Second round taking place amid a political crisis
Rally in Tbilisi calling for a snap election, 15.11.2020. Source: europost.eu International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) will monitor the second round of the 2020 Parliamentary Elections of Georgia to be held on November 21 in 17 majoritarian districts through 35 mobile groups. In view of the non-competitive election environment and dramatic […]
Increase in black PR and manipulative schemes to gain votes
Polling station in Dnipro, 25.10.2020. Source: rferl.org Briefing summary CVU Chairman Oleksiy Koshel noted that the CVU recorded many cases of black PR on the eve of the second round of elections. “Before the election, we are seeing massive use of black PR. We have the impression that black PR has grown significantly compared […]
No widespread violations, but need for professionalization of election commissions
SUMMARY OPORA INTERIM REPORT The OPORA civil network will conduct the observation of the runoff mayoral elections that will take place on 22 November, 2020, in Berdiansk, Zaporizhia Oblast; Dnipro; Drohobych, Lviv Oblast; Lviv; Mykolaiv; Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast; Poltava; Rivne; Slovyansk, Donetsk Oblast; Uzhhorod; and Cherkasy. Between these eleven Ukrainian cities, four mayoral candidates […]
Presidential election only ‘partially correct and free’
Source: kyivpost.com (AFP) The Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections considers the presidential elections of 1 and 15 November 2020 to be partially correct and free. The assessment is based on respect of the principles for free and fair elections set out in international treaties and conventions on civil and political rights and […]
Viasna journalist gets 15 more days in prison
Maryna Kastylianchanka, Viasna member and journalist, has been sentenced to another 15 days of administrative detention, after a mock trial held in the Baranavičy detention facility on Tuesday, November 17. The activist was found guilty of joining a protest allegedly held in Partyzanski Avenue in Minsk on October 25. In reality, protesters never gathered at […]
Concerns over Hungary’s pending electoral code amendment
Hungarian parliament after the vote to extend emergency powers to the government, 10 November 2020. Source: dailynewshungary.com (MTI) Although the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic is in full swing in Hungary, the upcoming 2022 parliamentary elections already loom on the horizon. Just as new corona-restrictions were about to enter into force under the […]
High civic activism despite pandemic, but issues at polling stations abroad and organized transportation of voters mar presidential runoff
Former prime minister Maia Sandu wins the presidential election with 57,74%, according to official figures. Source: sacbee.com (AP/ROVELIU BUGA) Promo-LEX Observation Mission presents the number of incidents on the second-round election day, reported by static observers from the sample of 608 polling stations, and the number of incidents extrapolated nationally. The main findings with regards to […]
Over 1,000 detained again in Sunday protests
Riot police confront protesters near the grassroots memorial to Raman Bandarenka. November 15, 2020. Most of them were eventually detained, while several dozen were forced to find shelter in the neighboring apartment buildings. Photo: tut.by At least 1,127 protesters were detained yesterday across Belarus, as riot police and other law enforcement officers violently dispersed […]
Second round elections see similar violations and issues to first round, but of no significant extent to impact election results
OPORA civil network conducted independent non-partisan observation of the repeat mayoral election held on November 15, 2020 in Lutsk, Odessa, Sumy, Kherson, Kamianets-Podilsky of Khmelnytsky Oblast, Kramatorsk, and Ukrainka of Kyiv Oblast. In all localities, except Ukrainka, the runoff election was called because none of the candidates had won more than 50% of the votes […]
Lowest turnout in 10 years due to weekend quarantine order
Source: atlanticcouncil.org (REUTERS/Stanislav Kozliuk) Committee of Voters of Ukraine (CVU) Chairman Oleksiy Koshel noted that elections took place in seven city communities. In five of these communities, typical violations of electoral law were recorded, which did not significantly impact results. These included mistakes in commissions’ work, several examples of obstruction to observers’ work, including that of […]