ElectionGuide
IFES

Bangladesh (Nov 20, 2008)
The prospects for Bangladesh's long-awaited parliamentary elections remain in doubt, after the government refused to meet the demands of the key Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The BNP had previously threatened to boycott the poll, the country's first democratic election in seven years, arguing that it and allied parties needed more time to prepare. However, BNP leader and former Prime Minister Khaleda ZIA announced her party would participate in the poll, provided that the election is pushed back ten days to December 28. One of the country's two principal political parties, the BNP won two-thirds of the seats in parliament in the last elections in 2001. Consequently, many might strongly question the legitimacy of this year's election were the BNP to boycott it. On Thursday, the government indicated that intended to hold elections as planned on December 18.  

Iraq (Nov 18, 2008)
The Iraqi government announced Tuesday that it would hold provincial elections on January 31, 2009. The provincial poll, which the government had hoped to hold as early as October of this year, was delayed by political deadlock in parliament over the terms of a new election law, which held up the law's passage. Debate over the law had been plagued by a complex dispute between Arabs and Kurds over the sharing of power between ethnic groups in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. To finally break the deadlock, Iraqi lawmakers agreed to a compromise which exempted Kirkuk and the country's three Kurdish provinces from the law. No dates have yet been set for elections in Kirkuk or the Kurdish provinces.

Ukraine (Nov 14, 2008)
Ukrainian president, Viktor YUSHCHENKO announced that he would postpone the early parliamentary elections, planned for December 14, until next year. YUSHCHENKO told reporters, "There's no point in holding the election during holidays at the end of the year." The president had called the snap poll after a bitter split in September with his former ally, Prime Minister Yulia TYMOSHENKO, whose supporters in parliament have since fought to block preparations for the vote. Political infighting between YUSHCHENKO and TYMOSHENKO came to physical blows last week when a fist fight broke out in Parliament between lawmakers from rival factions before a vote to dismiss the body's speaker, a YUSHCHENKO ally. Ukraine's political strife has exacerbated a severe financial crisis now gripping the country, the result of a drop in demand for steel, the county's principle export, and a subsequent currency devaluation and run on local banks.    

Nicaragua (Nov 13, 2008)
Nicaragua's Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) will undertake a review of last Sunday's election for the mayoralty of Managua, the country's capital city, CSE president Roberto RIVAS announced this week. Violent demonstrations have rocked Managua since Monday following allegations of fraud in the ruling Sandinista party victory in the city's mayoral race as well as those in other municipalities around the country. Preliminary results from municipal elections held across the country Sunday indicate that mayoral candidates from the left-wing Sandinista party won races in 94 municipalities, while those from the principal opposition party, the Liberal Constitutional Party (PLC), won races in 46. However, the PLC and other groups rejected the results as fraudulent and have called for an international investigation. Among other things, critics argue the poll was marred by the CSE's decision to bar two opposition parties for fielding mayoral candidates and its refusal to permit international and domestic observation groups to monitor the elections, police raids against non-governmental organizations in the month prior to the election, delays in counting ballots, and discrepancies between results certified by election officials and tallies released to the media.
 

Cote d'Ivoire (Nov 12, 2008)
Ivorian leaders agreed to postpone the presidential election originally scheduled for November 30 due to voter registration delays as well as security concerns. The elections have been repeatedly delayed since the expiration of President Laurant GBAGBO's term in 2006. The high-level group overseeing the peace process in Cote D'Ivoire, led by Burkina Faso President Blaise COMPAORE, called on the Ivoirian electoral commission to meet with stakeholders and decide on a new election timetable prior to December 31. The voter registration process, which began in earnest this year after long delays, has been marred by recent attacks at voter registration sites. Voter registration and the right of citizens to vote are indispensable parts of the country's peace process in the aftermath of an armed uprising in 2002 that enjoyed considerable support in the north of the country, where citizens complained they were treated as foreigners and excluded from political processes. Muslim northerners continue to complain of discrimination in voter registration while southerners complain that citizens from Mali and Burkina Faso are seeking to gain Ivorian citizenship.