Mali elections - keep up to date

Elections took place in Mali recently.

The UN reported on turnout.

APO African Press organisation has some reports of results.

IFES has data which compares with other lections plus background information on the electoral system.

for information on the conduct of the elections and the state of democracy see NDI which also has good links to other news reports.

The EU official election observation mission

ECOWAS

African Union resources on Mali

EISA South Africa assessment of recent elections and links to results.

see also some earlier recomendations from this blog

Croatia - same sex marriage poll - does it display the rotten heart of a nation?

This week Croatians took part in a national referendum to debate whether same sex marriage should be banned under the constitution.

the Guardian comment is free described the results as exposing the rotten heart of Europe

See the question and results on the IFES website which also has other electoral materials from the region

The official website of the electoral authority has a full map of the results and a breakdown.

Here are some more resources. Materials are mostly in Croatian so apologies if they are not exact as I have had to rely on others.
Croatian Bishops Conference supported the referendum
Most media did not

Jutarnji list, one of the country's largest newspapers, announced it would openly endorse the campaign against the amendment.

Tabloid newspaper coverage printed a swastika.to summarise their thoughts.

On the day of the referendum the initiative decided to forbid access to their headquarters to the journalists belonging to a group of selected media whom the initative accused of bias, unprofessionalism and plagiarism. Among these were the Croatian Radiotelevision, the public broadcasting company, the most visited Croatian Internet portals Index.hr, Net.hr and T-portal, as well as all of the publications by Europapress Holding and Novi list. the Croatian Journalists' Association invited all of the media to boycott the coverage of initiative on the referendum day, .

 

 

Honduras elections - what was the outcome were they fair?

General elections were held in Honduras on November 24, 2013. Voters went to the polls to elect a new President of Honduras to serve a four-year term starting January 27, 2014; 128 members to serve four-year terms in the National Congress; 298 Mayors and vice-mayors
The official results have been posted on the
Tribunal Supremo Electoral Honduras. There are links to 2013 data on the left.
Basic facts about the electoral system and past elections are on the IFES website.

However some human rights organisations have raised concerns about the state of human rights in the region.


Amnesty International comment.
Human Rights Watch
OAS - has some coverage of earlier human rights issues.
The Center for Constitutional Rights has also issued some statements about the conduct of the elections.
The Carter Center has been observing the elections and has issued a statement.
US State Department report on human rights in Honduras 2012
National Popular Resistance Front or National People's Resistance Front (Spanish: Frente Nacional de Resistencia Popular, FNRP ( a wide coalition of Honduran grassroots organisations and political parties and movements that aims to restore elected President Manuel Zelaya ) also has articles about human rights concerns on the website.
Past reports and election censuses can also be downloaded from the NDI site which has worked on projects on the region.


Newspaper coverage of the elections - including stories, analysis and polls can be viewed onlineon these websites.

Economist Americas Blog.
New York Times
La Prensa (Honduras) Spanish.
El Heraldo- Honduras.
La Tribuna Honduras

Chile presidential elections - try these recommended websites.

on the 17th Chilean presidential elections took place.
Find out more about the results and the second round of voting using these resources.

IFES has a good basic guide to the electoral system.
Another good basic guide is the Council of the Americas briefing.
The Chilean government has official information on timing for voters. (Spanish)
It also has a historic election results server which covers the period from 1989-2012.
Plus more detailed information on the 2013 process on its current website.

News/ blogs coverage
The Washington Post blog monkey cage has comment.
It includes analysis from LSE PHD candidate Kenneth Bunker. More can be viewed on his twitter account.
Economist coverage
Guardian coverage

Chilean newspaper coverage.

Nacio - state owned newspaper.
El Mercurio
La Segunda
Tercera

Ciudadano online newspaper.

Radio UChile coverage.

Tajikistan presidential elections find out more

Here are our recommended resources for information.

IFES election guide has facts and figures on turn out in recent elections and the electoral system.
For recent news accounts of the conduct of the campaigns see
National news agency of Tajikistan
EIN News - reported that the elections lacked genuine debate
Radio Free liberty (note this organisation has connections with the USA)
Euraasia net
Global Voices online has stories from bloggers

Concerns have been raised by human rights organisations.
In its 2013 report Freedom House found the state of freedom of the press to be unfree- The full report can be consulted on its website.
Human Rights watch reports.
Amnesty International
International Crisis group

ETajikistan has links to reports from human rights organisations.
National Movement of Tajikstan is a human rights organisation which is campaigning for fair and free elections in 2013.
The OSCE is monitoring the election on the 6th and has preliminary reports on its website

Luxembourg elections- find out what is going on.

Here are our recommended links for the snap elections which took place in Luxembourg this week
The IFES election guide has some good data on voting and turnout levels from the most recent and some older elections.
European Elections Monitor has a god brief summary of the issues at stake. The OSCE is monitoring the elections and has produced a preliminary report which also puts them in context.
The official duchy website has news, background information and official results from the most recent and historic information
The Wort.lu newspaper has a special dossier with news, analysis polls and interviews..
Useful blog coverage in English from Luxemborg votes 2013 and the LSE europpblog

Azerbaijan elections - what are the human rights issues?

Presidential elections are due to be held in Azerbaijan on 9th October.
for official information on candidates and procedures see the

Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan

However a number of human rights commentators have raised concerns 

 see Amnesty International
Human Rights watch
International Crisis Group
United Nations Commissioner Human Rights

IFEX- reports of attacks on journalists.

Radio Free Liberty

of particular value is the The Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS)  a local Azerbaijani NGO which has reports and discussion on censorship and criticism of attacks on the press.

Association for Civil Society Development in Azerbaijan. also has a very useful website discussing the development of civil society in Azerbaijan it also has news stories.

For information on the assessment of election observers see OSCE  which has reports on current and past missions.

see news stories and reports on 

Eurasia net

Transitions online 

Economist blogs

Caucasus Elections watch 

Azeri report 

 

 finally useful for academic analysis of the region is

The Caucasus Analytical Digest (CAD)  a monthly internet publication jointly produced by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers, the Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen, the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies of the George Washington University, the Resource Security Institute in Washington, DC and the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich with support from the German Association for East European Studies (DGO). Good coverage of political and economic events. Archived issues free online.