The recent election of José Maria de Vasconcelos, or Taur Matan Ruak as he is known, to the Presidency of Timor-Leste is not good news for women in that country.
Adding yet another member of the male…
Aceh's provincial elections will test democratic progress
AAP/Hotli Simanjutak
The massive but largely benign earthquake off the coast of Sumatra on Wednesday left millions in Aceh reliving the nightmare that engulfed them on Boxing Day 2004. On that day, a similarly large earthquake…
Tomorrow's Burmese elections will likely finally see Aung San Suu Kyi get into parliament.
AAP Image/Angela Brkic
Only two years after general elections in 2010, the world will be watching Burma’s by-elections to be held tomorrow.
Although the results cannot change the overall political balance of power with only…
After vote rigging in Russia's elections, Putin's authority has been called into question.
EPA/Alexey Nikolsky/Ria Novosti/Government Press Service Pool
The Russian presidential elections, held on 4 March, gave a solid electoral win to the President-elect Vladimir Putin. But much of the Western press saw it as a tainted victory. With allegations of election…
Mitt Romney's team hopes that his rivals will turn on each other in the next few weeks.
AAP
In the aftermath of the New Hampshire Republican primary, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has gone a long way towards securing the nomination. To be sure, he faces continued challenges from an…
Egypt takes its first steps towards democracy but it's not in the way many were hoping for.
EPA/Amel Pain
After the overthrowing of dictator Hosni Mubarak, Egypt has had its first round of parliamentary elections, with two parties dominating the vote – the moderate Muslim Brotherhood and the religious conservative…
President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's close association with ruling party United Russia could be problematic.
EPA/EKaterina Shtukina/Ria Novosti/Kremlin Pool Mandatory Credit
This weekend nation-wide elections will select 450 deputies to the lower house of the Russian bicameral parliament, the State Duma.
Although a win is likely for the ruling party, United Russia, lead by…
Current Prime Minister John Key is set to have an easy victory at today's election.
AAP/NZN Image/SNPA, David Rowland
New Zealand goes to the polls today to elect both a government and conduct a referendum on the nation’s electoral system. It will cap off fifteen tumultuous months in the country.
Christchurch has endured…
Don't dismiss Bob Katter's Australia Party. It's going places.
AAP/Tracy Nearmy
It would be foolish for anyone to underestimate Bob Katter’s Australia Party. Its brand of socially conservative views blended with economic and trade protectionism are not “far right” but rather proven…
The first free elections borne from the Arab Spring were held in Tunisia. Over 90% of registered adults voted.
EPA/Zacarias Garcia
It has been a tumultuous week in the life and times of democracy in the Mediterranean. Seven days punctuated by joyous hope and its ugly opposite, sullen despair.
The promising news came from Tunisia…
Unhappy with politics in this country? You're not the only one.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Australians are more dissatisfied with the way democracy works now than they were after the Rudd government was elected, a poll has found.
According to the ANU poll of 2001 people, there has been a 13…
Saudi women are still segregated from men in many walks of life, but next year they will get the right to vote.
AFP/Fayez Nureldine
While Saudi women celebrate their hard-earned right to vote in next year’s Municipal Council elections, the frenzy of international media interest highlights just how mysterious this country remains…
French President Nicolas Sarkozy should be worried about the upcoming elections
EPA/Yoan Valat
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has a tight fight on his hands. He’ll be taking on the Socialist Party’s Francois Hollande in the elections next year. And he could struggle to get a second term.
Four…
The ballot paper was an Australian innovation.
AAP
One hundred and fifty years ago, the South Australian House of Assembly handed down the report of its first committee into the running of elections.
Its main purpose was to find the causes of two troubling…
Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey wants the Opposition's policies privately costed.
AAP
Federal parliament has begun debating the merits of a new independent unit which would cost election promises and policies for all parliamentarians.
But one of the more controversial aspects of the Gillard…
