ACE Electoral News

ACE Electoral News

Turkey sheds its military-backed constitution (The daily Star, 2010)

Although Turkey is a democratic country it was saddled with a constitution drawn by its military in 1980. Finally, on September 12, on the 30th anniversary of the 1980 military coup, the Turkish people adopted a democratic constitution after a referendum.

Turkey: Referendum puts shortcomings of voting system in spotlight (Today's Zaman, 2010)

Much significance was attached to a referendum Turkey held on government-sponsored constitutional reforms last week, both by opponents and supporters of the reforms.

Yanukovych Urges PACE To Send Observers To Local Elections In Ukraine (Ukrainian News Agency, 2010)

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych urges the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to send to Ukraine observers to the local elections in the country set for October 31, 2010.

MPs desert defeated Ukraine candidate Yulia Tymoshenko (BBC News, 2010)

Ukraine's parliament has confirmed the migration of 28 MPs from the bloc led by Yulia Tymoshenko, who was defeated in this year's presidential election.

Ukraine invites PACE monitors to assess objectivity of election campaign (NRCU - Ukrainian Radio, 2010)

Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov invites observers from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to assess objectivity of the local authority election campaign. The Prime Minister said this during his meeting with PACE President Mevlut Cavusoglu, who is on a visit in Ukraine.

Poland: Official - local elections set for 21 November (thenews.pl, 2010)

Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced officially that local elections in Poland will take place on 21 November.

Poland: Parties mobilize for upcoming elections (Warsaw Business Journal, 2010)

Political parties are preparing their strategies and choosing candidates for the upcoming local elections.

Poland: Incumbent leaders favourites in local elections (thenews.pl, 2010)

Incumbent presidents and mayors will have a distinct advantage in local election on 21 November over rivals, finds a new opinion poll.

Tanzania:Registrar calls for law on poll 'drop-outs', Citizen (2010)

This article is about a new law that is being contemplated to prevent candidates who have been nominated to contest in various electoral posts from dropping out of the race afterwards.

Kenya: Commission working on law to allow electronic results from Interim Independent Electoral Commision | Republic of Kenya | - YOUR VOTE, YOUR FUTURE, IIEC (2010)

This article talks about a new legislation that will give the Electoral Management Body of Kenya more powers to deal with electoral malpractices and also recognize electronic results.

Nigeria: National Assembly to decide on new election date, NEXT (2010)

This article reports on the National Assembly's discussion about the next election day. The Independent National Electoral Commission requested a postponement of the election day, and all political parties supported this decision.

Swedish government fails to secure majority after postal votes are counted, Bloomberg (2010)

This article reports on the vote counting operations in Sweden. The Election Authority announced that the postal votes have been counted, and that the results are final. The center-right coalition won 173 seats in the 249-seats Assembly, and will then form a minority government. Sweden has been governed by minority governments since 1971. The voter turnout was 84.6%.

Swedish government comes up short in preliminary recount, Reuters (2010)

This article discusses the vote counting operations that are still been carried out in Sweden. The postal votes and the overseas ballots have now been counted. Finally, Prime Minister's coalition won 173 seats (on election day they announced 172 seats), two seats short of the 175 majority. The center-left opposition won 156 seats, while the far-right Sweden Democrats won 20 seats. The results are now been reviewed by the administrative boards, and once published they can be appealed in 10-days.

Election observers coming to Venezuela - what will they see? The Miami Herald (2010)

This article discusses the presence and the roles of international observers in the upcoming elections in Venezuela. The Sunday's parliamentary elections have been marred by some controversies, and many experts believe that the international observers' role will be merely symbolic. OAS, EU and Carter Center's electoral observers were not invited.

USA: The election campaigners we can't see, The Washington Post (2010)

This article discusses the electoral campaign in the United States. Following the Supreme Court ruling on the unlimited campaign donations to parties and candidates, Wall Street, the insurance lobby, oil companies and other special interests started to have an unprecedented role in the campaign. A new bill to force corporate donors to disclose their identity is currently been discussed, but the Republic Party is clocking it. Oil and insurance companies are the most active ones.

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Afghan poll watchdog probes 2,500 fraud complaints, BBC (2010)

Afghan election officials report they have received about 2,500 complaints of fraud and irregularities since the election last Saturday. All the allegations of fraud will be investigated by the Electoral Complaints Commission before the final results come out at the end of October.

iKnowPolitics - Gender Quotas, Women In Politics, Parity

Gender Quotas, Women In Politics, Parity The International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics (iKNOW Politics) is an online workspace designed to serve the needs of elected officials, candidates, political party leaders and members, researchers, students and other practitioners interested in advancing women in politics. It is a joint project of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA).

Ireland: Voters divided on need for a general election, Irish Independent (2010)

According to a poll on Tuesday, voters in Ireland are split about whether the time is right for a general election with 49 per cent are in favor and 47 per cent are opposed.

Ireland: Grealish's call for election adds to pressure on Coalition, Irish Times (2010)

GALWAY TD Noel Grealish, who has backed the Fianna Fáil-Green Party Coalition since 2007, has called for an immediate general election, putting the current Government under more pressure.