The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) welcomes the formation of the 10 Parliamentary Special Select Committees (PSSC) that were approved in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday. Each PSSC will comprise 9 Members of Parliament (MPs) including the Chairman. The 10 PSSCs are: 1) Finance and Economy2) Security3) Health4) Domestic Trade, Entrepreneurship,
ANFREL member in the Philippines, the National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), said the special election in Cavite on 25 February 2023 was peaceful and smooth but the voter turnout was low. In two updates released on Election Day, NAMFREL said that the electoral process was peaceful and smooth in the
Story by Attachai Had-anCover illustration by Kittiya On-in In preparation for the upcoming election on May 7, 2023, “The Opener” has studied the spread of misinformation and how it might impair the quest for a free and fair election in Thailand. Lessons from the 2019 election campaign until now indicate that while
Parties Need to Agree on Regulating Political Finance, Refining Results Management, Devising Mechanisms for Overseas Voting, and Catering to Representativeness Issues In Elections ISLAMABAD, January 27, 2023: Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) calls upon the political parties to immediately initiate a comprehensive dialogue on addressing the weaknesses in the existing legal
The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), together with the Gender and Election Working Group (GEWG), conducted a press conference on 09 January 2023 to request all political parties to ensure better representation and safer participation for women in Local Government Elections. D.M. Dissanayake, Chief of Operation, CMEV stated that Sri Lanka
Transparency Maldives calls on the State to stop the abuse of State resources and uphold the integrity of election and ensure a free and fair electoral process. The abuse of State resources can be a corruptive force in the electoral process, as it introduces or exacerbates power inequalities and gives unfair advantage
Tradition threatens electoral democracy and universal suffrage: not a single woman cast a vote in the 2018 General Elections in Mohri Pur First published on The Friday Times, "The Village in Punjab Where Women are Forbidden from Voting" (Urdu version) was produced under the ANFREL Asian Media Fellowship on Election Reporting. In
The Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) welcomes the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) planned activities for 2023 as discussed during its press briefing today, January 3, 2023. The press briefing touched on matters and updates regarding the ongoing voter registration and the Register Anywhere Project (RAP) as well as the possible addition
Century Park Hotel, Manila, December 10, 2022 - The Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) gathered various election stakeholders at Century Park Hotel, Manila during its MOVE! A Colloquium on Electoral Reforms from December 8-10, 2022 to revisit longstanding and emerging electoral issues, and discuss possible solutions for such. True to its
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
Centre for Monitoring Election Violence and Janavaboda Kendraya conducted a one-day discussion with youths, women and members of PWD organisations on the impact of the unavailability of Campaign Finance regulations for women, youth and PWDs participation in politics in Sri Lanka on November 19, 2022, at Janavaboda Kendraya. Empowering youth, women and
BERSIH calls upon the Election Commission (EC) and the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) to publish their Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on Voting amidst Floods (UndiBanjir). The EC’s special meeting tomorrow (20 October) to decide on nomination and poling days must also cover the contingency plan to prevent unintended vote suppression caused
In the third quarter of 2022, the Asian Network for Free Elections released observation report on Philippine and Nepali elections, launched the Asian Media Fellowship on Election Reporting, and engaged with various electoral stakeholders. ANFREL released the final comprehensive report of its international election observation mission to the 2022 national and local
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) strongly condemns the latest conviction of Myanmar’s ousted leaders Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint on alleged election fraud charges with a three-year jail sentence. With the latest sentencing, Aung San Suu Kyi now faces a total of 20 years in prison after being
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.
We, young NAMFREL members, urge Congress to allow the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) to push through on December 5, 2022. In a democratic state such as the Philippines, the will of the people should always be heeded in the way they are governed. Based on Article II, Section 1 of
The General Elections Observation Committee (GEOC) in Nepal released the final report of their observation mission to the 13 May 2022 local elections. GEOC, a network of 11 organizations, said there was “appropriate management” of polling areas with separate queues for men and women and support facilities for persons with disabilities which
NAMFREL urges Congress to let the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) proceed, as scheduled under Republic Act No. (R.A.) 11462, on 5 December 2022. The Constitution allows the legislature to determine the term of elective barangay officials through legislation: “The term of office of elective local officials, except barangay officials, which
The 2022 Timor-Leste Presidential Election was "free, transparent, fair and reliable observing international standards of election", said the Observatory of the Church for Social Affairs (OIPAS) in final report of their election observation effort. OIPAS, under the National Commission of Justice, Peace, and Integrity Criation (JPIC-TL), observed the presidential election (19 March
Persisting Irregularities and Overcrowding Need to be Checked during Second Phase of LG Elections ISLAMABAD, July 8, 2022: Around 40 percent of the registered voters turned out to vote in the first phase of the local government (LG) elections to elect 5,331 general members of Union Councils, Union Committees, Municipal Committees, Town
Islamabad, June 29, 2022: Abysmally low female turnout and inadequate arrangements to protect secrecy of vote coupled with widespread instances of campaigning and canvassing on Election Day remain major issues clouding the by-election in PK-7 Swat-VI that was otherwise peaceful with generally compliant voting and counting processes, observes Free and Fair Election
The 2022 Timor-Leste Presidential Election demonstrated how democracy is celebrated and strong in the country, said the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) in the final comprehensive report on its observation of the election. ANFREL released the report on Tuesday, 28 June 2022, and thanked the electoral stakeholders for their commitment to
In a meeting held on June 21, 2022, the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) National Council accepted the June 2 resignation of MR. AUGUSTO C. LAGMAN from NAMFREL and as its National Chairperson. Mr. Lagman joined NAMFREL in 1984 and headed its Operation Quick Count parallel vote tabulation until 2007.
Press Release from BERSIH22 June 2022The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) express gratitude to the Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge YA Noorin binti Badarudin decision for granting leave to the judicial review application against the decision of the Election Commission of Malaysia (EC) and the Government of Malaysia for barring
ISLAMABAD, June 17, 2022: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is delimiting the constituencies for elections to the National and Provincial Assemblies after the official publication of the results of 6th Population and Housing Census 2017. The latest exercise was compelled by the effect of Section 17(2) of the Elections Act, which
A junta court in Myanmar ruled that prosecutors presented sufficient evidence against ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Australian economist Sean Turnell and three former cabinet members to continue the trial on charges of violating the Official Secrets Law. In the coming weeks, the court will hear the defense arguments, including a
First published on COMFREL's website on 10 June 2022. Civil Society Organizations that have collaboratively deployed election observers to monitor the situation of the Commune/Sangkat Councils Election in the 5th mandate, which took place on 5 June 2022, have found election irregularities occurring during the polling process on the voting and counting
First published on COMFREL's website on 10 June 2022. During the campaign phase of the Commune /Sangkat Councils Election, 5th mandate 2022, the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL) deployed Long-Term Observers in the Capital and provinces to monitor the electoral process. During this election campaign process, COMFREL observed
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) is holding a press conference on Wednesday, 11 May 2022 at 9 a.m. (Manila time) to release the initial findings of its observation of the elections in the Philippines. The Philippines held national and local elections on 9 May 2022. ANFREL deployed teams of international
