Ghana: Angry mob besieges Electoral Commission’s office in Cape Coast | Ghana Web

Angry residents surrounded the Electoral Commission (EC)’s office in Cape Coast on Monday threatening to halt the on-going exercise to re-register National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) registrants whose names were deleted. The exercise, which commenced on Monday, is to enable NHIS registrants whose names were expunged from the electoral roll in accordance with a court order to be re-registered. The angry mob accused the EC of scheming to disenfranchise them by deleting their names as part of NHIS registrants even when they never registered with the NHIS cards in 2012. They demanded answers from the regional officials.

Florida: Mosque is removed as a polling site after complaints and threats | Washington Post

For years, the Islamic Center of Boca Raton, Fla., served as a polling station for Palm Beach County voters. Since at least the year 2010, citizens have cast their votes within the pastel green walls of the mosque, whether it was for a presidential primary, a municipal election or a special primary. Last week, however, the mosque was removed as a polling site. The decision was made by Susan Bucher, Supervisor of Elections for Palm Beach County, after she received complaints, and threats, about the use of the mosque in the upcoming Florida primary in August and general election in November. Bucher, a Democrat, is running for re-election for the nonpartisan supervisor post. “We began receiving complaints from voters,” said Bucher in an email to The Palm Beach Post Editorial Board. “Some felt uncomfortable voting at the Islamic Center.” She had received a call “that indicated individuals planned to impede voting and maybe even call in a bomb threat to have the location evacuated on Election Day,” Bucher said, and she decided to relocate the polling place to the Spanish River Library about two miles away.

Zambia: Opposition Party Challenges Campaign Suspensions in 2 Cities | VoA News

A Zambian opposition party has challenged the electoral commission's decision to suspend campaigns in Namwala and Lusaka following a surge in politically related violence in the two cities. The Forum for Democracy and Development petitioned the Constitutional Court, which by law must handle all election-related disputes in Zambia within seven days after they are filed. The Electoral Commission of Zambia said it has the constitutional authority to change campaign timetables, and that it therefore could suspend the campaigning after the violence, which allegedly was carried out by supporters of the main opposition United Party for National Development. The violence in Namwala left FDD parliamentary candidate Charity Kabongomana injured and hospitalized.

Zambia: Electoral Commission suspends election campaigning over violence | Al Jazeera

Political campaigning in Zambia's capital Lusaka has been suspended for 10 days because of violent clashes before next month's national elections, the electoral commission said. The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) announced on Sunday that it was suspending campaigns in Lusaka and Namwala, south of the capital, until July 18 when the situation would be reviewed. "The electoral commission of Zambia has observed with dismay the rise in political violence in some districts which has regrettably resulted in injury, loss of life and property," commission spokesman Chris Akufuna said in a statement. No public rallies, meetings, processions or door-to-door campaigning would be allowed, Akufuna said.

National: Will Dominant Images of Conventions Be of Unity or Protest? | The New York Times

Republicans arriving in Cleveland next month to nominate Donald J. Trump will be greeted by as many as 6,000 protesters on the first day, a noisy coalition of dozens of groups, including Black Lives Matter and the Workers World Party. The demonstrators intend to ignore restrictions keeping them far from the delegates, raising fears the violence that accompanied some of Mr. Trump’s rallies will be magnified on a mass scale. Two marches along routes the city has not authorized are planned for the convention’s opening day, July 18. Organizers say they want to avoid violence. But they are also gearing up for confrontation with the police, including training in civil disobedience. “If there are people willing to put themselves on the line to be arrested, so be it,” said Deb Kline, a leader of Cleveland Jobs With Justice, one of the groups that will march. A week later, as Democrats pour into Philadelphia, so will an army of Bernie Sanders supporters planning Occupy Wall Street-style protests against what they call the “fraudulent” nomination of Hillary Clinton. One group, Occupy DNC Convention, is circulating information about protecting oneself from tear gas by wearing a vinegar-soaked bandanna and swim goggles.

Zambia: Electoral Commission Gets Tough on Campaign Violence | VoA News

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has warned political parties and their supporters to stop engaging in violence as the parties intensify their campaigns for August 11 presidential, parliamentary and local elections. Chris Akufuna, spokesman for the electoral commission, says the constitution empowers the electoral body to suspend or prevent a political party, as well as candidates, from participating in elections if it concludes that party supporters have engaged in acts of violence in the runup to the polls. There have been accusations and counter-accusations between supporters of the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) party and the main opposition United Party for National Development (UPND).

