Southern Sudan: Referendum for Secession
January 25, 2011
Sunday, January 9 kicked off a week of voting in Southern Sudan on a referendum to determine whether it will secede from the north. The overall mood was jubilant as citizens fulfilled one of the points established during the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which was signed on January 9, 2005 between the Government of the Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement. The CPA expired on July 9, 2011. Final results from the referendum are expected to be released in late January and final results will be made public by February 14, 2011.
Post-conflict,
Voter Turnout,
Voter Registration
Exploring Moldova through Food, Farming, and Politics
December 20, 2010
Living in Washington, DC exposes people to colleagues who have traveled all over the world for work. Yet, when I told my friends that for my second posting with IFES I would travel to Moldova, many looked at me as if I had suddenly given them a geography quiz, and they were failing.
Civil Society,
Civic Education,
Elections,
Voter Turnout
Kyrgyzstan Votes to Adopt a New Constitution
July 20, 2010
On Sunday, 27 June 2010 Kyrgyzstan held a referendum to consider adopting a new constitution. The referendum, administered by a new (interim) Central Election Commission (CEC), was held just 80 days after the violent overthrow of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and just weeks after a violent ethnic clash between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the south of the country. With a near 70% turnout, voters overwhelmingly approved changes to the constitution affecting the electoral system, the separation of powers, the judicial system, human rights, and local self-government. With the changes Kyrgyzstan is set to become Central Asia’s first parliamentary republic, though the serious work of implementation lay ahead.
Elections,
Election Observation,
Voter Turnout