Half of the elections marked by voter bribery schemes and incidents of this increased significantly
Briefing summary According to the Committee of Voters of Ukraine (CVU), the second round of mayoral elections on November 22 was mostly held in accordance with international standards of fair and free elections, but in five cities, there was evidence of unfair technologies. Voter bribery was chief among these. “According to our observation, […]
Second round taking place amid a political crisis
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 of coronavirus cases, ISFED will deploy a limited observation mission […]
Increase in black PR and manipulative schemes to gain votes
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 to the first round,” said Oleksiy Koshel. […]
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
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 recently announced state of danger, a special legal order allowing governance by decree which is now in force for […]
High civic activism despite pandemic, but issues at polling stations abroad and organized transportation of voters mar presidential runoff

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 opening and closing the polling stations (PSs), the voting process and incidents reported by observers on the election […]
Over 1,000 detained again in Sunday protests
At least 1,127 protesters were detained yesterday across Belarus, as riot police and other law enforcement officers violently dispersed a dozen protests, including the 14th consecutive weekly demonstration in Minsk since the August 9 presidential election. Yesterday’s protests were held to honor the memory of Raman Bandarenka who died on November 12, allegedly at the […]
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 […]