022 American Community Survey. White people make up just over 50% of the population in both Minneapolis and St. Paul. At just under 20%, Black people constitute a higher share of population in Minneapolis. In St. Paul, about 1 in 5 people are Asian, mainly Hmong and other people of Southeast Asian descent.

Minnesota’s religious landscape is changing too. Since 2000, for example, the share of Muslim Minnesotans has grown from 1% to 3%.

Hmong and Somali Minnesotans play an increasingly prominent role in Twin Cities politics. The Trump administration has harangued the region’s Somali American elected officials, including Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minneapolis, especially during its immigration crackdown.

Welcoming donations

The fatal shooting of Minneapolis resident Renee Good on Jan. 7, 2026, by ICE agent Jonathan Ross further galvanized the local resistance. While it is unclear if Good was acting as part of a local ICE Watch group, attendance at observer trainings increased in the following weeks.

A few weeks after Good died, on Jan. 23, more than 50,000 people marched in frigid weather through downtown Minneapolis to demand “ICE out!”

In what organizers billed “A Day of Truth and Freedom,” over 700 local businesses closed in solidarity. An estimated 100 clergy were arrested outside the city’s airport, where they decried daily deportation flights to detention facilities.

The outrage increased when, the next morning, border patrol officers shot and killed Alex Pretti, a South Minneapolis Veterans Administration nurse who was documenting ICE actions at the intersection of 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue.

In response, local businesses sheltered people from the chemical that agents deployed. Residents of the neighborhood opened warming stations and distributed granola bars, hot water and hand warmers to mourners.

One organizer insisted they were not accepting payments for these goods and services, although donations were welcome.

Lasting harm

The federal government said it had detained over 4,000 people as of Feb. 4. With public pressure welling up, Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, announced on Feb. 12 that Operation Metro Surge would come to an end.

As of Feb. 25, ICE is less visible in South Minneapolis. But locals across the region are well aware of the ongoing presence in suburban areas, where agents are reportedly using new tactics.

Even if the immigration agents do completely clear out, the damage caused will surely be long-lasting.

Children like 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, who was taken from his suburban Twin Cities home and flown to a detention facility in Dilley, Texas, have received inadequate food and limited access to recreation while held there, according to ProPublica’s investigative reporters. The American Academy of Pediatrics has called attention to the lasting harms of juvenile detention.

South Minneapolis’ Lake Street corridor, home to over 1,000 immigrant-owned small businesses, has lost over US$46 million in revenue since December. Local leaders estimate that the citywide economic damage exceeds $200 million.

But Minneapolis residents are carrying on the state’s long-standing tradition of solidarity through mutual aid.

Daniel Cueto-Villalobos receives funding from the Lilly Endowment.

– ref. Minneapolis united when federal immigration operations surged – reflecting a long tradition of mutual aid – https://theconversation.com/minneapolis-united-when-federal-immigration-operations-surged-reflecting-a-long-tradition-of-mutual-aid-275987

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Promise Longe, Ph.D. Candidate in Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Kansas

In the search for more, new and cleaner sources of energy, a largely untapped resource is emerging: natural hydrogen.

Unlike hydrogen produced from industrial processes, natural hydrogen forms through geological reactions that occur normally within the Earth’s crust, meaning it costs nothing to make – though it costs some amount to extract – and does not emit any carbon dioxide or other human‑caused pollutants.

Today, hydrogen is used mainly in oil refining, production of ammonia for fertilizer and to make methanol, which can be a fuel and an ingredient in plastics. Emerging technologies are making hydrogen a viable fuel for cars, planes, ships and factories. Hydrogen demand around the world is projected to grow from around 90 million metric tons in 2022 to more than 500 million metric tons by 2050. Some of that supply could come from nature itself, as well.

