Organized by the International Centre for Parliamentary Studies (ICPS) and the Portuguese National Electoral Commission, the event brought together leading figures in the world of electoral affairs in a two-day symposium and awards’ ceremony on 15th and 16th November 2023.
The awards ceremony, as the main event of the two-day conference, recognized outstanding and long-lasting innovations in the field of elections and democracy. The First-Time Voter Award, which Stockemer received jointly with Aksel Sundström from the University of Gothenburg, celebrates long-lasting contributions to youth’s political participation and representation in the democratic process. Stockemer and Sundström received the award from Thomas Hicks, Election Commissioner of the United States of America.
The award recognizes Stockemer and Sundström’s work linking youth political participation to youth representation as well as for the publication of the World Age Representation Dataset (www.warpdataset.com), the most comprehensive dataset on age representation in national parliaments worldwide. Most of the nominees and awardees for the 12 awards were national- or subnational Electoral Commissions, Electoral Management Bodies and International Organizations such as the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. Stockemer and Sundström were the only two academics to receive one of these prestigious International Electoral Awards.