Zimbabwe referendum- good places for information.

Zimbabwe approves new constitution
Good places for information include


The BBC website has the results. and some news stories.
Zimbabwe electoral commission has somem information on electoral reform and electoral law
The Constitution Select Committee has the text of the draft constitution.  plus information on reform.
This includes a  includes a timeline of events leading up to the referendum.

All Africa has some news reports from African newspapers.
Zimbabwe Referendum Watch
from Sokwanele' monitored the conduct of the election. The website includes reports of abuses of rights.
It also has  a useful colection of links to constitution blogs supporting  both the the yes and no viewpoints.

Election observers included the SADC Election Observation Mission to the Republic of Zimbabwe whose statement on the conduct of the vote can be read on their website
and the Election Resource centre Zimbabwe- read their accounts on their Twitter channel. Their interim report can be read on the Zimbabwean website.

Falkland Islands referendum- get the facts

This week the Falklander Islanders took part in a referendum about the future sovereignty of the islands.
The BBC website has a good FAQ on the poll and interviews with islanders.

The Falkland Islands official website has legal documents and papers relating to the referendum
 a statement on the outcome of the poll
and the results. It also has statements on relations with Argentina
HM Governors Office in the Falklands has statements reaffirming Britain's role.
See also statements on the UK FCO website

See the report from the International monitors on the conduct of the referendum

news coverage from the region includes.
Mercopress- an independent news agency based in Montevideo, Uruguay
and Penguin News
Falkland Island News network- comment from the local community.

For an alternative perspective.
See the twitter account of the https://twitter.com/CFKArgentina
see also the National Congress which will discuss the issue.and the Foreign Ministry

Kenya elections - see our recommended academic resources

Elections have been taking place in Kenya.
Here are some recommended academic resources for further research.
The BBC has an FAQ on the issues at stake. This guide also has links to photos, video content and voices from the electorate.
The BBC world service also has a useful Africa today podcast
Kenyan government websites (these may not be accessible as often down) Independent Boundaries Commission.

Useful news stories.
get coverage of polls, candidates and analysis.
Guardian
All Africa.com.- news stories from Africa.
Daily Nation Kenya

Has a social media sentiment tracker and blogs with discussion.
Standard media is another news service based in Kenya
Sabahi news

Election Monitors.
The following sites specialise in monitoring elections. Look for reports on violence and violation of human rights.
EU observation mission.
Carter Center .
Kenya National Commission human rights.
Kofi Annan Foundation
IFES - includes current and historic news about the electoral system.
Elections observation group. Kenyan based observers.
Kenyan Elections 2013- Peaceful Prevention and Community Reporting Project . The project is an initiative of the African Great Lakes Initiative of Friends Peace Teams, and works through the Friends (Quaker) church

ushaidi tool for citizens to monitor violence on maps. previous violence 2008. see also the blog.
and presentation.https://wiki.ushahidi.com/display/WIKI/Uchaguzi+-+Kenyan+Elections+2013


Human Rights background.
International Crisis Group- background on human rights and the election.
ushaidi tool for citizens to monitor violence on maps.

Council on Foreign Relations background and discussion from the US think tank.
ICC court details of Kenyan cases
Human Rights Watch.
Amnesty International


Finally
EISA  South Africa is excellent at offering links and some full text reports from government and monitoring agencies.  
It has a Kenyan election archive.

Switzerland referendum - cap bankers bonuses

In the news this week the recent Swiss referendum- the
A three-part referendum will be held in on 3 March 2013 asked the electorate whether they supported a federal order on family policy, an amendment to the federal law on spatial planning, and an initiative on executive pay that would introduce binding shareholder votes on salary levels, as well as banning golden hellos for new employees and golden parachutes for departing staff. See the results on the Federal statistical website
Find out more about the text and legal position of the referendum on the Chancellerie federale website.

More information on the referendum can be found on these resources.
Direct democracy has some background on ther frequent use of referendums in Switzerland
The oui campaign website has details about Initiative populaire «contre les rémunérations abusives» du 3 mars 2013. Download documents relating to it too. Find out the supporters
Find out more about Thomas Minder from his official website.

the 2013 Office fédéral de la statistique has some useful official statistics on executive pay and bonuses in Switzerland.

