Turkey Parliamentary Elections: Coalitions will be needed

Turkey Parliamentary Elections: Coalitions will be needed

On June 7, Turkish citizens went to the polls to elect their 24th Grand National Assembly (or Türkiye  Büyük  Millet  Meclisi). The chosen members of Turkey’s unicameral parliamentary body will be in office for the next years. Last year, on August 10, Turkey held its first ever popular presidential election, in which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ...

Spain tests election technology

Spain tests election technology

Election authorities from Spain successfully tested a new system to improve election administration during the recent municipal Spanish elections held on May 24. In 22 municipalities (900 polling tables) authorities deployed the MAE project. MAE, which stands for Electronically Managed Polling places (Mesas Administradas Electrónicamente, in Spanish), comprises the use of laptop computers, paired with electronic ID card readers, SD ...

7 reasons not to ditch the electoral technology debate in the UK just yet

7 reasons not to ditch the electoral technology debate in the UK just yet

The UK general election might be over but the debate on electoral technology remains relevant. Here are 7 good reasons to keep discussing the role technology could play in UK elections. 1. Successful online voter registration. For these elections, the electorate was able to register online, which according to the numbers appears to have helped boost signups. ...

IFES and DI seek international consensus on Election Audits

IFES and DI seek international consensus on Election Audits

The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and Democracy International (DI) recently published a white paper titled “Election Audits: International Principles that Protect Election Integrity”, which provides guidance to election commissions on how to conduct successful post-election audits in developing democracies and post-conflict environments. The investigation, authored by S. Darnolf, K. Ellena, E. Lippolis, E. Shein and C. ...

5 things you probably didn’t know about Kazakhstan Elections

5 things you probably didn’t know about Kazakhstan Elections

Kazakhstan’s presidential election came with no surprises on April 26. After his 25-year rule, the Central Asian country’s incumbent leader Nursultan Nazarbayev won a fifth consecutive term, with a massive 97.7 percent of the vote. Passed this quarter-century, you probably knew that Nazarbayev was expected to continue governing Kazakhstan. But, Did you know?...   About the country: The ...

Elections and democratic renewal in Africa

Elections and democratic renewal in Africa

Elections Africa

The importance of electoral process on the consolidation of democracy in African countries has been recently highlighted by Said Adejumoby in his book “Democratic renewal in Africa, Trends and Discourses” (Chapter 3: Beyond Authoritharism: Elections and the changing dynamics of state –society relations in Africa) published by Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire UK in 2015. Dr Adejumoby, Chief ...

Scotland’s democratic engagement and the road ahead

Scotland’s democratic engagement and the road ahead

The hugely successful delivery of the recent Independence referendum demonstrated that Scotland is leading the way in terms of democratic engagement and effective election administration. With almost 85% of the electorate turning out to vote, an unprecedented proportion in recent decades, the referendum put Scottish democracy firmly on the map, not just in the UK, ...

Did technology help Nigeria to improve electoral credibility?

Did technology help Nigeria to improve electoral credibility?

Nigeria received April with a new president: General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who became the first Nigerian politician to unseat a sitting leader in a democratic election. Buhari, a former military ruler, won 21 states (with 15,424,921 votes 53.96%), while incumbent president Goodluck Jonathan from the People's Democratic Party (PDP) took ...