Topic: 2025-Preserving Free and Fair Elections
Country: Lithuania
Delegate Name: Owen Gregg
The Delegation of Lithuania cannot express enough its commitment to free and fair elections. Historically, Lithuania has been a territory that has faced political oppression at the hands of Russia, a country that has prevented us from carrying out free, fair elections. Still, Lithuania has demonstrated its dedication to democracy at every turn. The Delegation of Lithuania, having experienced a history of political oppression, are immeasurably aware of the dangers and effects upon society when free and fair democratic elections are lost. having said that, we are very committed to working with the UN towards a better future for free and fair elections.
The Delegation of Lithuania recognizes the imminent threats to free and fair elections. Polling place intimidation serves as one of the largest dangers to democratic voting procedure, and we realize that it prevents minorities and people living in low-income communities from voting in their self-interest or voting at all, furthering the disparity between voting populations and ultimately leading to a loss of fairness in supposedly democratic elections. Furthermore, with the world only moving faster on the track of technological expansion and progression, new forms of cyberattacks and political propaganda that spread online serve as serious threats to the voting-age population in democratic countries, potentially affecting the votes of marginalized groups and undecided voters. Finally, Lithuania has dealt with cyberattacks and malfunctions in its voting systems in the past, and we strongly recognize the need for safety and cybersecurity within electronic voting systems to prevent blatant voting fraud going undetected by democratic governments to protect free and fair elections.
The Delegation of Lithuania recognizes the work completed by the UN and its committees and is willing to offer suggestions and political strategies for containing and diminishing the threat to free and fair elections within democratic countries. Firstly, we believe that to address the root cause of fraud and threats to a democratic electoral system, one must first address the root cause of extreme socioeconomic disenfranchisement and polarization within the country. Large wealth and class disparities within a country lead to political fighting and threats to democracy, such as polling place intimidation and cyberattacks, which disproportionately affect minority communities. Furthermore, Lithuania, having experienced this issue, feels strongly about ameliorating the cybersecurity of electronic voting machines within countries facing these threats, as cyberattacks on these machines serve to disrupt voting in what are supposed to be free and fair elections. Lithuania would be open to collaboration with other delegations to work on resolutions protecting minority groups from polling place intimidation and cyberattacks online and in electronic voting locations by decreasing the socioeconomic disparities between classes in countries facing threats to free and fair elections.
Having assessed these threats to free and fair elections in democratic countries, the Delegation of Lithuania strongly commends the work of organizations within the UN such as the OHCHR and the UNDP, and we are immensely willing to participate in efforts made by the UN and their extensions to help rectify problems which act as barriers preventing countries from carrying out free and fair elections while also looking ahead and creating resolutions to preemptively prevent democratic countries from facing these same problems we face today in the future.
