Advancing Electoral Democracy in Asia
First published on the website of CMEV on 23 July 2020. ANFREL member in Sri Lanka, the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence, has released its first evaluation of the ground situation during the election campaign for the 2020 Parliamentary Election. The ground evaluation took place during the first two weeks since the
21 July 2020 Your excellency, We, the undersigned 33 civil society organizations, urge the Governments of Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America to echo the European Union (EU) in its call for the
We, the undersigned 27 civil society organisations, are deeply concerned with the introduction of the National Security Law in Hong Kong. We call on the Governments of China and Hong Kong to repeal this law, which severely clamps down on the rights of the Hong Kong people. A year after protests against
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) is alarmed by the quickly deteriorating election environment in the run-up to the Hong Kong Legislative Council elections scheduled for 6 September 2020. The new National Security Law that came into effect on 30 June has exacerbated a climate of fear in Hong Kong’s electoral
No one should be left behind. Panelists, during ANFREL’s webinar on the importance of inclusiveness in the 2020 Myanmar General Election, representing various sectors like women, ethnic groups, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and the LGBT community agree that free and fair elections can only be achieved if elections are inclusive to their
Today, on the fourth anniversary of the killing of prominent political commentator and human rights defender Kem Ley, we, the 30 undersigned organizations, call on the Cambodian authorities to create an independent Commission of Inquiry to conduct an effective and impartial investigation that is long overdue into Kem Ley’s death. We further
As Singapore is set to hold its general election on 10 July 2020, issues and challenges that affect free and fair elections in the city-state still linger, according to panelists in a webinar the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) hosted last Sunday, 5 July 2020. Aimed to provide an understanding of
ANFREL member in Bangladesh, Odhikar, said in their 2020 second quarter report on the human rights situation in the country that the persecution against them since 2013 continues until this day. The registration of Odhikar has not been renewed until now since they applied to the NGO Affairs Bureau (NGOAB) under the
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) is hosting a webinar on the importance of inclusiveness in elections on 13 July 2020, Monday at 4 p.m. (Yangon Time).* This is part of a series of webinars which aims to create public awareness on democratic elections in the lead up to the 2020
For the second edition of the quarterly newsletter e-Bulletin, the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) highlighted the developments in Sri Lanka which is set to hold their election on 5 August 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. ANFREL hosted a webinar to gather updates and insights on the Sri Lankan polls with
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong dissolved parliament on 23 June 2020 which paved the way for a general election scheduled for 10 July 2020. The election will be held amid the COVID-19 pandemic of which the city state, much like the rest of the world, is still grappling with the threats
Election Commission of Sri Lanka Chairperson Mahinda Deshapriya ensured the public that the polling station will be the safest public space and encouraged voters to exercise their right to vote on 5 August 2020. "Don't be afraid. This [polling station] is the safest public place. It is safer than markets or transportation
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) is hosting a webinar on the preparations, challenges of organizing and participating in the upcoming 2020 Sri Lankan Parliamentary Election, this Saturday, 27 June 2020 at 10 a.m. (Colombo Time/11:30 a.m. Bangkok Time). The election was first set for 25 April 2020 but was canceled
This is a joint statement signed by various organizations and individuals. See endorsers here. The COVID-19 pandemic threatens more than the lives and the livelihoods of people throughout the world. It is also a political crisis that threatens the future of liberal democracy. Authoritarian regimes, not surprisingly, are using the crisis to
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
More than two million registered voters in Mongolia are heading to the polls on 24 June 2020 to elect a new set of parliamentarians. As part of their engagement in the election, ANFREL member in Mongolia, the Women for Social Progress through their Voter Education Center (VEC/WSP), implemented voter education activities focusing
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.
First published on the website of CMEV on 17 June 2020. ANFREL member in Sri Lanka, the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), published their election observation report for the 2019 Sri Lankan Presidential Election. CMEV said the report provides an overview of the election, key election features and trends including election
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
The ANFREL program in Myanmar together with the New Myanmar Foundation (NMF) conducted a four-day online training on election monitoring from 9 to 12 June 2020. This was part of ANFREL's capacity building program for National Election Monitoring Organizations (NEMG) which promote citizen election observation in Myanmar. Twenty participants were selected for
The world is looking at the successful conduct of the parliamentary election in South Korea as a case study in organizing elections amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL), with the Asia Democracy Network (ADN), Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB), and the Korea Democracy Foundation co-organized on
Press Release Phnom Penh, 04 June 2020 The Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL) annually observes on voter registration and audits Voter List. Through its observation and audit, COMFREL deployed observers to the registration stations and examined the official voter list to indicate duplicated and ghost voter names to
ANFREL and six domestic election observation groups, including our members PAFFREL and CMEV, release today the “COVID-19 Code of Conduct for Election Observers” ahead of the 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary elections. This document is a joint initiative from organizations both domestic and international intending to observe the parliamentary elections of Sri Lanka.
ANFREL member in Maldives, the Transparency Maldives, explained the constitutional crisis brought about by the delay in the conduct of the Local Council Elections. The elections, which were supposed to take place on 4 April 2020, was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The delay, however, meant that the legal terms of
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) is hosting a series of online training sessions for journalists in Myanmar on reporting elections to prepare them for the anticipated 2020 General Election. ANFREL, in cooperation with the Myanmar Press Council (MPC), kicked off its “Training of Trainers Program for Journalists in Myanmar on
The Sri Lanka Parliamentary Election was scheduled to be held on 25 April 2020 but was postponed due to the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is a timeline of the events that transpired in the last few months regarding the election and COVID-19 crisis situation in the country:
First published on the Daily Mirror on 7 May 2020 By Tharindu Abeyrtahna Despite the fact that electoral democracy in Sri Lanka faced many challenges in pre and post-independence eras, the country has managed to conduct periodical elections in national level. Sri Lanka known as the oldest democracy in Asia and it
The confidence in the government and the electoral system of Bangladesh continue to decline as lack of interest in the local elections held in the first quarter of 2020 amid the rampant fraudulent activities was observed, human rights organization Odhikar said in their 2020 first quarter report. "Several by-elections of the Jatiya
South Korean health authorities said there were no recorded local transmission from the conduct of the parliamentary election. Here are the safety measures South Korea implemented to make the 15 April 2020 election possible despite the threat of COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the election cycle in many countries as much
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) Myanmar program is now even more connected as it launched its website which will serve as a platform to better engage election stakeholders in Myanmar. Access Myanmar-related news and updates via the website (https://myanmar.anfrel.org/mm) which is also available in English (https://myanmar.anfrel.org/en). One of the key