To describe each source of hydrogen, energy researchers like me, and the energy industry as a whole, use a range of colors. In general, “gray” and “blue” hydrogen are made by burning fossil fuels, with blue hydrogen incorporating technology that captures the carbon dioxide produced in the process to reduce emissions. “Green” hydrogen comes from renewable‑energy‑powered electrolysis, using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. “White” or “gold” hydrogen occurs naturally underground and can be extracted directly with minimal processing.

How natural hydrogen forms

Natural hydrogen originates from several geological processes. The most well‑studied mechanism is serpentinization, a reaction where water interacts with iron‑rich rocks known as ultramafics, releasing hydrogen gas.

Serpentinization occurs in diverse settings around the world, including ocean ridges and continental formations such as the Midcontinent Rift in North America, a band of mostly igneous rocks with some sedimentary rocks mixed in, which extends from Minnesota through the Lake Superior region and southward toward Kansas.

Another process, thermogenic hydrogen formation, occurs in deep sedimentary basins when organic material decomposes under high temperatures, roughly 480 to 930 degrees Fahrenheit (250 to 500 degrees Celsius). These reactions can also produce hydrogen alongside other gases, such as methane or nitrogen.

Because these processes happen over millions of years, using natural hydrogen generally requires far less energy than human‑made methods such as electrolysis, which consumes roughly 50 kilowatt-hours of electricity per kilogram of hydrogen produced – enough to power an average home for a day or two, and more than the energy that kilogram of hydrogen can provide. Natural hydrogen is already made – it just has to be collected.

The science and the search

Researchers and exploration companies are developing methods similar to those used in oil and gas exploration to locate potential hydrogen accumulations. They are looking at three types of geological formations:

1. Focused seepage, where hydrogen seeps naturally through cracks and faults. It tends to reach the surface and disperse quickly, making large-scale capture difficult.

2. Coal beds, where hydrogen binds to coal layers, offer higher potential density but pose difficulties for extraction. The hydrogen must first be separated from the coal and then flow through tight rock layers to the extraction point.

3. Reservoir‑trap‑seal systems, comparable to the rock formations that trap natural gas underground, are considered the most promising for commercial production because they can concentrate large volumes of hydrogen in well‑defined, drillable structures. However, they remain largely unproven in practice: The basic idea is well established, and geologists have a good sense of where those formations might occur, but they still lack detailed data on how much hydrogen these formations actually contain and how easy it would be to extract.

Massive reserves – somewhere

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there could be more than 5 trillion metric tons of geological hydrogen underground around the world. But only a small fraction of that is estimated to be recoverable, both technically and in terms of reasonable costs.

However, even 2% of that total would be more than all proven natural gas reserves on the planetand enough to meet projected demand for the next 200 years, even accounting for increased consumption.

All of that reserve has built up over billions of years. The Earth naturally produces between 15 million and 31 million metric tons of natural hydrogen each year – less than 1% of the amount expected to be needed each year by 2050. But only a fraction of that is likely to be efficiently captured.

So geologic hydrogen is likely best viewed as a very large but ultimately finite source of low‑carbon energy that can substantially complement, but not replace, other energy sources, including various methods of producing hydrogen.

Global hot spots

Currently, only one hydrogen field, at Mali’s Bourakébougou village, produces natural hydrogen commercially, supplying tens of tons of hydrogen per year to power the village.

However, the number of companies exploring for natural hydrogen has increased rapidly, from roughly 10 in 2020 to about 40 by the end of 2023, according to Rystad Energy and related government and research‑lab reports.

Apart from that one field in Mali, exploration is concentrated in the United States, Australia, Canada and several European countries.

In the U.S., HyTerra’s Nemaha Project in Kansas has confirmed subsurface hydrogen concentrations reaching more than 90% hydrogen and 3% helium. The higher the concentration of hydrogen, the more efficient and cost‑effective it is to recover. HyTerra is also exploring elsewhere in the Midwest and Rocky Mountain regions.

Technical barriers

Transforming geological hydrogen into a commercial energy source presents tough scientific and technical challenges. Detecting and measuring hydrogen underground is difficult because of its small molecular size and reactivity with other elements in the rocks.