New sources.
The following have some useful news and analysis
Get some basic English language news from Switzerland in the Swiss Review.
Le Matin has maps of voting outcomes.
Berner Zeitung.
Der Bund switzerland

Other useful swiss politics resources.
Department of Political Science Zurich swiss elections and referendum project.
C2D database- information on referendums worldwide.

Italian elections - find information on these academic sites?

A general election took place in italy on 24–25 February 2013 to determine the 630 members of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and the 315 elective members of the Senate

Here are some recommended academic sources.

The Ministry of the interior has an official website which details about regulations.

ministry of the interior -

It also has a specialist section with results from 2013. For older materials see the historical archives.

The government also maintains an opinion poll site.Polls not allowed a fortnight before elections.
Assessments of the conduct of the elections by observer ODIHR

Newspaper coverage
Look at these sites for results and analysis

Corriere della sera
Repubblica - includes background guides to the electoral system

  Politometro- for electorate to find out who to vote for.
   Twitter Square. see how many followers candidates have and topics they are discussing
Termometro Politico - independent political and election news. Good coverage of the polls
You trend a project of Quorum social media and crowd website see electoral maps of participation relating to the elections. Methodology displayed on the website.
Quattrogatti- news site maintained by young professionals. Video content.

Pagella Politica
is an interesting site which claims to check facts from Italian politicians.
Bacheca Politica. also Focuses on political promises from leaders.

Finally the Italian National Election studies website ITANES - has information in English about surveys of the Italian electorate. Note more up to date material on the Italian version.



English language newspapers.

FT News
Guardian
New York Times blog
Euractive this also has an Italian language observatory.
LSE Europp blog discussion.

Eastleigh by-elections get the facts

This week there will be a by-election in Eastleigh The seat became vacant on the official resignation of Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) Chris Huhne, who announced his intention to resign on 4 February, following his guilty plea to a charge of perverting the course of justice
Eastleigh Borough Council has official notices about candidates.
UK Polling report has a round up of the latest polls from UK agencies and newspapers.


Political Parties.

Libdem news has a round up of news and views from the LIBDem candidate.The Official libdem website has a statement. Eastleigh Libdems website has campaign information.
Labour Party official candidate site John O farrell twitter articles from the Guardian.http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/13/john-ofarrell-why-standing-eastleigh-labour Labour List comment from bloggers. Eastleigh labour campaign twitter
Colin Bex Wessex regionalists.
David Bishop elvis loves pets.
Peace Party candidate Jim Duggan,
Howling Laud Hope - real name Alan Hope - Monster Raving Loony Party.
Conservative candidate Maria Hutchings
Diane James UKIP
Iain Maclennan, National health Action Party.
Darren Proctor Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition.
English Democrat Michael Walters

News services
The BBC local news website has a list of candidates and their responses to questions from the electorate.

The Guardian has statistics on previous elections and turnout. plus news & discussion
Independent politics coverage
Get local news from the Eastleigh daily Echo
The Spectator blog has commentary from a small by-election in Hampshire - not many dead!
The Politics home website has stories and news
Guido fawkes blog.
Huffington Post coverage.

Cyprus elections - find out more from these recommended resources!

Presidential elections were held in Cyprus on 17 February 2013 as no candidate obtained 50,00% of the vote from the first round. A runoff is scheduled wil be held on 24 February 2013.

See the IFES summary of the Electoral system and previous results.
The ministry of the Interior has an official election website.there is a basic English language page with summaries of the candidates and past election results.

The main candidates all have websites.Mostly in Greek but with links to blogs and other social media as well as campaign videos and other literature.

Nicos Anastasiades
Giorgos Lillikas
Stavros Malas
Praxoula Antoniadou
Makaria-Andri Stylianou
Lakis Ioannou   newspapers include: English language Cyprus Mail
Alithia connected with the leadership of the conservative Democratic Rally party. Phileleftheros

Haravgi- mouthpiece of the Cyprus communist party
Politis

Other online news services for the electorate reprting and camparing candidates.
Kyproeloges.
Choose4 cyprus - select the candidate by policy