by Ernesto Parisca | May 8, 2014 | Asia, E-voting, Elections

India, a frontrunner in the adoption of electronic voting, is busy conducting the largest election ever held. And it is doing so with the help of 1.8 million electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Why does India automate?
In 1982 India pioneered the use of direct recording electronic (DRE) voting machines to capture voter intent. The sheer size ...
by Ernesto Parisca | May 6, 2014 | Asia, Elections, Middle East

The recent presidential polls in Afghanistan failed to determine a winner when none of the 11 candidates garnered the required minimum 50% votes to win. Â For the United States, though, the exercise was a resounding success.
In a statement, President Barack lauded the millions of Afghans who voted, calling the elections a milestone in their aspiration ...
by Ernesto Parisca | May 2, 2014 | Europe

Lithuania's Presidential elections will take place on 11 May 2014. There were initially 12 candidates but only seven received the required 20,000 supporting signatures.
According to Wikipedia opinion polls show Dalia Grybauskaitė, the country’s current President, as the favourite.
She was elected in Lithuania’s last Presidential[H1] elections, in 2009, where 1,393,278 people voted, a turnout of 51%, slightly ...
by Ernesto Parisca | Apr 29, 2014 | Africa, Elections, General interest

For the first time in its history, the Republic of Malawi will be holding a Parliamentary, Presidential and Local Government elections at the same time.
The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) is gearing up to serve 7,537,549 registered voters in what is being dubbed as the historic 2014 Tripartite Elections. The total population is estimated at 17,377,468.
Political ...
by Ernesto Parisca | Apr 25, 2014 | biometrics, Elections, In the news, Middle East

On 30 April Iraqi citizens will elect its Council of Representatives (CoR).
Within 30 days of when the CoR first convenes, its members will elect the country’s President. He will then choose a Prime Minister from the new parliament’s majority coalition.
9,040 candidates, including 2,612 women, will vie for the 328 seats.
The voting system
The electoral system is ...
by Ernesto Parisca | Apr 22, 2014 | E-voting, Elections, General interest

Following President Obama’s “we have to fix that†comment on the US voting system, during his acceptance speech 2012, a Presidential Commission on Electoral Administration (PCEA) began a series of public hearings with State and local election officials, academic experts, and organizations and associations involved with voting and/or election administration.
During the first public meeting of ...
by Ernesto Parisca | Apr 17, 2014 | Asia, E-voting, Elections, General interest

Indians are taking democratic participation to a new level as the world’s largest election arrives to the second of its five weeks.
Voting began on April 7 and will run through May 12. If the participation rate experienced in the first four phases of the election continues, India could see a record high turnout of 68.29%.
Considering ...
by Ernesto Parisca | Apr 16, 2014 | Asia, Elections, General interest

In recent years, the government of New Caledonia has been granted more and more autonomy by France as a result of the 1998 Noumea Accord.  Yet despite increasing freedoms, residents of this  southwest Pacific Ocean territory have never given up their aspirations for full independence. Â
In May, voters will be heading to the polls in ...