United Kingdom: Murder of British M.P. Heightens Uncertainty Over Brexit Vote | The New Yorker

As I sat down to write this post, on Thursday morning, there was a week to go until the British referendum on whether to leave the European Union, and a “Leave” vote was looking like a live possibility. Politicians who had endorsed a vote to “Remain” were getting nervous, and the financial markets were gyrating with every new opinion poll. As for the British people—well, until Thursday lunchtime many of them were busy watching the Euro 2016 soccer tournament, which is being held in France. Then, Thursday afternoon, came the shocking news about the brutal murder of a Member of Parliament by a man who, reportedly, shouted “Britain first!”—the name of a far-right organization that is virulently opposed to immigration and to the E.U. The killing took place in Birstall, a small town outside the city of Leeds, in West Yorkshire. The victim, Jo Cox, was a forty-one-year-old mother of two, and a widely respected representative of the opposition Labour Party, which has joined the Conservative Prime Minister, David Cameron, in calling on Britons to reject the Brexit option and vote “Remain.” According to eyewitness reports cited by BBC News and other media organizations, the attacker approached Cox as she was leaving a meeting with constituents, shot her several times, and then stabbed her numerous times as she was lying on the ground bleeding. Following the attack, Cox was airlifted to a hospital, but she died soon after. Police, meanwhile, arrested a suspect—news reports identified him as Tommy Mair, a fifty-two-year-old local handyman. Out of respect for Cox and her family, both sides in the referendum suspended their campaigns for the day. Cameron called Cox’s death “tragedy.” Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London, who is the leading politician on the “Leave” side, described it as “horrific.” And Cox’s husband, Brendan Cox, released a statement saying that she would have wanted people “to unite to fight against the hatred that killed her.”

Kenya: Opposition Gives Ultimatum on Electoral Body Reforms | Bloomberg

Kenya’s main opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy said its supporters will resume protests on Thursday if the government doesn’t meet its demand for talks on changes to the national electoral body. The group has staged weekly demonstrations in the capital, Nairobi, and other cities since April to demand the resignation of officials at the electoral agency over alleged corruption and bias. Clashes with police have left at least five people dead. “CORD has called off Monday protests because of high level engagement involving the church, business community and diplomats pending a response from the government,” spokesman Dennis Onyango said in a text message. He said he expected the U.S. to appeal to the government to take part in talks.

Kenya: President Moves to Resolve Electoral Body Stalemate With Joint House Committee | allAfrica.com

Kenya's president Uhuru Kenyatta has set up a joint committee of both the National Assembly and the Senate to resolve the stalemate over the electoral body. Speaking at State House Wednesday shortly before the reading of the budget, President Kenyatta agreed to the formation of the committee outside parliament that will hear and collate views of various stakeholders on the issue of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). The move could be a breakthrough for the country which has been facing a standoff between the government and the opposition over IEBC. Five people have been killed and properties destroyed in the weekly demonstrations called by the opposition.

Kenya: Tensions Rise in Kenya as Opposition Rejects Ban on Protests | Bloomberg

Kenya’s main opposition party rejected a government ban on political protests and said it will intensify rallies calling for changes to the East African nation’s electoral body. Interior Secretary Joseph Nkaissery on Tuesday outlawed demonstrations in the country after a least five people died in weekly rallies by supporters of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy that began in April. He threatened to crack down on protesters until differences between the opposition and the government over the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission are resolved through negotiations. The ban “doesn’t change anything,” Dennis Onyango, a spokesman for CORD, said by phone from the capital, Nairobi, on Wednesday. “The courts have cleared us to hold demonstrations.” The protests will be held on Mondays and Thursdays, he said.

Kenya: Government Bans All Protests Against Electoral Body | Associated Press

Kenya's government has banned all opposition protests against the country's electoral body, a day after witnesses said police killed two demonstrators, the internal security minister said Tuesday. A 6-year-old boy was also hit in the back by a police bullet Monday during protests in the opposition stronghold of Kisumu, witnesses said. He was among 21 people hospitalized with bullet wounds, according to hospital sources who insisted on anonymity for fear of reprisals. The security minister, Joseph Nkaissery, said the chaos does not fall within the parameters set by the constitutional court, which had called the demonstrations a constitutionally guaranteed right and ordered the police to protect protesters.

