ACE Electoral News

ACE Electoral News

OSCE Criticises Albanian Political Dispute (BalkanInsight.com, 2010)

Tirana’s political elite has been criticised by the OSCE for its failure to resolve the dispute over the results of the June 2009 parliamentary elections.

Inzko: First-Time voters can revolutionize the political landscape in BiH (EMportal, 2010)

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the seats in the parliaments are often decided by a very small number of votes. Referring to this fact, the High Representative and EU Special Representative, Valentin Inzko, said yesterday that the 80,000 young people who will be eligible to vote for the first time on 3 October can revolutionize the political landscape in this country.

Bulgaria's Ethnic Turks Contest 2009 Vote in Strasbourg (Novinite.com, 2010)

Bulgaria's ethnic Turkish party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) has filed a complaint with the European Human Rights Court in Strasbourg contesting the results of the 2009 general elections.

Bulgarian Ethnic Turkish Party to Defend Voting Right (Novinite.com, 2010)

The Deputy Chair of the ethnic Turkish party DPS, Lyutvi Mestan, has announced that his party would defend the right of Bulgarian citizens to cast their vote.

Opposition Socialist Leader: Early Elections Loom in Bulgaria (Novinite.com, 2010)

The leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), Sergey Stanishev, declared Saturday his forecast for early general elections.

Estonian Social Democrats' Support Declines in Polls, Postimees Reports (Bloomberg, 2010)

Voter support for Estonia’s Social Democrats fell to 5 percent this month, showing the opposition party may struggle to meet the electoral threshold in March general elections, a poll commissioned by Postimees showed.

Hungary: Oct 3 local elections will be referendum on Fidesz performance, says Orbán (Politics.hu, 2010)

The outcome of the October 3 local elections will show the extent to which voters support the Fidesz centre-right government, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in an interview to Saturday's Veszpremi Naplo local daily on Saturday.

Hunagry: PM opens Fidesz campaign for local election (Politics.hu, 2010)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Friday called his Fidesz party the only political force voters can assign responsibility to for the fate of the country, at a rally opening the centre-right party's campaign for the October 3 local election.

Hungary: Fidesz ready to leap final hurdle to hegemony (The Budapest Times, 2010)

Barring a catastrophe on the scale of an extraterrestrial invasion, the governing Fidesz party will demolish all comers in the 3 October municipal elections. The party will scoop up all 19 county governments and nearly every major city – including Budapest, once the stronghold of the liberal left. Fidesz already controls 68 per cent of the seats in Parliament; October 3 will complete its conquest of national politics.

Latvia: Commission seeks volunteer monitors for Oct. 2 parliamentary election (Latvians Online, 2010)

In an effort to reduce doubts about how ballots are counted and whether voting results can be trusted, the Central Election Commission in Rīga is looking for volunteer monitors for Latvia’s parliamentary election set Oct. 2.

Latvia: HC dominates Riga pre-election polls (Baltic Times, 2010)

A recent poll in the Latvian capital of Riga has found that the left-leaning Harmony Center party is by far the most popular party ahead of national elections early next month.

Moldova Holds Referendum on Direct Presidential Election (CRIENGLISH.com, 2010)

Moldova started its first referendum Sunday morning on constitution amendment, voting whether to elect their president through the public or still via the parliament.

Moldova's rulers to call election after poll flop (Reuters, 2010)

Moldova's pro-European leaders agreed on Monday to call new parliamentary elections to break political deadlock after a Sunday referendum they organised flopped due to a poor turnout.

Referendum in Moldova invalid because of poor voter turnout (ITAR-TASS, 2010)

The constitutional referendum on resuming the nation-wide election of Moldova’s president was declared invalid because of poor voter turnout, Eugeniu Stirbu, the chairman of the Central Electoral Commission of Moldova, stated on Thursday, presenting the final results of the voting. According to the final results, 30.29 percent of the voters went to the polls, while the required minimum was 33.33 percent. Among those who voted, 87.83 percent were for the return to the nation-wide presidential election and 12.17 percent against.

Early elections in the Republic of Moldova to take place on 21 November (ACTmedia, 2010)

The date for early parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova is 21 November decided Alianta pentru Integrare Europeana, according to Unimedia md.

Serbia: SNS calls for early elections (B92, 2010)

The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) will hold talks with other opposition parties regarding efforts to have new parliamentary elections announced.

Blic, Serbia: No reason for early elections, says Ivica Dacic (Focus News, 2010)

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic has said that the government is stable and there is no reason for early elections, Serbian Blic daily writes.

Slovakia to hold its seventh referendum (The Slovak Spectator, 2010)

THE SIX-QUESTION referendum initiated by the Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party that will be held on Saturday September 18 will be Slovakia’s seventh exercise of direct democracy. Like most of the preceding referenda, it is not expected to be valid because of insufficient voter turnout.

Slovenia: Campaigning Begins For Local Elections (STA , 2010)

The campaign ahead of the 10 October local elections begins on Friday. Candidates will have a month to win over voters with rallies, stands, election debates and campaign advertising.

Slovenia: LDS Launches Local Election Campaign (STA, 2010)

The junior coalition Liberal Democrats (LDS) launched in Ljubljana on Monday their campaign ahead of the 10 October local elections with the head of the Ljubljana LDS branch Ales Zalar saying that the party's programme sees the capital as a five-star city.