Documents

In the context of Belarus’ current political crisis, demands for minimal conditions needed for the holding of free and fair presidential elections in Belarus could be made by the Belarusian public and the opposition if snap elections were to be called. This paper proposes recommendations for all stages of the election cycle and concludes that a competitive election could be held in Belarus without changes to existing laws if the government demonstrates the necessary political will to safeguard certain minimal conditions.

Ahead of the upcoming 2022 parliamentary elections, the Hungarian governing coalition passed an amendment to the country’s electoral code introducing stricter conditions for parties to register national lists in the elections, which in practical terms seems to be forcing the parties of the democratic opposition to run on one joint party list. While adjustments to the electoral map were anticipated and are slowly overdue, the governing parties voted against the politically neutral proposal filed by the opposition that addressed the issue. This raises concerns about prospective gerrymandering.

The electoral process at all its stages did not comply with a number of basic international standards for holding democratic and fair elections and was accompanied by numerous violations of these principles and provisions of national legislation. Significant violations, including the deprivation of observers of the opportunity to observe the counting of voting results, does not give grounds to trust the election results announced by the CEC.

In recent years, election experts observed significant increase of spending on election campaigns. The transparency of party and campaign financing became one of the key requirements to ensure the integrity of today's election processes. To raise awareness about the urgent need to increase transparency, our newest comparative study analyzes the regulation and oversight of political party and campaign financing in the EU - Eastern Partnership and Russian Federation.

Ahead of Hungary’s next parliamentary elections scheduled for 2022, the Orbán-government submitted a new amendment to the electoral code on 10 November 2020. Along with a series of technical adjustments, the amendment seeks to change the conditions under which parties can register national lists for the election. The proposal comes as the main opposition parties are in negotiations about their strategy for 2022 and, if passed, would limit their current options for cooperation.

The presidential election result in Moldova was greatly influenced by voters living outside of the Republic of Moldova, with two completely divergent election results emerged from this voter group, with voters in Transnistria overwhelmingly supporting Igor Dodon (74,24%), while only 4% of diaspora abroad voted for the incumbent. The run-off campaign was overshadowed by an unprecedented smear and disinformation campaign against Maya Sandu, and anti-civil society campaigns were also launched.

In our latest policy alert, we analyse how District Election Commissions failed to adequately respond to the substantive violations detected in the summary protocols aggravating public distrust over the electoral process. This, and other recorded violations sparked a public outcry calling for the resignation of the Chairman of the Central Election Commission and snap elections. Amidst these developments the Georgian authorities have unlawfully dispersed crowds using water cannons, amounting to an excessive use of force.