Kenya: Kenya’s Collective ‘Uh-Oh’: Another Election Is Coming | The New York Times

By 9 a.m. on Monday, clouds of black smoke blotted out the sky. A mountain of tires burned. Roads were blocked. Young men poured into the streets of a slum in Nairobi, gleefully carrying huge, jagged pieces of concrete. In Kisumu, a city on Lake Victoria, witnesses said police officers had fired on a crowd. A 5-year-old boy was in critical condition after being shot in the back. A demonstrator was killed. For the past several weeks, Kenya’s opposition leaders have turned Mondays into protest days. Now they are threatening to hold demonstrations twice, and soon four times, a week. Many Kenyans are shaking their heads with a sense of fatigue and dread, saying, Here we go again. Kenya is a relatively prosperous, developed and politically tolerant African nation. But elections have not been its strong suit. In the past 25 years, almost every presidential race has been marred by violence; the worst one was in 2007-8, when ethnic rivalries cracked open and more than 1,000 people were killed, many in deadly protests.

Kenya: Opposition Says Five Killed as Election Protests Resume | Bloomberg

Kenya’s main opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy accused the police of shooting dead five people in the western city of Kisumu during protests to demand electoral reforms. “At least five have been shot dead as of now, it could be higher,” party spokesman Dennis Onyango said by phone from the capital, Nairobi. The demonstration in Kenya’s third-biggest city will continue as it has been declared “legal and legitimate,” he said. Calls to police spokesman Charles Owino didn’t connect when Bloomberg sought comment. The party’s supporters marched on all but one Monday in the past month to demand the resignation of officials at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission over alleged corruption. At least three people were killed during one of the demonstrations when police fired at protesters, according to media including Nairobi-based broadcaster Citizen TV.

Kenya: Brutal Crackdown on Election Reformers in Kenya’s Biggest Slum | National Geographic

Last Monday, Kibera slum was a chaotic scene of stone-wielding protesters in conflict with Kenyan police forces armed with live ammo, water cannons, and tear gas. In the fourth so far in a series of weekly protests against Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), many protesters were prevented from leaving their homes in order to demonstrate peacefully in the city center. Calls for election reform have a long history in Kenya. The nation’s 2007 presidential elections led to what was widely termed “ethnic violence,” resulting in over 1,000 deaths and 600,000 displacements. Kibera, one of the world’s largest slums located in the capital of Nairobi, is home to the opposition leader’s stronghold and saw a disproportionate number of murders and displacement. As the August 2017 presidential election draws near, tensions are rising in Kibera once again.

Kenya: Opposition suspends anti-election body protests | Reuters

Kenya's main opposition coalition said on Wednesday it would suspend its weekly protests against the election commission to give calls for dialogue a chance. Three people were killed on Monday in clashes between demonstrators and police in Nairobi and other cities during rallies against the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) led by opposition leader Raila Odinga's CORD coalition. Clashes also flared during three other protests. The next presidential and parliamentary polls in Kenya, East Africa's largest economy, are not due until August 2017 but politicians are already trying to galvanise supporters in a country prone to political strife. Violence erupted after the 2007 vote and the opposition disputed the outcome in 2013.

Kenya: Odinga: Ruling Party Must Negotiate on Electoral Commission | VoA News

Nairobi police used tear gas and water cannons to prevent demonstrators from assembling to protest the electoral commission, known as the IEBC. Demonstrations went ahead Monday in several other Kenyan cities, and three people died under unclear circumstances in and around the western city of Kisumu. Raila Odinga, Kenya’s former prime minister and current opposition leader, says the ruling party has "no choice" but to discuss the opposition's demand for changes to the electoral commission. Odinga visited VOA's Nairobi studio Tuesday, a day after the deaths in Kisumu.

Kenya: Protests Against Electoral Commission Turn Deadly | VoA News

Protests against Kenya's electoral commission took place in several cities Monday, with local media reporting at least three demonstrators were killed in western Kenya. In Nairobi, riot police formed a line around the commission headquarters, waiting much of the afternoon to deter the latest in what have become weekly protests. The protesters never reached the compound because police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse about 100 demonstrators before they could get close. Smaller groups of protesters were also tear gassed earlier in the day, including a group from Kibera, a large Nairobi slum. Authorities say the demonstrations were illegal.

