EPDE calls on the international community to support Belarusian Helsinki Committee
Peaceful demonstration in Minsk, 16 August 2020. Source: Yulia Khvoshch / Mostphotos The Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC), a founding member of the European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE), is another Belarusian human rights organization threatened with a liquidation lawsuit filed by the Ministry of Justice. The lawsuit is part of a broad campaign by […]
CEC of Georgia to reconsider accreditation of Belarusian CEC members as election observers
We, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) and European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE) are concerned about the decision of the Central Election Commission of Georgia to register Galina Mkrtchyan and Olesya Urbanovich, representatives of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Belarus, as international observers for the upcoming local elections […]
#FreeViasna – we demand the release of Viasna members on first anniversary of crackdown
On the first anniversary of the unprecedented crackdown on the Human Rights Center Viasna (“Viasna”) in Belarus, 23 international and Belarusian human rights organizations are launching a campaign to demand the release of seven detained Viasna members, and highlight the plight of hundreds of others, who have been prosecuted and jailed solely for exercising their […]
Discussion Summary – Election Campaign Amid the Pandemic
Leader of the OSCE election mission Elona Gjebrea Hoxha observing in a polling station in Tbilisi, Georgia in October 2020. (OSCE Parliamentary Assembly/CC BY-SA 2.0) The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation hosted a roundtable discussion concerning the organization of elections and election campaigning during the […]
Georgian electoral authorities to reconsider decision to invite Belarusian CEC to observe local elections
Lidziya Yarmoshyna, chairperson of the Central Election Commission of Belarus. Source: Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections Statement by the “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” September 9, 2021 We, representatives of the campaign “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”, were extremely surprised and disappointed by the decision of the Central Election Commission of […]
Local Elections in Georgia and the existing legal and political framework
Changes to the electoral legislation made in line with the April 19 Agreement pledged to ease the political crisis and restore trust in electoral reform. Changes included increasing the number of non-partisan appointees throughout election commissions and limiting the party’s ability to withdraw members of the district election commissions. Legislation tightened control on voters’ will […]
Discussion Summary – Implementation of Electoral Reform: Improvements and Persisting Challenges
European Council President Charles Michel visiting Georgia to negotiate the ‘April agreement’ to overcome the political crisis in Georgia. Source: European Council The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy and the After the previous election in 2020, the independence of the election administration was a key concern. This was present on all levels, […]
First interim report on pre-election monitoring
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) started monitoring of pre-election period for 2 October, 2021 Local Self-government Elections. The official pre-election monitoring interim report covers the period from 3 August to 30 August, 2021, as well as a few separate events that either began before 3 August and carried into the reporting […]
Mission impossible – Election monitoring in Russia to be muzzled
Photo: www.golosinfo.org – Protest of civil society organizations and political parties, 1 May 2004, Moscow. On 18 August 2021, in the course of the electoral campaign for the State Duma elections, the Russian Ministry of Justice declared the Golos Movement, a Russian unregistered election monitoring network, a “foreign agent”. “This decision is intended to […]
Media restrictions in the parliament undermine its transparency and accountability
Photo credit: Marcin Konsek The opening session of the National Assembly of the 8th convocation convened on 2 August was accompanied with strict restrictions to the movement of media representatives in the parliament. Journalists and cameramen were not allowed into the new parliamentary building where sessions of the standing commissions are convened, nor enter […]
