Armenian Election Monitoring Groups protest against pushing forward constitutional reform by the presidential administration
We urge the Armenian authorities not to appoint the constitutional referendum without a substantial public debate, as well as before establishing preconditions for transparent voting. We appeal to the international institutions who promotes democracy and human rights not to support the constitutional referendum in Armenia in the situation of the distrust towards the authorities or […]
Report on the results of monitoring of the first day of early voting by the Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections
The early voting started at the elections of President of the Republic of Belarus on October 6 in conformity with the Electoral Code of the Republic of Belarus. Forcing to voting took place at 10.6% of the polling stations. Non-members of precinct election commissions (PECs) interfered with the work of the commissions at 11.5% of […]
Analytical report on the results of weekly observation 28.09 -04.10 by the Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections
Observers in the region state that the electoral campaigning is almost invisible. There are very few printed agitation materials. The most noticeable event was the debate with the participation of three presidential candidates, broadcast on the national television. Observers note the the closed character of the electoral commissions, having to learn about many of […]
Civic observers protest against the intransparent pushing for constitutional reform in Armenia
Armenian authorities push forward a referendum on comprehesive constitutional amendments changing the governance system from a semi-presidential to a parliamentary one. The changes would enable the incumbent president Serzh Sargsyan to stay in power after the expiration of his second and last term in office and to secure the monopoly power of his polical party. […]
Brief Summary on the Preparation Stage by the Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections
What are the main differences between the presidential campaign in the year 2015 and the previous presidential campaigns? Despite the fact that the 2015 presidential elections overlap with and are in some ways influenced by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, they have features very similar to previous elections. The elections will not be free, considering their preparation […]
Increasing Harassment of EPDE Members – Results of the EPDE side event on the HDIM of ODIHR on the 25th of September, Warsaw
The European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE) is alarmed about the increasing harassment of citizens’ election observers in the ODIHR region. EPDE members in Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation and Belarus are affected by intimidation of staff members, criminal persecution, non-registration of the organisations or of labelling of the organisation as “foreign agents”. Authoritarian regimes “copy […]
Shameful statement of PACE pre-electoral mission raises concern about impartiality of PACE delegates
On 21 and 22 September a PACE delegation consisting of the delegates Jordi Xuclà, Aleksandar Nikoloski, Egemen Bagis and Agustín Conde visited Azerbaijan for a pre-electoral mission ahead of the Parliamentary elections on 1 November 2015. While Azerbaijan holds today 80 political prisoners, among them Anar Mammadli, director of the independent election observation organisation […]
Harassment of Independent Citizens’ Election Observers – Challenges for international Institutions and Civil Society
EPDE is alarmed about the increasing harassment of citizens’ election observers in the ODIHR region. EPDE members in Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation and Belarus are affected by intimidation of staff members, criminal persecution, non-registration of the organisations or of labelling of the organisation as “foreign agents”. Authoritarian regimes “copy and paste” laws to restrict the […]
Citizens’ election observation under pressure – Challenges for international institutions and civil society
EPDE will hold side event “Citizens’ election observation under pressure” on “Human Dimension Meeting” of ODIHR on Friday, 25th of September 2015 in Warsaw, Hotel Bristol. The topic of the event is the increasing political, legal and administrative pressure against independent citizens’ observers in OSCE countries. Examples from Russian Federation, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Belarus will […]
Statement on the Results of Civic Election Observation
On September 13, 2015, more than ten thousand elections took place in Russia, including the elections of 21 governors, 11 deputies of regional parliaments, and elections of representative bodies of 25 regional capitals. The 2015 local elections are the last full-scale dress rehearsal of the Russian electoral system—in preparing, organizing, and conducting an Election Day—before […]