Kenya: Opposition vows to continue protests | Deutsche Welle

Images of police violence against demonstrators, viewed widely on social media, have caused international outrage. Protestors are calling for reform amid accusations that the Election Commission is biased. The political impasse in Kenya shows no signs of abetting as both sides of the political divide stand by their positions regarding the future of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). Opposition politicians and protestors continue to demand the body's disbandment, accusing it of bias towards President Uhuru Kenyatta. But the ruling Jubilee coalition has ruled out dissolving the IEBC. On Monday, protests against IEBC were brutally quashed by anti-riot police, injuring several people and prompting international condemnation.

Kenya: Police launch inquiry over attack on man during election protest | The Guardian

Kenyan police have launched an internal investigation after graphic video footage of riot police beating and kicking an apparently unconscious man on the sidelines of an election protest caused outrage. In the latest of several protests by opposition activists who say their leader will be denied a fair chance at next year’s election, police fired teargas and beat demonstrators with truncheons on Monday to stop them storming the offices of the electoral commission in Nairobi. The footage appeared to show officers chasing a man in a green T-shirt as he fled a building near the commission’s headquarters. After he stumbled to the ground, they laid into him with truncheons and boots. One officer, apparently oblivious to journalists recording the violence, attacked with such force that part of his body armour fell off. After a few seconds, the police were shown sprinting away, leaving the young man limp and motionless on the ground.

Dominican Republic: President celebrates reelection, sporadic violence flares | Reuters

President Danilo Medina declared electoral victory in the Dominican Republic on Monday as results showed him ahead with a huge margin, but the win was marred by deaths and violence exacerbated by the slow pace of the vote count. Medina swayed voters with a record of surging GDP growth and social projects that outweighed stubborn poverty, high crime and accusations of graft in the Caribbean's largest economy. "We have received the support of the majority of the Dominican people," Medina said in a speech at his campaign headquarters, thanking the nation for his victory. Final results were still not out more than 24 hours after polls closed on Sunday night, a situation electoral authorities blamed for tension between candidates that led to six deaths and unrest in the provinces.

Kenya: 3rd Week of Anti-Electoral Commission Rallies | VoA News

For the third Monday in a month, hundreds of protesters gathered in Nairobi to demand major reforms in the country’s electoral commission, starting with the resignation of the commission members. Protests also took place in western Kenya. The protesters, most of whom are supporters of the opposition CORD coalition, accuse the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, IEBC, of favoring the ruling Jubilee coalition. They say the commission is unable to conduct free, fair, and transparent elections. James Orengo, a Kenyan senator with CORD who led the crowd in chanting, “no reforms, no elections,” says a fair vote cannot be held with the current electoral commission in place.

Kenya: Police break up electoral commission opposition protests | AFP

Kenyan police fired tear gas and beat opposition demonstrators with truncheons Monday to stop them storming the offices of the electoral commission to demand its dissolution. Hundreds of protesters were prevented from reaching the offices of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). Some of the demonstrators threw stones at police. There have been several such protests in recent weeks. Protests were also held in other Kenyan towns, including Kisumu and Kisii in the southwest, with police there firing tear gas to break up the crowds, local media reported.

Comoros: Former coup leader elected Comoros president: provisional results | AFP

Former coup leader Azali Assoumani was elected as president of Comoros, according to provisional results released Thursday, after last month's election was partially re-run due to violence and "irregularities". In the re-run at 13 polling stations, Assoumani beat Vice President Mohamed Ali Soilihi by 2,271 votes to 1,308, the electoral commission said, confirming his narrow victory in April. Two percent of the electorate were able to vote again Wednesday on Anjouan, one of the three main islands of the archipelago nation set off the east coast of Africa. Hundreds of people waited in line during the day as armed security forces stood guard to ensure polling was smooth. Last month, voting on Anjouan was tarnished by broken ballot boxes, interruptions in voting, accusations of ballot stuffing and some incidents of violence.

