Unhack Democracy

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Registration as it was on 12 Mar 2024
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Overview

Lobbying Costs

25,000€ - 49,999€

Financial year: Jan 2023 - Dec 2023

Lobbyists (Full time equivalent)

2 Fte (4)

Lobbyists with EP accreditation

0

High-level Commission meetings

0

Lobbying Costs over the years

  • Info

    Unhack Democracy

    EU Transparency Register

    473170239162-83 First registered on 06 Aug 2020

    Goals / Remit

    Unhack Democracy is a Brussels-based election watchdog and pro-democracy NGO that that works to counter fake democracies in Europe by fostering active public-spirited citizens, politicians and businesses. Founded in 2018 to safeguard the integrity of elections through cross-disciplinary and cross-border collaboration, today Unhack Democracy's experts in data science, security, political strategy and communication aim to help make civil society more resilient and effective by presenting a positive vision of why democracy - and those who defend it - matters.

    Main EU files targeted

    EU Security Union Strategy (EC)
    EU Digital Strategy (EC)
    European Democracy Action Plan (EC)
    EU Mechanism on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights (EP)

    Address

    Head Office
    10 Square Ambiorix
    Brussels 1000
    BELGIUM
    EU Office
    10 Square Ambiorix
    Brussels 1000
    BELGIUM

    Website

  • People

    Total lobbyists declared

    4

    Employment timeLobbyists
    100%1
    50%1
    25%2

    Lobbyists (Full time equivalent)

    2

    Lobbyists with EP accreditation

    No lobbyists with EP accreditations

    Complementary Information

    Unhack Democracy has four registered co-founder/directors with equal voting rights and legal responsibilities based across Budapest, Brussels and London. They make up the five-person core team across 4 countries that includes:

    Managing Director - Zsofia Banuta (London/Budapest), Managing Director of Unhack Democracy and former broadcast journalist.
    Executive Director - Elliott Goat (London), journalist and Fellow of the International State Crime Initiative and Churchill Trust.
    Chair - Dr Garvan Walshe (Brussels), political strategist who previously worked as National and International Security Policy Adviser to the UK Conservative Party.
    Director - Dr Melani Barlai (Budapest), professor at Andrassy University and co-founder and coordinator of the Hungarian online voting advice tool Vokskabin which helps voters to decide how to vote in local, parliamentary and European elections.

    Person in charge of EU relations

    Data not provided by Register Secretariat due to GDPR

    Person with legal responsibility

    Data not provided by Register Secretariat due to GDPR

  • Categories

    Category

    Non-governmental organisations, platforms and networks and similar

  • Networking

    Affiliation

    Unhack Democracy is a member of the European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE), which aims to support citizen election observation and to contribute to democratic election processes throughout Europe.

    https://www.epde.org/en/Countries/Hungary.html

    Unhack Democracy is also a member of Global Network of Domestic Election Monitors (GNDEM) and signatory of the Declaration of Global Principles for Nonpartisan Election Observation and Monitoring by Citizen Organizations.

    Member organisations

    N/A

  • Financial Data

    Interests represented

    Promotes their own interests or the collective interests of their members

    Closed financial year

    Jan 2023 - Dec 2023

    Lobbying costs for closed financial year

    25,000€ - 49,999€

    Major contributions in closed year

    None declared

    Intermediaries for closed year

    None declared

    Intermediaries for current year

    None declared

    Closed year Costs

    25,000€ - 49,999€

    Other financial info

    None declared

  • EU Structures

    Groups (European Commission)

    none

    Groups (European Parliament)

    Unhack Democracy is a member of the European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE), which aims to support citizen election observation and to contribute to democratic election processes throughout Europe.

    Unhack Democracy is also a member of Global Network of Domestic Election Monitors (GNDEM) and signatory of the Declaration of Global Principles for Nonpartisan Election Observation and Monitoring by Citizen Organizations.

