Nigeria: Voting Rights of Millions of Displaced Nigerians Uncertain | teleSUR

More than a million Nigerians are internally displaced due to insurgency fighting in the northern part of the country, while some fear that their votes will not be counted in the upcoming 2015 general elections. On Tuesday, the Nigerian Senate urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to do all that is in their administrative power to ensure that Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) could vote in the elections. According to figures released by the United Nations agency for refugees (UNHCR) this week, the number of IDP in Nigeria has reached 1.5 million, mainly due to the rise of Boko Haram militants. The extremist group has stepped up attacks this year and declared an Islamic state in areas it controls, mainly in the north of the country.

Poland: Opposition leader insists local election results ‘unreliable’ | Polskie Radio

”The election results announced by the National Electoral Commission are untrue, unreliable, so as not to use the word ‘falsified’,” Kaczynski said on Sunday, after the Saturday night release of results for Poland’s regional assemblies. Of the two largest parties, an exit poll on 16 November had given Law and Justice 31.5 percent of the vote, while Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz’s Civic Platform was forecast to garner 27.3 percent. However, following chronic delays as a result of computer glitches, the official results gave Law and Justice 26.85 percent, and Civic Platform 26.36 percent.

Tanzania: Opposition MPs oppose use of Isles voter register | Daily News

The Opposition from Zanzibar and the Mainland closed ranks and demanded that the permanent voter register (PVR) in the isles should not be used to qualify voters to take part in a referendum to decide on the new constitution, after the constitutional parliament endorses it. Opposition Chief Whip (Chadema) who is also Shadow Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Mr Tundu Lisu (Singida East-Chadema) said ‘shehas’ (sheriffs) have been denying eligible Zanzibaris the right to register as voters in the permanent register because of directives from some senior executive officials. “Shehas have been denying people registration because of lack of residency identity cards required for one to register as a voter, which if not properly checked, can mean that these people will also not take part in a planned referendum,” Mr Lissu argued while debating the 2013 Referendum Bill.

Guinea: Opposition quits electoral commission, rejecting early vote count | Reuters

Guinea’s opposition parties pulled their delegates out of the national electoral commission on Thursday after rejecting some provisional results from Sunday’s parliamentary election, meant to cap a transition to democracy. The National Electoral Commission (CENI) began announcing election results on Wednesday, with President Alpha Conde’s ruling RPG party taking an early lead in several districts. But the opposition said it had won the Dubreka district, about 50 km (30 miles) from the capital Conakry. “We won Dubreka and categorically reject the results announced by the CENI yesterday,” said former prime minister Sidya Toure, leader of the opposition UFR party. He said the opposition was withdrawing its observers from the center where votes were slowly being tallied, saying their presence was serving no purpose. “They were not even allowed to speak,” Toure said.

Guinea: Election result delayed, opposition warns against rigging | Reuters

Guinea’s electoral commission said on Tuesday results from a weekend legislative election could take days longer than expected to publish, prompting opposition leaders to warn they would not accept any attempt to rig the outcome. Voters turned out on Saturday after months of political haggling and violent protests for the poll – touted as the completion of the mineral-rich West African country’s transition to democracy after a 2008 coup. A spokesman for the national electoral commission (CENI) had originally suggested provisional results would be ready on Tuesday, 72 hours after the long-delayed legislative election. However, CENI Vice President El Hadji Ibrahim Kalil Keita said on Tuesday the commission had until within 72 hours of the arrival of the last voting sheets from polling stations to announce a result. With sheets trickling in from some 12,000 sites across the country, that could take several days.

Somaliland: Swerves on the Road: election report launched | Somaliland Sun

International election observation mission to Somaliland’s local council elections, assembled by Progressio, University College London and Somaliland Focus (UK), launches final report highlighting the “swerves on the road” as Somaliland continues to drive its developing democracy forward. The 50-strong team from 20 countries was invited by Somaliland’s National Electoral Commission (NEC) to observe voting on and before polling day, November 28th 2012. Six months on, the public release of the mission report notes that once again, Somalilanders displayed their dedication to the unique democratic spirit they have crafted from their challenging history.

