Costa Rica Elections 2018- free resources.

General elections will be held in Costa Rica on February 4, 2018 to elect both the President and Legislative Assembly.


Here are some resources to find out what is going on.

IFES has a good general guide to the electoral system


The Council of the Americas - has a background explainer on the nature and importance of the elections from the region.

Official information on the election (Spanish) can be obtained from the Tribunal Supremo. this includes lists of candiates regulations and results.

Newspaper coverage

La Nación’s election coverage
Seminario Universidad's political coverage
The Tico Times’ election coverage
includes Alvaro Murillo Primer
Murillo is a political commentator who also has his own twitter account

Organisations which will observe the conduct of the elections include

OAS

Reports from earlier elections can be viewed on the ACE project election observation portal

Liberia elects new president - use our resources to get background

At the end of 2017 Liberians elected a new president. George Weah
The New York Times has some basic discussion of Mr Weah and the elections.

For the full election results and information on the electoral system and procedures see the official Election Commission website
Also useful is the The Liberia Elections Portal which is  a project of iLab Liberia with support from OSIWA
it is adding great geospatial elections data  visualizations from 2011 and 2017 . There are also links to observation reports from outside commentators.

for recent observations of the conduct of the 2017 presidential elections see.
USAID Liberia International election observation
See the European Union Mission which has some preliminary statements praising the process.
as does the African Union mission
NDI- preliminary statement - there are also other earlier assessments and reports on the state of democracy in the region.
Carter Center has a programme operatign in Liberia which observed elections in 2011 and 2017

further background on politics and human rights can be found
on USIP website
Amnesty International
Human Rights Watch

Nepal elections- November 2017

Legislative elections took place in Nepal on 26 November the second phase will be 2nd  December 2017 to elect all 275 members of the 4th House of Representatives, the lower house of the Federal Parliament.

To get official information on the process and results try the website of the Election commission. This has a section in English.

IFES has background information.

 

Local news reports are available from

The Katmandu Post. This has electoral maps

Himalayan Times

election authority.

 Election observers have reports on the conduct of the elections.

European Union.

National Election Observation Committee Human Rights groups

Carter Center

 For background information on human rights issues in the region. Try the recent Freedom in the World Report
Amnesty International report

Human Rights watch Nepal

Kenya election run-off get some news

Kenyans are participating in an election run-off
IFES has an FAQ which explains the background to the re-run election.
The Daily Nation newspaper also explains why

Our previous blog posting lists background resources on the electoral system and human rights in the region.


The official body IBES has press statements and twitter on the conduct and necessity for the elections
Supreme Court of Kenya has a website with recent rulings on the elections.
BBC Africa live has  updated postings on the situation.
African Union and UN have issued a joint statement

other useful places for recent news and comment- Chatham House
Human Rights Watch blog.
All africa news.
Daily Nation news.

Austrian elections try our free links.

this week Austrians voted in elections.

Use this website to get the results and links to key party websites.

Austrian Government website
Has results, legislation, regulation.
Austrian National Election studies provide sinformation on voter behaviour and attitudes in earlier elections. Some information offered in German only.

Austrian press coverage.
Profil
Der Standard.
APA presse group have visualizations.

Analysis

LSE Europpblog

Politico news analysis

Catalan referendum

Following the recent Catalan referendum independence may be announced in  several days.
here are some sources.

Message from King Felipe- on official monarchy website address to nation 3.10.2017
Spanish Government news.
Government of catalan has official results

Background
UK House of Commons briefing paper - 31 august has usful background on the issues from a British perspective.

BBC news 
Guardian coverage of the referendum
Guardian news stories.
New York Times
Washington Post


Spanish news
El Mundo
El Pais
Van Guardia


Analysis
Catalonia News
The website www.cataloniavotes.eu is an initiative of the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (DIPLOCAT),' a public-private partnership designed to foster dialogue and connect the citizens of Catalonia with the rest of the world. ' Its website has news, debates , a timeline of events and background it also includes  academic discussion papers.

also useful Opinion Studies Center which has recent barometers in  (in Catalan, Spanish and English)
LSE EOPP blog 
RUSI  
Chatham house papers and briefings 2014 onwards
Amnesty international discussion police response.
CIDOB barcelonia. search the website for papers and reports.  
Real instituto Elcano- papers and reports