Over the past 25 years, I have lived in countries struggling to realize democracy. From Cambodia, Thailand, and Sri Lanka to the southern Caucasus, I have worked with committed democrats to design credible election systems, build independent institutions, develop effective checks and oversight, and create inclusive and competent representative bodies.
As the world watches the United States’ elections unfold, the intensity of our polarization is on display. This election was not marked by apathy. On the contrary—citizens turned out in record numbers, some standing in lines all day, to exercise their franchise with powerful determination and the conviction of their choice.
The Queensland (QLD) state election on Saturday 31 October 2020 was remarkable on several fronts. It was the first election in the state and Australia. The two leading candidates from the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and the Liberal-National Coalition (LNP) were females, Annastacia Palaszczuk and Deb Frecklington, respectively. In this election, surveys also predicted a close contest among the main parties. But the results proved polls wrong and granted Palaszczuk a third consecutive term.
The Center on International Cooperation (CIC) at New York University has recently published a Briefing by Dr Kevin Casas-Zamora, the Secretary-General of the International IDEA and Sarah Cliffe, CIC, and Nendirmwa Noel.
With an important voter turnout on the National Plebiscite of 25 October, Chileans decided to draw up a new constitution, by the future election of a citizen constitutional convention. What are the next steps for this constitutional process that had just begun?
In celebration of the International Day of Democracy, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), the European Partnership for Democracy, the European Endowment for Democracy, the European Network of Political Foundations and Carnegie Europe co-hosted together with the European Parliament a four-day conference that consisted of a series of online events marked as "International Democracy Week – Overcoming Adversity, Innovating Democracy".
The right to vote in an election is one essential part of the democratic process. International standards on elections and democratic theorists attest that everyone should be equal before the ballot box. Democracy should be the greater leveler, irrespective of voters’ physical or mental health on polling day.
This Sunday, 25 October, Chile will define if they want (or not) a new Constitution and through what mechanism. This could lead to an unprecedented process in the history of the country, allowing citizens to choose the representatives in charge of drafting and preparing a new constitutional proposal.
In this Sunday, 18 October, general elections' voters will elect the principal executive and legislative branch authorities at the national level. Bolivia elects the president and vice-president by popular and direct vote, along with the members of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly (senators and members of the Chamber of Deputies, i.e. the lower house), in concurrent elections.
