A WEB

On 5 August 2026, electoral management bodies (EMBs) from across the Americas came together virtually for the first of five regional forums under the 2026 Summit: Resilience, Cooperation, and Integrity – Elections in the 21st Century, hosted by Mexico's National Electoral Institute (INE). The session was moderated by Dr. José Thompson, Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Union of Electoral Bodies (UNIORE), through its Technical Secretariat, the Center for Electoral Assistance and Promotion (CAPEL).

Representatives from 25 countries across the Americas took part in an open exchange centered on two of the region's most pressing electoral integrity challenges: disinformation and digital violence. The A-WEB Secretariat also joined the Forum.

Key Takeaways

Beyond identifying shared regional challenges, the Forum gave EMBs a platform to exchange the concrete strategies each has developed in response. As synthesized by Edgar Carrete of INE in his closing rapporteur summary, discussions centered on the following key points:

•  Guatemala announced a new Coalition Against Electoral Disinformation, bringing together its Supreme Electoral Tribunal, universities, think tanks, and media outlets ahead of its 2027 elections.

•  The Dominican Republic enacted a new criminal code introducing penalties for the spread of disinformation and defamatory content through digital media, and is working with IDEA Internacional to examine regulatory approaches to AI.

•  Peru's RENIEC shared its approach to balancing legally mandated transparency of the electoral roll with data protection, and has proposed regulatory reforms to Congress to clarify which information can and cannot be publicly disclosed.

•  Mexico's INE shared results from its “Certeza” project, which has shifted from reactive fact-checking toward preventive digital literacy — reporting that only three of roughly 70 fact-checked items published between March and July 2026 were confirmed false.

•  Puerto Rico outlined its AI-assisted real-time monitoring and campaign-finance transparency systems, including a new legal requirement to disclose AI-generated political content.

In his closing remarks, Dr. Thompson observed that electoral integrity “is no longer defended only at the ballot box, but also in the digital ecosystem,” calling for stronger cooperation among electoral authorities, technology platforms, academia, and civil society — while cautioning that responses to disinformation must never come at the cost of freedom of expression.

Looking Ahead: Join Us in Mexico City

The Americas Forum offered a compelling model of what regional cooperation can achieve — bringing institutions together to recognize common challenges and learn from one another's strategies.

All roads lead to the 2026 Summit for Democracy, to be held in person in Mexico City from 23 to 25 September 2026, bringing together electoral authorities from the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Arab region under one roof for the first time. A-WEB warmly encourages its members to join this landmark gathering and help shape the future of electoral integrity worldwide.