And if what’s found is low concentrations of hydrogen mixed with large amounts of other gases, it can be costly, even prohibitively so, to separate and purify the hydrogen before it can be used.

Economics and efficiency

The economic promise of natural hydrogen lies in its simplicity.

Because geological processes already performed the production work, early estimates suggest that extraction costs could be one‑tenth the production costs for other traditional hydrogen generation techniques – or possibly even less than that.

But those figures are based on the small amounts of hydrogen found so far and may not represent future large‑scale performance. Producing enough to serve commercial demand will require discovering large, high-quality accumulations.

As one leading research group noted, “This is not a gold rush.” It’s a careful exploration for scientific evidence that could lead, in time, to an abundant, carbon‑free and continuous energy source that complements other renewable energy sources.

Promise Longe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. How natural hydrogen, hiding deep in the Earth, could serve as a new energy source – https://theconversation.com/how-natural-hydrogen-hiding-deep-in-the-earth-could-serve-as-a-new-energy-source-273174

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Shelley Inglis, Senior Visiting Scholar with the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, Rutgers University

President Donald Trump in his State of the Union address on Feb. 24, 2026, doubled down on his false claims that the U.S. elections system is compromised. He asserted that “the cheating is rampant in our elections. It’s rampant.”

These pronouncements follow the January 2026 FBI seizure of 2020 ballots from Fulton County, Georgia, and the president’s recent call for the Republican Party to nationalize elections. The Trump administration is also suing 24 states and Washington, D.C., for voter lists to monitor voter registrations.

In his speech, Trump asked Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act. Approved by the House on Feb. 11, 2026, the measure would require that voters provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship, effectively ending all online voter registration. “They want to cheat. They have cheated,” he said of Democrats.

These calls spread distrust in the U.S. electoral process, despite extensive evidence showing that voter fraud is rare, especially by noncitizens.

All this has led to speculation about how much further the Trump administration and Republican Party might go to tilt the 2026 midterm and 2028 presidential elections in their favor.

After decades of working internationally on democracy and peace-building, I know that efforts to undermine elections are not uncommon. Citizens of many affected countries have learned various techniques to help protect the integrity of their elections and democracy that may be helpful to Americans today.

International electoral assistance

Leaders, even in established democracies such as India, have used increasingly sophisticated and wide-ranging means to manipulate elections in their favor. Those means vary from legal changes that suppress votes to harassment and prosecution of the opposition, to promoting widespread disinformation campaigns.

These methods have evolved despite international efforts to counter rigged elections and improve election integrity. These countering efforts are called electoral assistance, and they support societies to develop electoral systems that reflect the will of the people and adhere to democratic principles.

Electoral assistance has been shown to strengthen transparency and election administration in countries such as Armenia and Mexico. It has also improved voter registration and education in countries such as Ghana and Colombia.

It’s mostly provided by international nonprofits, such as the National Democratic Institute and The Carter Center in the U.S. Multilateral organizations such as the United Nations also provide electoral assistance.

Five international responses to electoral manipulation

Here are five areas of electoral assistance that have shown some success internationally.

Early warning and community resilience: Early warning efforts track threats of violence and intimidation against election officials, candidates and voters. They seek to mitigate risks and prepare for crises. This happens from the early stages of an election through election day in countries such as Sri Lanka and Liberia.

Law enforcement, civic groups and election officials usually undertake these efforts together. But where such direct cooperation with government authorities is not feasible, civic groups can help by undertaking risk assessments and tracking coercion and threats. They can also raise alarms with officials and the media.

Indicators, or established metrics, can track sophisticated coercion tactics such as the misuse of government funds for campaign purposes. They also can track vote buying, like civic groups in North Macedonia did during 2024 parliamentary and 2025 local elections.

For these efforts to be successful, it’s critical that networks of trusted leaders urge early action to put in place greater safeguards long before election day. Raising alarms and urging action was done successfully by religious leaders in Kenya during general elections in 2022.

