Election Calendar: The Center for Electoral Forensics

The Federal Council is the seven-member executive council which constitutes the federal government of Switzerland and serves as the Swiss collective head of state. The members of the Federal Council are elected for a term of four years by both chambers of the Federal Assembly sitting together as the United Federal Assembly. Each Councillor is elected individually by secret ballot by an absolute majority of votes.

In the January 1, 2012, election, Alain Berset was elected to be the seventh Councilor by the Federal Assembly.

The Phase III of the parliamentary election will take place on January 3-4 and 10-11.

The Nitijela selected Christopher Loeak as its sixth president. Loeak was elected by 21 votes to 11, defeating incumbent Jurelang Zedkaia.

Presidential candidates in Kiribati are selected by parliament. The candidates then stand for popular election.

Incumbent President Anote Tong won re-election receiving 42% of the vote.

Ying-jeou Ma won the presidential election.

The Koumintang (KMT) won the election.

Members of the Senate of Kazakhstan are elected to two-year terms. Well, 40 of the 47 are. The remaining 7 members are presidential appointees.

Unsurprisingly, the National Democratic Party "Nur Otan" ("Light of the Fatherland") won the election.

President Nazarbayev's party (Nur Otan) received over 80% of the vote, making Nur Otan the majority party in the Kazakh Majlis.

The current president of Finland, Tarja Halonen, is ineligible to run for reelection due to term limits (two terms).

No candidate received a majority of the vote, so there will be a second round election between Sauli Niinistö (NCP) and Pekka Haavisto (Green League).

The voters of Croatia will go to the polls to determine if they are to become a member of the European Union.

The referendum passed with 67% of the voters voting in favor of joining the EU. All counties had a majority in favor of the referendum. The battle, as usual, was between the nationalists who see joining the EU as Croatia losing sovereignty and the rest of the political spectrum who saw the cost outweighed by the benefits of membership.

Phase I of the Shura elections will take place on January 29-30 and February 5-6.

The Senate elections are being contested by two parties: The ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP). While there are 61 Senators, only 57 are elected by the people: two will be selected by the National Assembly and two by the King.

According to unofficial results, the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) gained a majority of the votes in the country's Senate elections, receiving up to 77.81 percent, according to preliminary results provided by the National Election Committee (NEC) of Cambodia on Sunday.

If these results become official (February 4), the CPP will gain a few seats in the Senate.

An early parliamentary election is to be held in Kuwait on February 2, 2012. A result of the Arab Spring, this is the country's parliamentary election in the last three years.

There are 344 candidates running for the 50 elected seats. The opposition goal is to win a majority of the seats inthe National Assembly. With the majority comes an ability to encourage the reforms of the protests from the previous fall. Recall that the government of Kuwait resigned on November 28, 2011, in response to the protests.

The current president of Finland, Tarja Halonen, is ineligible to run for reelection due to term limits (two terms).

No candidate received a majority of the vote in the first round (January 22, 2012), so there will be a second round election between Sauli Niinistö (NCP) and Pekka Haavisto (Green League).

Opinion polls have Sauli Niinistö overwhelmingly beating Pekka Haavisto (65-35%).

Final election returns show that Niinistö received 62% of the vote to become the first conservative president of Finland since 1956.

This will be the first Turkmen election since the new electoral rules went into effect. The result of the election will remain predictable, as Turkmenistan uses elections to give it a democratic sheen. The winner will be incumbent president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, who received almost 90% of the vote in 2007.

In a complete surprise, President Berdimuhamedow was reelected on Sunday with 97 percent of the vote, with an official turnout of 97 percent of the population. Alright, it was not a surprise at all.

Phase II of the Shura elections will take place on February 14-15.

This referendum concerns the status of the Russian language in Latvia. Currently, only Latvian is an official language. But, with the many Russians remaining in latvia from the time of the Soviet Union, the Russian language is commonly spoken.

Should Russian become the second official language in Latia? Should government institutions work in both languages? These are the questions Latvians will face on February 18, 2012.

Polling suggests that the referendum will be handily defeated. According to a poll performed by TNS Latvia in January 2012, 59% of citizens would vote 'no', 25% 'yes', 10% would abstain, and 6% had no opinion on the issue.

The final results were 75% against, with a 71% turnout. Russian will not be an official language of Latvia, only Latvian.

