ElectionGuide
IFES

Myanmar (Mar 10, 2010)
Hopes for free and fair elections in Myanmar faded on Wednesday as the military government banned many opposition figures from standing for office. The new Political Parties Registration Law bars candidacy by any convicted citizen, including more than 2,000 political prisoners. They include several members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and its leader AUNG SAN Suu Kyi, who has spent nearly three-fourths of the last two decades under house arrest. Some NLD memebers say a regulation permitting them to reopen offices is meaningless without AUNG SAN'S participation. Myanmar, also known as Burma, last held democratic elections in 1990. A military government that assumed power in 1988 refused to accept their results.

Haiti (Mar 09, 2010)
Meeting with Haitian President Rene PREVAL on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary CLINTON urged the earthquake-stricken island nation to reschedule its legislative elections as soon as possible. Legislative polls were due on February 28, and Presidential elections are due in November. PREVAL, whose term expires in February 2011, says he will not stay in office beyond that date. Decision-makers are concerned that delayed elections could leave Haiti with a provisional government lacking a constitutional mandate.

Ethiopia (Mar 03, 2010)
Opposition politicians this week accused Ethiopia's ruling party of orchestrating violent acts against its candidates. Spokespeople for Medrek, an alliance of opposition parties, said that government mercenaries on Tuesday stabbed one candidate to death and that members of the army beat another to the point of hospitalization. GEBRU Asrat, leader of one of Medrek's member parties, said that both events were part of a wider escalation of government repression in advance of legislative elections on May 23. A government spokesman on Wednesday denied government involvement. Medrek last week said the ruling party was instigating its supporters to harass opposition candidates. Government representatives similarly denied the charge.

Colombia (Feb 27, 2010)
Colombia's Constitutional Court on Friday overturned a law that might have allowed President Alvaro URIBE to seek a third term. The law, which the Court struck down 7-2, would have authorized URIBE to call a referendum on whether to amend the country's constitutional term limits provisions. The Court based its decision on irregularities related to the passage of the law, which included violations of legislative procedural rules and political finance regulations.

Central African Republic (Feb 24, 2010)
Representatives of the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) on Wednesday announced April 18 as a possible date for that first-round Presidential and Parliamentary elections. If necessary, second-round voting would be on May 23. According to the CEI, these dates are contingent on revision of the voter list, an adequate budget, and, by law, a Presidential decree formalizing the timetable.