First interim report early parliamentary elections
As per Presidential Decree of 28 April 2021 on dissolving the Parliament and setting the date of the elections, the early Parliamentary Elections will be held on 11 July 2021 — an important ballot for the decision-making quality and strategic direction in the Republic of Moldova. With the aim of developing democracy in the Republic […]
Final monitoring report of 2020 parliamentary elections
The 2020 Parliamentary Elections in Georgia took place amidst the global pandemic, which posed extraordinary challenges for administering the elections, as well as for the realization of constitutional rights of voters and other key actors. Essentially, the Election Day was managed effectively, in compliance with the legal requirements. Despite the extreme surge of the Covid-19 […]
Shrinking space for citizen election observation ahead of State Duma elections
Opportunities for independent citizen election observation and civil society space in general have been shrinking steadily in Russia over the past decade. In 2020, changes were introduced to laws and regulations bringing further restrictions of rights and freedoms, which had a palpable impact on the space for citizen observation. The absence of provisions for […]
Human Rights Situation in Belarus: April 2021
Image: Members of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s presidential campaign on trial in Homieĺ. April 12, 2021 Summary of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” report: during the month, the authorities continued to actively apply criminal prosecution for political reasons. According to the General Prosecutor’s Office, since August 2020, more than three thousand criminal cases have been initiated for […]
European Institutions ‘Broadly Welcome’ Armenia’s Proposed Electoral Reform
On April 21, 2020, the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and OSCE/ODIHR published their Draft Joint Urgent Opinion on an electoral reform legislative package that is expected to pass ahead of the announced early parliamentary election. It has been a busy Bill C-894 makes wide changes to the Electoral Code, as well […]
Round table summary: Armenia – Does the early election endanger the electoral reform?
On 25 March, EPDE hosted a round table discussion with five Armenian and international election experts and representatives of political factions on the ongoing electoral reform in Armenia and its prospects ahead of the early parliamentary elections scheduled on 20 June 2021. 50 participants from the international expert community and donor countries joined the […]
Momentous reform – no more district seats
On April 1, 2021, a marathon parliamentary session removed district seats from Armenia’s Electoral Code. Change doesn’t happen overnight… until it does. Eliminating district seats from Armenia’s Electoral Code was the flagship policy in the electoral reform bill brought forward in October 2018 by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s first government. That bill failed to […]
Social media monitoring report 2020 presidential election
Highlights from the Political Accountability Foundation (PAF)’s social media monitoring report: Facebook (FB) was an important channel for candidates in their communication with voters – its importance during both 2020 Presidential elections was only exacerbated by the pandemic situation which led to the introduction of restrictions on physical campaigning. Some candidates managed to increase their […]
Need for agreement between political parties to overcome current crisis and continue the reform process
Letter by Georgian CSOs urging all political parties to reach an agreement in the next round of mediation to overcome the political stalemate. Dear Sirs and Madams, We have closely followed and observed the political developments of the last few months that you have been part of in Georgia. It is clear for everyone that the […]
Civil society calls for civilized pre-electoral campaign ahead of snap elections
Joint statement by Armenian CSOs, including EPDE members Transparency International Anticorruption Center Armenia and Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly – Vanadzor We, the undersigned representatives of civil society, are severely concerned about the hate speech and calls for violence, which are widespread in Armenia’s political landscape, and tend to be rising ahead of the snap parliamentary election. Problematic and […]
