Election Health Check

Election Health Check is a transnational project led by Unhack Democracy to entertain, educate and activate young voters by bringing together artists and election watchdogs in Hungary, North Macedonia and Serbia to protect electoral integrity ahead of elections in their respective country.

Our goal with the project Election Health Check was to make sure that the extensive knowledge that Unhack Democracy has accumulated during the past four years would reach as many people as possible.

The participating artists had a key role in creating videos that allows citizens to better understand how they can strengthen democracy. Election Health Check provided us, collaborating researchers and artists, with the unique opportunity to learn from each other while bringing our methodologies and points of views into consensus.

Hungary

In Hungary, Unhack commissioned renowned artists to write and direct a series of interrelated short films inspired by our research. The video series highlights the impact of polling day corruption, the co-dependent system and the heroic role well-trained poll workers’ play in defending democracy. The videos form an integral part of Unhack’s main election-related Count for Democracy! campaign to inform citizens of their civic rights and empower them to actively take part in the democratic process by signing up as ballot counters. 

Serbia

Identifying widespread voter apathy as the key challenge ahead of parliamentary elections in April 2022, civil society organisation CRTA worked with activists, creators and influencers “Marka Žvaka” and socially engaged choir “Horkestar” to produce a series of videos aimed at promoting the belief that elections can deliver real change. 

First airing on 23 December to mark anniversary of the first democratic parliamentary elections in Serbia after the fall of Slobodan Milošević, this artistic collaboration between civic activists and electoral experts specifically targets younger voters with the aim of boosting participation in the democratic process.

North Macedonia

A collaboration between Lokomotiva (Centre for New Initiatives in Arts and Culture), an organization working in the field of arts and culture, and human rights organisation CIVIL, the "We Vote!" video series aired on North Macedonian TV and on social media ahead of elections in October 2021. 

Created by local renowned artists, cultural workers and activists who advocate for solidarity and systematic change to protect electoral integrity, the videos aim to inform voters of their rights, and encourage them to actively take part in the democratic process as volunteer election officials.