Wednesday 27 January 2016

Haiti elections postponed again- use our resources to find out more.

Presidential  elections have been postponed in Haiti for the third time


Provisional Electoral Committee has a twitter site where it is posting updates on the situation . this includes the letter suspending the elections amid security concerns.
See the reaction of Jude Celestin key candidate his website has campaign tweets and videos (in French)
For background facts on the electoral system and previous election results see the IFES website


News stories
Follow the updates on Haitilibre
Haiti sentinel 
also good for news and resources is the
Haiti Elections Blog is a collaboration of the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, the Center for Economic and Policy Research, 1804 Institute, Haiti Support Group, the National Lawyers Guild International Committee, and International Association of Democratic Lawyers. The entry for January 25th has a summary of the background to the elections postponement

 Election observations.
European Union observation mission 2015 report in French. Recent condemnation of violence
Electoral Observation Mission of the Organization of American States (EOM/OAS)  website has some press releases and statements
Caricom statement
Parlamericas 
Observatoire Citoyen pour l'Institutionnalisation de la Democratie (OCID), citizen observers. has statements from Early January

Think tanks response and background reports
IFES background information on the elections
Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti - commentary on events
Human Rights Watch has background information on the state of human rights in the region.
Amnesty International reports provide background

Tuesday 19 January 2016

Taiwan elects first woman president- find out more with our academic links

Last week Taiwan elected its first woman president.
She has an official website and Facebook page which offer insight into policies and campaigns.


The central Election Commission has background on the electoral system. It also created a 2016 election page with official results in English. The National News Agency Focus Taiwan provides free access to recent articles.

News reports can be viewed on these websites:
Guardian
New York Times
Economist 
Taipei Times
Time 
South China Morning Post.
Deutsche Welt

Think tank assessments of the possible impact and background

Carnegie Endowment background paper from september 2015
 C-span video discussion from experts about the election. September 2015
Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada assessment
CRS insight - Jan 12th 2016, prepared for members of congress
China Focus - simulation of results conducted before the poll
Academic discussion from the Conversation blog 
University of Nottingham - China Policy Blog 
Frozen Garlic blog from Nathan Batto an Assistant Research Fellow at the Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica and Jointly Appointed Assistant Research Fellow at the Election Study Center, National Chengchi University.

 Taiwan Brain Trust is a foreign policy Institute dealing with cross-straits relations. Its website has news and reports

 Taiwan Foundation for Democracy has background news and report son the state of democracy in the region

 





 

Monday 4 January 2016

Central African Republic elections- get the facts

On 30th December the Central African Republic went to the polls after years of conflict. Use our links to get free access to academic resources.

News service resources.
Guardian
All africa.com has summaries of news stories many taken from African news sources.


Background on the electoral system
Official electoral commission website (French) very basic under construction.
International Idea Election Guide
Ace project encyclopedia entries on the region include details of the electoral system. there are also reports of election observation missions from 1993-2004

Background information on political and human rights in the region.
Freedom house reports rank the region as unfree
Amnesty International reports on conflict
Human Rights Watch reports
African Research Institute has some articles. scroll down and expand the country name.
UNDP work in Central African republic has background on peace plans and the constitutional referendum in December 2015
NDI electoral process strengthening work and projects in the region.
EISA - Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa- resources. includes observation reports from elections 2010-2014
search website of African Studies Centre Leiden University to find references to articles and books. The connecting Africa option provides free access to references and in wherever possible

 Election observation reports.
Press releases from the United Nations on the conduct of the elections.
African Union observations