Kenya: Kenyans Protest Against Electoral Body | allAfrica.com

Kenyan police have fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters who had gathered to demand the resignation of a body supervising next year's presidential elections. Hundreds demonstrated on Monday in Nairobi near the office of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). They were demanding the resignation of the electoral body, saying it would rig the 2017 presidential elections. Al Jazeera's Catherine Soi, reporting from Nairobi, said security was tight in the Kenyan capital after the protesters - who have pledged to gather every Monday - were dispersed. "The protesters, led by opposition leader Raila Odinga, were demanding the resignation of the electoral commission as they believe there is already a plan to rig next year's general elections in favour of the ruling party," she said.

Kenya: Police disperse protests against electoral commission | Associated Press

Kenyan police on Monday tear-gassed Kenya’s main opposition leaders and hundreds of their supporters who were demanding the dissolution of the electoral authority because of alleged bias and corruption. Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka and Senator Moses Wetangula staged a sit-in on the highway outside the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission in Nairobi along with their supporters. Some demonstrators pelted police with stones and police dispersed the demonstrators using tear gas. Kenya is to hold general elections in 15 months and the main opposition leaders have threatened to boycott them if the electoral authority is not reformed.

Philippines: Armed Forces now on red alert, launches election monitoring center for May 9 polls | CNN

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is now on red alert all throughout the country in preparation for the elections on Monday (May 9). As part of its heightened alert status, the AFP launched its National Election Monitoring Center (NEMC) in Camp Aquinaldo on Tuesday (May 3). The NEMC will be the monitoring center of the AFP for all its operations in the upcoming national and local polls. It shall keep an eye on election preparations, the actual polls and the canvassing process, as well as cases of election-related violence (ERV) in hotspot areas.

Kenya: Police fire tear gas as opposition marches on electoral body | Reuters

Kenyan police fired tear gas into a crowd of opposition leaders and their supporters as they marched on the office of the country's electoral commission to demand it disband before next year's election. Several protesters were arrested and at least two policemen were injured by stones, police said. The opposition rejected the outcome of the last presidential vote in March 2013. Its leaders petitioned the supreme court to overturn the result. The court upheld it. Raila Odinga, the leader of the opposition and its candidate for president, said then that he accepted the court's decision and the victory of his opponent, Uhuru Kenyatta. That helped avert the kind of violence that broke out after Kenya's 2007 election, when more than 1,200 people were killed.

Bangladesh: Violence rocks local elections in Bangladesh, killing 13 | The Washington Post

Deadly violence has erupted during local elections in Bangladesh, leaving at least 13 people dead this week. Analysts said the mayhem shows the country’s democracy is struggling in the face of Islamist extremism and a divisive debate over how to deal with the legacy of its 1971 civil war. The election violence Tuesday night — including vicious political clashes between rival parties as well as security forces opening fire on rioters — was considered unusual for the impoverished South Asian nation. While attacks have accompanied national elections in the past, village-level polls have usually been peaceful. But with the two main political parties disagreeing over whether, and how, to punish war crimes committed during the country’s war of independence from Pakistan, public discourse has become more extreme, analysts said. Attacks carried out by Islamist extremists have led the secular government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to crack down with an increasingly heavy hand as it aims to reassure the international community about Bangladeshi security.

Ohio: Cleveland One Step Ahead of Trump’s Convention Riots Prediction | Bloomberg

Cleveland will be ready should Donald Trump’s prediction come true of riots at the Republican National Convention if he’s denied the presidential nomination, security officials say. Though the Ohio city won’t say whether Trump’s remarks have it reconsidering security for the July 18-21 gathering, preparations for possible unrest are well under way. The convention is designated a national special-security event, like Pope Francis’s visit last year and the Democrats’ nominating meeting in Philadelphia in July. “It’s going to be a secure event,” said Kevin Dye, a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service, the lead agency coordinating with federal, state and local law enforcement.

Jamaica: Military on streets as election winner’s margin narrows | Reuters

Jamaican reservist soldiers reinforced security at electoral offices on Monday after a final count of votes cast in last week's general election narrowed the winning party's majority to one seat in the heavily indebted Caribbean nation. The opposition Jamaican Labour Party (JLP) was declared the victor of Thursday's closely fought election but after a second count authorities stripped it of one seat, reducing it to 32 of 63 seats. One more constituency remains to be recounted. The tight election reflects division about Jamaica's economy, with the winners promising low taxes and job after years of austerity under an IMF program. The ruling People's National Party was credited by many with restoring economic order.