ACE Electoral News

ACE Electoral News

Campaigning begins in Bosnia elections (EUobserver.com, 2010)

The campaign for general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), scheduled for 3 October, started on Friday (3 September). Fifteen years after the end of a bitter interethnic war and after one and a half decades of being an international protectorate, the main issues remain unchanged: Bosnian Serbs want more autonomy for their "entity," the Republika Srpska (RS), hoping for eventual independence; muslim Bosniaks want a unitarian state in which the Serbian entity is abolished; and the Croats, especially in Herzegovina, dream about setting up an entity of their own.

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Kenya: IIEC holds a postmortem on referendum, iiecnews (2010)

this article talks about the post referendum initiative of the Kenyan EMB to look back and pick lessons that can be useful on charting a way forward after the promulgation of the new constitution.

Philippines: Comelec sets up smaller polling precincts, The Philippine Star (2010).

This article discusses Comelec’s setting of smaller polling precincts for the manual voting system in Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.

Singapore: Elections Department offers SMS alerts for election-related news, Channel News Asia (2010).

This article discusses media tools use by Singapore Elections Department for voters to access election related news through mobile phones.

Myanmar: Candidate List Paints Picture of Election Results, The Irrawaddy (2010).

This article discusses candidate lists to contest Myanmar's November 7 general elections.

Kazakh Opposition Parties Want Referendum On Impeaching President, RFE/RL (2010)

The article reports that Kazakhstan's Algha (Forward) and Communist parties have discussed their joint efforts to hold a national referendum on impeaching President Nursultan Nazarbaev. Earlier this year the Constitution was amended to announce Nazarbaev "leader of the nation", with lifelong immunity and benefits. The two parties are goign to meet on September 25 in order to design further steps for organising the nationwide referendum.

Poll: 77 percent of Venezuelans are willing to vote in parliament election, El Universal (2010)

According to the projection of the pollster about intent to vote a candidate (among voters who are sure to go to the polls), 43 percent would vote the ruling party whereas 57 percent would vote opposition parties

USA: Republicans making gains ahead of mideterm elections, The Washington Post (2010)

This article reports on the latest opinion polls in the United States. According to the Washington Post-ABC News poll, Americans are deeply dissatisfied with the federal government's performance, regarding the economy in particular. 40% of the people interviewed trust the Democratic Party, while 38% the Republican one. Three months ago, however, the Democrats were leading the poll with a 12 percentage point advantage.

USA: Midterms 2010: What you need to know, The Washington Post (2010)

This article discusses the major issues regarding the 2010 electoral campaign for the midterm elections in the United States. The article also discusses the campaign expenditure for the two main parties, and presents a brief history of midterm elections in the US. In November, the electorate will vote for the House of Representatives and part of the Senate.

Italy: Election loom as Berlusconi takes on Fini, Euronews (2010)

This article reports on the political situation in Italy. It is still unclear whether or not Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will resign and ask President Giorgio Napolitano to call early elections. This week, PM Berlusconi will ask President Napolitano to dismiss Gianfranco Fini, Berluscoin's former key ally and speaker of the House. This could potentially trigger an early election.

Ireland: Greens fail to press FF on dates for by-elections, The Irish Independent (2010)

This article reports on the schedule for the upcoming polls in Ireland. The Green Party and the Fianna Fail still cannot agree on the dates for the three by-elections and the children's rights referendum, and whether or not to hold them on the same day. Experts believe that this delay is due to the parties' fear of losing the by-elections, which would make the Dáil voting numbers much tighter. The High Court will hear a judicial review on this matter in October.

Ireland: Greens target corporate donations in reform plans, The Sunday Business Post (2010)

This article discusses the Green Party's proposal to ban corporate donations to political party, reform local government and set up an independent electoral commission. The Greens will present this reforms as part of their broader electoral and political reform due in the fall.

Opposition Parties Reject Government Reform Plan, Azatutyun.am (2010)

The article reports that the two opposition parties represented in Armenia’s parliament rejected as “cosmetic” electoral reforms which its pro-government majority has offered to implement in response to pressure from the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE). Instead, the opposition parties have come up with an alternative reform plan which they believe would tackle chronic vote rigging in the country in earnest.

Australia election impasse expected to end Tuesday, Reuters (2010)

This article reports on the possible end of the election impasse in Australia. Weeks after the August 21 elections, the Labor Party announced that they will probably form a minority government with three independents.

Georgia: Parliament to Launch Constitutional Debates in September, Civil.ge (2010)

The article reports that in September 2010, the Georgian parliament is going to start debating draft of constitutional amendments, which increases Prime Minister's powers at the expense of President. Critics say that the draft will transfer most of the presidential powers to PM, leaving the legislative body as “powerless, as it is now.”

Venice Commission on Georgia’s New Constitution, Civil.ge (2010)

The article reports that Council of Europe’s (CoE) advisory body for legal affairs, Venice Commission, is expected to adopt its opinion on the planned constitutional reform in Georgia at its session on September 15-16. This will be followed with a visit of Venice Commission delegation to Georgia on September 16-17 to discuss recommendations with the Georgian authorities. The proposed constitutional amendments aim at increasing the role of the Prime Minister and decreasing the President's powers.

Georgia: Draft opinion on the draft constitutional law on amendments and changes to the constitution of Georgia, Council of Europe (2010)

This document presents draft opinion of the Venice Commission (European Commission for Democracy Through Law) of the Council of Europe on the draft amendments to the Constitution of Georgia. The Constitutional amendments are planned to be discussed in the Georgian parliament in September 2010, and be adopted by November 2010.

India: High Court allows CPM to challenge Alagiri, The Times of India (2010)

This article reports on the High Court ruling on election petitions. The High Court established that such petitions do not cease to be relevant with the death of the petitioner who challenged the election of a representative, as another person can come forward and become the petitioner. Justice V Dhanapalan stated that the petition must continue for the benefit of the whole constituency, and cannot end for neither a withdrawal nor for the death of the petitioner.

Georgia: Draft constitutional law on the changes and amendments to the constitution (2010)

This document presents the draft constitutional law on the changes and amendments to the constitution of Georgia. The draft was adopted by the State Constitutional Commission at its Plenary Session of 19 July 2010. The draft has been submitted to the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, for opinion and recommendations.