Growing acceptance for citizen election observers – except in Russia
Photos: OSCE/Piotr Dziubak On 17 September 2019, within the working session on Democratic institutions of the OSCE’s Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) in Warsaw, the European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE) criticized Russia’s harassment of citizen election observation in the country. According to EPDE, a coalition of 14 independent citizen European election observer organisations, […]
Electoral Reform in Ukraine #14
On 13 September 2019, the Ukrainian Parliament, following a request from President Zelensky, dismissed all acting commissioners of the Central Election Commission. The decision was taken with a vast majority of 341 votes. Due to the lack of objective grounds, the dissolution of Ukraine’s key electoral management body is assessed as politically motivated and has […]
EPDE Policy Alert – Electoral Reform in Ukraine #14
Photo: OPORA On 13 September 2019, the Ukrainian Parliament, following a request from President Zelensky, dismissed all acting commissioners of the Central Election Commission. The decision was taken with a vast majority of 341 votes. Due to the lack of objective grounds, the dissolution of Ukraine’s key electoral management body is assessed as politically […]
Analysis on conditions for citizen observation
Analysis including recent reports and recommendations by citizen observer organizations, open source information, and the newly developed Catalogue of Recommendations. Overall findings: Conditions for election observation, both in legislation and in practice, and attitudes towards it vary considerably from country to country. An observed rise in politically-motivated domestic observation can be noted, seriously damaging any […]
Russia election alert #2
More than five thousand elections on different levels were held in Russia on September 8, on the so-called single voting day. The average turnout was 41.2%, which slightly exceeded last year’s turnout. In gubernatorial elections, all candidates designated and supported by the Kremlin have won in the first round. However, in the elections to the […]
Election alert #2 – Outcome of the regional elections and violations encountered by independent observers
Photo: Dmitri Lovetsky/DPA More than five thousand elections on different levels were held in Russia on September 8, on the so-called single voting day. Russian citizens were electing governors of 16 Russian regions, deputies of 13 regional parliaments, mayors of cities, councilors of city and municipal councils. The average turnout was 41.2%, which slightly […]
Russia election alert #1
The situation on the eve of 2019 regional elections, 8 September 2019, shows several important trends. On the one hand, Russian electoral system is becoming extremely politically biased and repressive. On the other, there is growing social demand for participation in decision-making and rising protest activity, including protest vote and participation in street protests.
Russia election alert #1 – Devaluation of election institution ahead of regional elections
Photo: DW/E. Barysheva The situation on the eve of 2019 regional elections shows several important trends. On the one hand, Russian electoral system is becoming extremely politically biased and repressive. On the other, there is growing social demand for participation in decision-making and rising protest activity, including protest vote and participation in street protests. […]
Report on the formation of territorial and district election commissions
The majority of observers were able to freely attend meetings of bodies that formed the TECs and DECs; only five of them reported obstacles at the first meetings of the commissions; as in the past, absence of legislative guarantees of the proportional representation in the election commissions of all political actors involved in the elections […]
Promo-LEX launches its observation mission for the Local elections in Moldova
Photo: Promo-LEX On 20 October, nation-wide Local elections will take place in Moldova. Furthermore, Parliamentary elections are scheduled in four constituencies, where the deputies previously resigned. EPDE member Promo-LEX Association found that although the pre-election period was marked by uncertainties with regard to the date of the general local elections, the principle of stability […]