    Communication activities

    In December 2023, Unhack Democracy launched the Rewire your mind, Rewire your country (REWIRE) hope-based mindset shift incubator targeting rising civil society leaders from Hungary, Poland and Bulgaria.

    Unhack has been active across all elections (national, EP, and municipal) in Hungary dating back to the 2018 Parliamentary elections:
    https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/breaking-fresh-evidence-hungary-vote-rigging-raises-concerns-fraud-european-elections/

    Ahead of the April 2022 Hungarian parliamentary elections, Unhack Democracy successfully coordinated with other pro-democracy groups in Hungary to secure a full ODIHR Election Observation Mission:
    https://www.dw.com/de/ungarn-osze-mission-gegen-wahlbetrug/a-60377568

    Unhack Democracy's Count for Democracy! campaign for the 2022 Hungarian parliamentary elections included:

    Volunteer poll workers’ training: Based on Unhack Democracy’s research and over 1000 testimonies from ballot counters gathered across three elections in Hungary our team led by Zsofia Banuta and Dr Melani Barlai of Andrassy University developed an interactive e-learning platform to train volunteer poll workers ahead of the 2022 parliamentary elections in Hungary.

    Election Health Check: a transnational video project facilitated by Unhack Democracy and supported by the European Cultural Foundation’s Cultural Solidarity Fund and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation’s Global Themes Division. A collaboration between NGOs and artists in Hungary, North-Macedonia, and Serbia, the video series informed viewers of their civic rights to empower them to actively take part in the democratic process while advocating for solidarity and systematic change to protect electoral integrity.

    Europe for Citizens Program: “European voters - together for electoral integrity”. Led by the Berlin-based European Platform for Democratic Elections, the project, financed by the European Commission brings together citizen election observation organizations from seven EU member states (with Unhack representing Hungary) united in the effort to contribute to fair and transparent elections both on a national and European level. The project’s objectives are to establish a network of EU citizen election monitors united in the effort to protect electoral integrity in the member states; and to mitigate those challenges through advocacy activities both on a national and on a European level.

    Central European University’s Open University in Budapest: the course, taught by co-founders of Unhack and Professor Gabor Toka of CEU, explores the following questions: How can election observation and vote counting correct the failures of the electoral system? The second, more practical part is based on Unhack Democracy’s research and capacity building projects whose primary goal is to improve electoral integrity in Hungary at the upcoming elections.

    Votes without Borders: Led by Romanian investigative journalism outlet Átlátszó Erdély (Transylvania), Votes without Borders investigated the voting registration process of Hungarians living in neighbouring countries and monitored the election campaign in these communities. Unhack Democracy provided training and ongoing supervision to journalists working on the project.

    Unhack also held its inaugural international conference: Strengthening Electoral Integrity in Europe (Budapest, June 2022):
    Funded by the German Marshall Fund of the United States Black Sea Trust in partnership with Romanian NGO Funky Citizens, this two-day event brought together a New Generation of activists, civil society and election watchdog groups with academics, journalists, politicians and potential funders focusing on defending electoral integrity in the Black Sea Region, Belarus, Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

    https://www.unhackdemocracy.eu/en/conference-2022

    Other activities

    Unhack Democracy was invited to present its investigation's findings in December 2019 at the European Parliament by the Vice President of the parliament, Klara Dobrev (S&D) and consulted with LIBE member Gwendoline Delbos Corfield (Green) the new rapporteur of Article 7 who gave the closing remarks on Hungary.

    Unhack Democracy was personally invited by Commission Vice President Vera Jourova to fill out the public consultation on electoral integrity.

    https://visegradinsight.eu/hungary-litmus-test/
    https://www.eureporter.co/frontpage/2020/06/09/irregularities-in-hungary-2019-parliamentary-and-local-elections-discovered/
    https://www.euronews.com/2019/12/09/election-watchdog-casts-doubts-over-orban-s-2018-supermajority-in-hungary
    https://www.gmfus.org/blog/2020/02/11/europes-electoral-integrity-must-be-defended-internal-threats

  • Meetings

    Meetings

    None declared

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