Every Vote Counts starts from the premise that free and fair elections are the foundation upon which democracy is built. Given this fact the study explores the role of foreign electoral assistance in helping to spread democracy around the globe during the past two decades. Among other issues its authors examine 1 the challenges of organizing elections in two of the most demanding environments of recent years Iraq and Afghanistan 2 the effect of African popular opinion about the quality of elections on citizens trust in their political institutions 3 how Ukrainians have chosen legal and electoral means to resolve disputes rather than open conflict 4 Indonesias growing understanding of democracy which has resulted in increased participation and 5 electoral assistance as a critical component of American public diplomacy and efforts to reach out to the rest of the world.Each chapter of Every Vote Counts documents the experiences of democracy professionals who often use case studies to describe what workedand what didnton the ground instead of relying on mere conjectures.