Real-time disinformation and local media reaction: Real-time fact-checking and debunking of false or manipulative information has proven critical to election integrity in countries such as Mexico and South Africa.

A highly organized and fast-moving approach involving media, technology companies and authorities successfully countered disinformation to ensure a competitive democratic election in Brazil in 2022. A coalition of Brazilian media outlets, for example, fact-checked political claims and viral rumors during the election period, using innovative tools such as online apps.

Robust local media play a particularly important role. In the 2024 presidential election of Maia Sandu in Moldova, a new investigative newspaper uncovered a Russia-backed network that paid people to attend anti-Sandu rallies and to vote against the president. That outlet had received training by an expert nonprofit group. It also received free legal advice and human resource management that were critical to its effectiveness.

Neutrality, transparency and systems reform: Amid efforts to sow doubt in elections, increasing transparency and ethical standards can help build awareness and deepen trust.

Various tools, such as codes of conduct that detail ethical standards, can be formulated for candidates, media and businesses. This has been done in Nigeria and the Philippines.

International groups, including the the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, published model commitments for advancing genuine and credible elections in 2024, which have been used for preelection assessments in Bangladesh.

Additionally, major technology companies such as Google and Meta in 2024 helped draft the international Voluntary Election Guidelines for Technology Companies. Meta also helped target false content and deepfakes during Australia’s 2025 election.

The neutrality of election officials is critical to tackle distrust. In New Zealand, high levels of public trust in elections align with robust neutrality rules for public officials. The key is to develop public awareness of such commitments and how they can be useful to hold election officials, media and businesses accountable.

More profoundly, the design of the electoral system can also be linked to levels of public trust and polarization. New Zealand, South Africa and Northern Ireland, for example, reformed from winner-take-all elections to proportional representation elections to address deep internal divisions and dissatisfaction with unrepresentative results.

Broad-based mobilization and civic campaigns: Significant voter turnout that delivers large winning margins make efforts to manipulate results more difficult.

In Zambia, for example, a landslide victory for the opposition candidate in the 2021 presidential elections was driven by high youth turnout and people switching parties in urban areas.

Mobilization efforts can span from public campaigns to digital tools and voter registration and education. These efforts can motivate key groups, such as youth, minority or overseas voters. Participation of diaspora groups in Poland’s 2023 parliamentary elections was a key factor in the opposition’s win.

Proactively building public awareness of election security measures, called prebunking campaigns, has demonstrated results in increasing trust in elections in Brazil and the U.S. Additionally, civic education has shown to have positive impact on voter choice of pro-democracy candidates over their preferred party.

Strategic coalitions and nonpartisan monitoring: Nonpartisan monitoring and observation of an electoral process is a key tool in the electoral assistance tool kit. Effective monitoring often involves coalitions of nonpartisan civic groups, which Senegal has used, and faith-based organizations, as in the Philippines, to ensure adequate coverage of polling stations and consistent application of standards.

Key tools, such as parallel vote tabulation, or “quick counts,” which provide independent and statistically accurate reports on the quality of voting and counting process, have helped verify official election results in Ukraine, Ghana and Paraguay.

International observation by entities such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe assesses whether elections meet global standards. Where it identifies serious flaws or fraud, such scrutiny can help justify mass protests or mobilization, such as in Serbia’s parliamentary and local elections in 2023, trigger new elections, such as in Bolivia’s general elections in 2019, or support international condemnation, such as in Georgia’s 2024 parliamentary elections. They also make recommendations on reforms, such as changes to elections laws and systems, to strengthen integrity and align with democratic principles.

From May 2023 until July 1, 2025, the author served in the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance at the United States Agency for International Development (U.S.A.I.D.).

– ref. How to prevent elections from being stolen − lessons from around the world for the US – https://theconversation.com/how-to-prevent-elections-from-being-stolen-lessons-from-around-the-world-for-the-us-275390