Changes to the electoral legislation made in line with the April 19 Agreement pledged to ease the political crisis and restore trust in electoral reform. Changes included increasing the number of non-partisan appointees throughout election commissions and limiting the party’s ability to withdraw members of the district election commissions. Legislation partially met some of the OSCE recommendations, however, it is not expected that the existing legislative provisions will minimize political polarization.

The document presents final joint assessment by International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) and Transparency International Georgia of the main changes made by the Parliament of Georgia to the Election Code. In addition, the document discusses recommendations that should be taken into account after the 2021 local self-government elections.

In its preliminary report, Promo-LEX reports these elections were generally organized efficiently. The number of incidents on the day of the parliamentary elections decreased insignificantly compared to the presidential election of autumn 2020, (Round I by (-22) and Round II by (-40) incidents). Unconfirmed reported incidents of voter bribery and organized transportation of voters were observed particularly in connection with the electoral process in the Transnistrian region.

According to the Akanates observation mission, election day saw engaged and active participation from citizens. The process was fundamentally organized, smooth, and without serious violations. Nevertheless, a number of polling stations had a palpable level of tension, mostly due to the presence of unauthorized persons inside the polling station. Although violations were noted by representatives for multiple parties and alliances, the majority of violations involved representatives of the Armenia Alliance. The PVT projection for final turnout is 49.3%.

The Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (CALC) condemned the illegal and irresponsible decision of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) made on 5 June to open only 139 polling stations abroad for the early Parliamentary Elections of 11 July 2021. The decision has been amended and the number has been increased to 146, but observers note the minimum number should have been 150. They criticize the CEC for not applying the legal criteria provided for in the Electoral Code for establishing polling stations abroad and the opaque decision-making of the CEC.

In this interim report, Promo-LEX highlights important aspects of the legal framework relevant for these elections and risks to the conduct of elections, including the impact of COVID-19 and the manner in which government funds for the organization and conduct of the elections are being allocated. The report highlights the importance of early voter registration to determine the number and location of polling stations abroad and for voters in the Transnistrian region, as well as an increased use of hate speech being used during the pre-election and election period.

Opportunities for independent citizen election observation and civil society space in general have been shrinking steadily in Russia over the past decade. There are no provisions for direct accreditation of citizen observers and legislative changes, such as the laws on foreign agents and 'undesirable foreign organizations', further restrict the space for citizen observation. Read more on the conditions for citizen election observation in Russia ahead of the 2021 Duma Elections in our latest publication.

On April 1, a marathon parliamentary session removed district seats from Armenia’s Electoral Code. Eliminating district seats was the flagship policy in the electoral reform bill brought forward in October 2018 by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s first government. That bill failed to attract enough votes to pass, but now it has finally been accomplished. What is so problematic about district seats? What electoral reforms come next? Find out in our latest Policy Alert.

On 29 December 2020, amendments to Armenia’s Law on Political Parties were passed with widespread consensus following a period of extreme polarization which provide for a substantial increase in public financing of political parties, while increasing the transparency of party donations, prohibiting corporate donations, and decreasing the upper limit for individual donations. The amendments include minimal requirements of internal democracy within the organization of political parties. Alert available in English (Doc1) and Russian (Doc2).

Concerning last year’s presidential election in Moldova, Promo-LEX Association concludes that election contenders avoided reporting all campaign expenditures, there was a record number of hate speech, use of administrative resources, bribing of voters, and a high rate of complaints not accepted by the CEC and courts. In some instances, observers were restricted from accessing voter lists and there were isolated cases of observer intimidation by law enforcement and electoral officials on election day.