· December, 2012

Stories about Elections from December, 2012

Opposition NPP Takes Ghana Presidential Election Results to Court

  29 December 2012

The largest opposition party in Ghana, NPP, has refused to accept the presidential election results. On 9 December 2012, the Electoral Commission declared President Mahama winner by 50.70% of the votes, beating his main challenger Nana Akufo-Addo of the NPP. NPP formally filed a petition at the Supreme Court on 28 December, 2012.

Former Dictator's Daughter Elected As President of South Korea

  20 December 2012

On December 19, 2012, Park Geun-hye was elected as the next President of South Korea. She is from the ruling conservative Saenuri party and daughter of the former dictator Park Chung-hee. Despite Park's feat in being elected as the first woman president in a largely patriarchal society, young progressives and activists are strongly opposed to Park.

Caribbean: What Happened in 2012 (Part 1)

  19 December 2012

This year, events in the regional blogosphere were curiously bookended by hunger strikes. Part 1 of this 2012 recap takes a look at the topics that most shaped online discussion in the Bahamian, Cuban and French-speaking Caribbean blogospheres.

Catalonia: Independence from Spain to Do What?

  17 December 2012

It appears that Catalonia is now set to hold a referendum on its ties to the rest of Spain. Could an independent Catalonia lead to the break-up of the establishment dynamics that have dominated Spain since the late-1970s? The optimists believe so.

In Egypt, the Silent Majority is Still Silent

  17 December 2012

Egyptians went to the polls to vote on a new constitution, being pushed for and supported by president Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood Freedom and Justice Party. The first round shows that about 57 per cent of the voters are in support of the constitution, despite concerns from civil society and the opposition that the new constitution, shaped by Islamists, aims to limit freedoms, cement the role of the military, and the further the Islamisation of Egypt. The second round of this two-stage referendum takes place on Saturday.

Hungarian Blogger Leaks Secret Video on Illegal Voter Database

  16 December 2012

Gery Greyhound published a documentary [hu] on his Tumblr blog, about the ‘making of’ an illegal voter database in Pécs in 2009, when the city held a mid-term mayoral election. A similar leak took place in 2010, when a voice recording of Fidesz party director Gábor Kubatov was published online, revealing that the party had a registry of...

Ecuador Gets Ready for the 2013 Elections

  14 December 2012

Ecuadorian netizens are already analyzing candidates for the legislative and presidential elections of February 17, 2013. Many share their reports and reactions under the hashtag #EleccionesEc on Twitter.

Egypt's Opposition to Boycott Constitution Referendum Vote

  9 December 2012

Egypt's opposition coalition the National Salvation Front said tonight (Dec 9, 2012) they would boycott a referendum on a new constitution, scheduled for Saturday (Dec 15, 2012). Their rejection for the new constitution comes amid protests against the country's newly elected president Mohammed Morsi, who is accused of grabbing too...

Sounding the Alarm on Hungary's New Electoral Law

  8 December 2012

Hungarian Spectrum posts an English translation of the appeal by the members of the pre-1989 Democracy Movement to organizations of the European Union, in which they share their concerns regarding the new electoral law: If the next Hungarian elections in 2014 were to be held under the recently rammed-through rules,...

Slovenia: “Second Republic (Again)”

  8 December 2012

Sleeping With Pengovsky explains the current political situation in Slovenia (more – here and here): […] [PM Janez Janša] already controls the parliament. He controls the economy. And as of last Sunday, he also controls the president of the republic. […] The only unknown in this scenario are protests. The...

Review of South Korea's First Presidential Debate

  7 December 2012

South Korea's presidential election is just right around the corner and three top contenders had their first heated TV presidential debate. The Marmot's Hole blog wrote a review of the debate with some background information.

Ghana Election 2012, From the Ballot Box

  7 December 2012

Ghanaian voters went to the polls today to elect a new president and parliament. The main presidential contenders are the current president John Dramani Mahama representing the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Nana Akufo-Addo of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).