Documents

EPDE Publication

Russian Interference, and Where to Find It - Anton Shekhovtsov

EPDE

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In Anton Shekhovtsov’s newest study, he identifies different factors that influence the occurrence of Russian interference in international elections. This article discusses elections in France, Norway, Germany, Austria, Italy, Hungary, and Sweden that took place in 2017-2018, and shows how different combinations of these factors produced different outcomes in terms of Russian meddling.

 

EMDS Report

Fact Sheet-2018 On the Human Rights Situation in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

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The Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Centre (EMDS) prepared a report on the situation of human rights in Azerbaijan covering the year 2018 based on publicly available and alternative sources of information. Their conclusion is that there has not been any progress in the situation of human rights in Azerbaijan in 2018.

 

Republican Legislative Referendum

Promo-LEX Analysis on level of implementation of the recommendations

Promo-LEX
Moldova

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Promo-LEX analyzes the level of implementation of the recommendations made by the European Commission for Democracy Through Law and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights to the Republic of Moldova with Regards to the Draft Laws Amending and Supplementing Some Legislative Acts (electoral system for parliamentary elections). The Assosiation found out that out of 32 recommendations only 12 (37.50%) were fulfilled, 14 (43.75%) – partially fulfilled, while 6 (18.75%) – were not fulfilled at all.

 

Republican Legislative Referendum

Opinion of Promo-LEX Association on the rejection of the Initiative Group registration application for referendum

Promo-LEX
Moldova

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Promo-LEX Association disapproves of the decision of the Central Electoral Commission to reject the registration of the Initiative Group for conducting a republican legislative referendum on repealing Law No 154 of 20 July 2017, which changed the electoral system into the mixed one. The Association is alarmed by the trends that take shape in the society – when certain important national public authorities limit the citizens’ right to initiate a referendum, as well as to freely express their opinions in a democratic exercise.

 

EMDS Assessment Report

Assessment report on implementation status of recommendations on improvement of electoral process in Azerbaijan

EMDS
Azerbaijan

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The report, carried out by EPDE member EMDS, analyzes the situation of the fundamental freedoms of expression, assembly and association which are the prerequisites for establishment of an environment conducive for democratic elections as recommended by the OSCE/ODIHR. EMDS notes with regret that the government has taken steps towards restricting freedom of expression on the internet. In March 2017, the law was amended allowing the government and courts to block websites granting them almost unlimited powers.

 

Analytical Report

Reflection of recommendations by international election observation missions in the RA 2016 electoral code and their implementation during 2017 National Assembly and Yerevan City Council Elections

HCAV
Armenia

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Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor analyzed the recommendations by international election observers and their implementation. According to the report, the current Electoral Code includes several recommendations by OSCE/ODIHR, yet many of these have not been properly adopted. The lack of open discussions during the drafting of the code was unfortunate. The recent elections showed that many recommendations reflected in the Code have not been effectively implemented, and the recommendations not taken into consideration were more than necessary, such as those on taking action against election bribery and ensuring financial transparency of the campaign.

 

Local Elections

The domestic election observation in Turkey: Shrinking space for the independent civil society organizations

EPDE

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The purpose of this report presented by EPDE is to evaluate the role of the civil society organizations in the electoral process in Turkey, in which there has been a dramatic decline in the protection of human rights and freedoms in recent years, particularly the challenges, opportunities and dangers associated with domestic election observation. Within the current political environment in Turkey the report covers the opportunities for the CSOs to function, domestic election observation and participation of independent CSOs in this process.

 

Recommendations

Electoral System Design in Moldova

Promo-LEX
Moldova

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The Norwegian expert Mette Bakken and her Romanian colleague Adrian Sorescu presented the study ‘Electoral System Design in Moldova’ at the international conference on electoral systems in Moldova. Ms Bakken and Mr Sorescu argue that in Moldova, it is not clear what would be the result from passing from one electoral system to another. Therefore, they have developed a number of recommendations for reforming the current system.

 

Georgian CSOs assessment

Joint Assessment of the Work of the State Constitutional Commission of Georgia

ISFED
Georgia

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The purpose of the joint assessment is to provide the Venice Commission with a comprehensive overview of the working process of the Constitutional Commission together with the CSO opinions on some of the most crucial amendments introduced by the draft of the constitution. Namely, these are the electoral system of the Parliament, election of the president and the definition of marriage in the constitution.

 

Fake Observation

Detection and prevention of politically biased election observation (“fake observation”) in the OSCE region

EPDE
Belgium

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This policy brief was prepared by the European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE) to evaluate the increasing impact of politically biased election observation and to contribute to the identification of countermeasures. The Paper was developed ahead of the experts’ Round table “Improving the Accountability of Parliamentarians in Election Observation” hosted by the European Parliament’s Democracy and Election Group (DEG) and the EPDE on March 7th 2017 in the European Parliament in Brussels.

 
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