One of those safeguards is just having more poll observers. Of course, most of the time in functioning democracies it's going to be a lot more boring than that

One of those safeguards is just having more poll observers. Of course, most of the time in functioning democracies it's going to be a lot more boring than that -- in my personal experience you just say hi to your counterparts from other organizations and then watch in silence as everything runs smoothly according to the rules. EDIT: it should without saying that observers not being allowed to bring weapons into polling places should be one of those rules!