The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) Executive Council officers and members gathered in Bangkok, Thailand on 20 March 2023 for the regular council meeting. The ANFREL Secretariat, led by Executive Director Chandanie Watawala, presented ANFREL's programs in 2022 and the outlook for 2023. The Executive Council reaffirmed ANFREL's commitment to push
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) attended the implementation meeting of the Global Network of Domestic Election Monitors (GNDEM) Declaration of Principles (DoP) for International Election Observation from 6 to 8 December 2022, in Brussels, Belgium. ANFREL executive director Chandanie Watawala also spoke on cooperation among international and non-partisan citizen observer
ANFREL senior program officer for capacity building and international election observation Amaël Vier participated in a panel discussion on citizen mobilization and election observation at the "MOVE! A Colloquium on Electoral Reforms" on 9 December 2022. The three-day event held from 8 to 10 December 2022 was hosted by ANFREL member in
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) participated in a discussion on how disinformation affects elections at the Indonesia Fact Checking Summit on 30 November 2022. ANFREL program officer for outreach and communication and media program coordinator John Reiner Antiquerra shared insights on disinformation during elections based on ANFREL's observation of polls
ANFREL executive director Chandanie Watawala shared the ANFREL interim statement on the election observation findings with Nepal Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya. ANFREL member National Election Observation Committee (NEOC) also shared the findings of their election observation mission to the 2022 Nepali Federal and Provincial Elections. ANFREL's interim statement can be
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) deployed election observation teams in Nepal to observe the 2022 House of Representatives and Provincial Assemblies Elections. Some 275 House of Representative seats and 550 members of provincial assemblies were contested. Here are some photos from our election observation teams on the ground:
ANFREL Executive Director Chandanie Watawala spoke to 39 international relations students from the University of Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta on Friday, 26 August 2022, about today's challenges to democracy in Asia.
The People's Action for Free & Fair Elections (PAFFREL) conducted a series of discussions with district coordinators and observers from Kurunegala, Puttalam, Kandy, Kegalle, Nuwara Eliya, Matale in Sri Lanka to review local and international guidelines to develop an election observation handbook. Mr. Jayantha Dehiaththage led the discussions.
More than 65.7 million registered voters in the Philippines are invited to cast their vote for the national and local elections on 9 May 2022. The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) deployed election observation teams across the country to monitor the electoral process. Here are some photos that ANFREL observers have
It's election day in Timor-Leste! As 859,613 registered voters are invited to cast their votes to choose the next President of the Republic, five international observers from ANFREL are monitoring the opening, polling, and counting processes at polling stations in the municipalities of Ainaro, Baucau, Covalima, and Dili. Here are selected pictures
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) is in Timor-Leste to monitor the first round of the country's presidential election, which will take place on 19 March. Five international observers are deployed across the country to observe the election campaign, Election Day proceedings, tabulation of votes, and announcement of results. Our observers
Four observers teams of the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) were deployed in the provinces of Surin, Samut Prakan, Nakhon Pathom, and Nonthaburi to monitor the Thai provincial elections held on 20 December 2020. These were the first local elections conducted since the civilian government was toppled by a military coup
See more photos here: "By-Election in Samut Prakan, Thailand" The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) observed a by-election in Thailand’s Samut Prakan province on 9 August 2020. It was the second time a by-election took place in the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic, under the “new normal election” policy devised by
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) wishes to congratulate the people of Sri Lanka for the successful conduct of the 2020 Sri Lankan Parliamentary Election. With an estimated voter turnout of over 70 percent, Election Day was generally peaceful and the efforts to ensure the public's health and safety amid the
Scene from the opening of polls in Sri Lanka on 5 August 2020. Sri Lanka held its Parliamentary Election amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Election Commission assured voters that the polling stations will be safe with health guidelines imposed for this election. The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) deployed six assessment
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) observed the final mock polling station set up by the Election Commission of Sri Lanka at the President College Rajagiriya in Colombo on 24 June 2020. EC held a series of mock polls to test health and safety measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) and youth volunteers from domestic observer group WeWatch were in Lampang (Northern Thailand) on 20 June 2020 to monitor the first by-election held in Thailand during the COVID-19 pandemic. The election served as testing grounds for "new normal" polling procedures introduced by the Election Commission.
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) observed a mock polling station set up by the Election Commission (EC) of Sri Lanka at the Menerigama Primary School in Kalutara District on 14 June 2020. These are photos of what ANFREL observed about measures and precautions voters might expect on Election Day. The
[rev_slider alias="2020-02-14"] The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) showcased its various efforts to advance electoral #democracy in Asia, especially in Myanmar, during the celebration of the annual Nordic Day in Myanmar last Friday, 14 February 2020. The Embassy of Sweden Section Office in Yangon, Embassy of Denmark in Myanmar, Embassy
[rev_slider alias="2020-01-11"] The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) conducted a study mission for the 11 January 2020 Taiwanese General Election. James Kan of the Citizen Congress Watch and Bo Tedards of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy briefed the eight-member study team on 6 January 2020 at the CCW office in
[rev_slider alias="2019-12-19"] The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) organized a two-day training on election monitoring for civil society organizations and media in Thailand from 18 to 19 December 2019. The participants learned the legal framework of elections in Thailand, international standards of democratic governance, and key principles of election monitoring,
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL), in partnership with the Myanmar Journalist Network, organized the first of two consultation meetings with members of the media in Myanmar on 18 December 2019. Eleven journalists from seven states/regions in the Central and Southern part of Myanmar discussed the issues and challenges they face
The long term observers (LTOs) of ANFREL's International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) for the 2019 Sri Lanka Presidential Election participated in a one-day pre-deployment briefing on 31 October 2019 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The LTOs were given an overview of the state of political affairs, electoral system, and the media and civil
With the Afghan ballot audit coming to a close, enjoy some pictures from ANFREL's observation of the audit process. ANFREL continues to follow the process and, as we've done since 2004, supports Afghanistan's democratisation now and in the future. [gallery link="file" ids="3336,3339,3338,3335,3334,3333,3329,3327,3325"] [caption id="attachment_3334" align="aligncenter" width="150"] ANFREL observers look on before
ANFREL-Foundation Chairperson Damaso G Magbual along with Capacity Building Coordinator Mr. Bidhayak Das met Chairperson of the Union Election Commission (UEC) of Myanmar U Tin Aye at the UEC office in Napyitaw on July 11. The meeting, which lasted for an hour discussed ways to strengthen electoral reforms initiatives in Myanmar and
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Uniformed Polling Station Security Stands Ready Outside the Polling Station[/caption] Indonesia finally conducted the Papuan gubernatorial election on 29 January 2013 after years of postponement due to legal obstacles and conflicts. A total of 2,705,775 registered voters across 29 regencies were eligible to vote at the 6,961 polling stations in the province.
