FAFEN defines political violence as “any act or threat of violence – be it physical or psychological, explicit or implicit – that is aimed at any person or property involved in the political process.” This includes violence that targets state institutions or infrastructure; violence motivated by ethnic, religious, tribal, ideological, or other identities; violence based on organizational or professional affiliation; and violence based on political party affiliation.

FAFEN defines electoral violence as “any act or threat of violence – be it psychological, explicit, or implicit – that is aimed at any person or property involved in the electoral process.” Electoral violence occurs not only on Election Day, but during the pre-election period, during campaigning and other electoral events, and during the postelection period, concluding with the winning candidate taking office.

FAFEN monitors political and electoral violence by analyzing media reports and by fielding election observation teams. As many as 16 newspapers from published from various centers are scanned daily. All monitored incidents are reported on standardized checklists and entered in the database. Quarterly reports are released on the basis of political and electoral violence data.