Sierra Leone: Electoral Commission ‘Ready’ for Poll | VoA News

The spokesman for Sierra Leone’s National Electoral Commission says the electoral body has taken new measures to ensure Saturday’s general election is transparent and credible. “The commission is poised to conducting credible elections. In that vein, the commission is undertaking series of activities,” said commission spokesman Albert Massaquoi. “At the moment the commission has recruited over 70,000 staff and training is underway for [the] staff at different levels all over the country.” Massaquoi says the Electoral Commission worked closely with all political parties as well as the police to prevent any violence during the vote.

Angola: Head of election commission removed | News24

An Angolan court on Thursday reversed the appointment of the election commission head, linked to the ruling party, because she did not qualify for the post, opposition parties said. The parties had petitioned the court on Suzana Ingles’ appointment as head of the National Electoral Commission (CNE). “The Supreme Court found that our complaint was justified and that the nomination of Suzana Inglese was illegal,” main opposition Unita MP Clarisse Kaputu told AFP. “In fact Ms Ingles is not a judge while it’s one of the conditions as required by law to take over leadership of the CNE,” she said.

Congo: Congolese Have Lost Confidence in the Electoral Commission, Catholic Bishops Say | Congo Planet

The National Conference of Catholic Bishops has called for the members of the Independent National Electoral Commission to change their practices or resign following the mismanagement of last year’s presidential and parliamentary elections. In a declaration released on Thursday after a three-day meeting in Kinshasa, the bishops said that they “believe the electoral process was marred by serious flaws that call into question the credibility of the results published” by the electoral commission.

Congo: Vote count halts until foreign experts come | AFP

The electoral commission in the Democratic Republic of Congo has halted the vote count for parliamentary elections until experts arrive from the United States and Britain, it announced Monday. The independent national electoral commission (CENI), which has registered many complaints regarding the presidential and parliamentary elections of November 28, said it did not know when these experts would come, or how many there would be.

“There has been a first meeting at the political level, with the ambassadors of the United States and Great Britain,” followed by a “technical” meeting with the UN mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO), Jacques Djoli, vice-president of the CENI, told AFP.

“Discussions must continue. We hope that at the latest tomorrow or after tomorrow things will become clearer, because we already have results that need to be validated and a population that is awaiting the end of the process,” Djoli added.

Congo: DRC on a knife edge as vote result looms | Times LIVE

There is an uneasy quiet in Kinshasa as the city braces for impending bloodshed. Results of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s second democratic elections, which took place this week, are due to be announced on Tuesday – an announcement likely to spark chaos.

Late yesterday afternoon, presidential candidate Etienne Tshisekedi called a press conference at his residence in Limité, Kinshasa, where he slammed Independent National Electoral Commission president Daniel Ngoy Mulunda, and rejected the preliminary results. He warned Mulunda that “he will be held responsible for what happens in this country”. He told his supporters to be “vigilant” and urged them to “wait until I give the word” before taking action.

Preliminary results released late Friday put incumbent Joseph Kabila ahead of Tshisekedi. With 33% of the vote counted from the country’s 63000 polling stations and released by the election commission, Kabila has 50% of the vote compared to Tshisekedi’s 34%. However, votes from Kinshasa, which is Tshisekedi’s stronghold, have yet to be counted.

Somaliland: National Electoral Commission Upheld The Decision Taken By Somaliland House of Representatives | SomalilandPress.com

Somaliland National Electoral Commission upheld the decision taken by Somaliland House of Representatives which said that the forthcoming local council elections will be held without voter registration. The Commission announced that they will abide by the decision made by Somaliland parliament.

The spokesman for Somaliland National Electoral commission Mr. Mohamed Hirsi Geele held briefing to local media in at his office in Hargeisa. Mr. Geele told the press the reasons attributed in declaring the voter registration null and void. He further pointed out that grave errors arise when it comes to the previous voter registration resulting that many people without registration.