This election is a result of the recent uprisings in Yemen against the rule of Saleh: During the 2011 Yemeni uprising, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) proposed an agreement whereby President Ali Abdullah Saleh would transfer his powers to Vice President Abd al-Rab Mansur. Saleh was to remain in office as a figurehead for three months, after which a vote would be held. Saleh signed the agreement in November 2011, and the presidential election was called for February 21.

The sole candidate is Vice President Mansur.

Abd al-Rab Mansur, as the only candidate, won the election. He will move from being Vice President under Saleh, to acting President under Saleh, to President in his own right. If the purpose of the election was to rid Yemen of Saleh, it worked. If it was to start anew, it failed.

The Constitutional Court of Senegal ruled that Wade was allowed to run for a third term. Also, popular candidate N'Dour was disqualified due to the questionable nature of some of the signatures. In total, 14 candidates were approved.

With the protests, Wade may not win re-election. Even if he does, further protests may encourage him to stand down and allow someone else to become president.

As no candidate won a majority of the votes cast in the first round, the second round will be held in accord with the Senegalese Constitution of 2001. The two candidates are Abdoulaye Wade (incumbent) and Macky Sall.

This unpopular popular referendum is to accept the new draft constitution, which changes little but says much.

In response to the growing unrest in Syria (to put it mildly), a committee finished drafting a new constitution for Syria. Government supporters hail it as the next step in making Syria the beacon of democracy in the Middle East. Others brand it as being too little, too late.

The official results of the election are 89% in favor, with a turnout of 57%. This constitutes a majority of registered voters, not just voters.

The First Round of voting for the 2012 Majlis election is scheduled for March 2.

The Conservative bloc, which included the United Front of Conservatives, the Front of Islamic Revolution Stability, the Monotheism and Justice party, the People's Voice, and the Inisght and Islamic Awakening Front received a combined 60% of the vote, which translates to 143 seats in the Majlis, which is a loss of 52 seats over last election. There will be a second round held for 65 seats (districts where no candidate received 25%). Expect many of these seats to also go to the Conservative bloc, thus reducing their loss.

There are a total of 100 seats in the Pakistani Senate. Every three years, half stand for election.

After the contentious elections a petition was filed in Pakistan's Supreme Court to revoke the election results, saying they were based on poll rigging, ballotbox stuffing, and vote-buying. If the challenge is turned down, then the ruling party will have been a big winner in the election—and the people, the biggest loser.

The Pakistan Peoples' Party is the winner as they continue to hold 41 seats.

A game of "Musical chairs" is taking place in the Russian Federation. At the United Russia Congress in Moscow on September 24, 2011, President Medvedev proposed that Prime Minister Putin stand for the Presidency in 2012. Putin immediately offered Medvedev to stand on the United Russia ticket in the parliamentary elections in December and becoming Prime Minister of Russia at the end of his presidential term. At least it is stable, and the protests that happened after the 2011 parliamentary election will be repeated after Putin wins the presidential election. However, expect the protests to be more important to the West than to Russia and Russians.

Vladimir Putin received 64% of the vote, propelling him to his third term as President of the Russian Federation. The Communist Party Gennady Zyuganov was second with 17% of the vote. The protests formed, as expected.

Currently, the United Democratic Party holds 25 of the 31 seats in the House of Representatives. The opposition People's United Party holds the other six seats in parliament. In this election, the focus is the economy and debt level of Belize.

Belize's debt is around $500 million—the 13th highest in the world. Credit rating agencies already have Belize at junk status, which increases the cost of borrowing and repaying loans for Belize.

Belize's governing party won re-election. The United Democratic Party retained its majority in the Belezian House of Representatives. However, it lost eight seats, bringing the balance to: United Democratic Party, 17 seats; People's United Party, 14 seats.

The unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic consists of 150 MPs elected by universal suffrage under proportional representation every four years.

The opposition party in Slovakia has won the general election. The Direction – Social Democracy party received 84 out of 150 seats in the National Council.

The People's Assembly has 35 members, elected for five-year terms in single-seat constituencies. We expect the Pro-President bloc to win a majority of seats in the Assembly.

Only 13 constituencies were able to select a (majority) winner. The rest will hold run-off elections on March 24, 2012.

This election is a battle between Cold-War enemies: ARENA and FMLN. Arena ruled El Salvador during its darkest time. The FMLN fought a guerrilla war to eliminate Arena. Neither won. Both still exist. And, El Salvador is enjoying democracy once again.

The opposition Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) received more legislative seats than the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN). ARENA gained one seat, while FMLN lost four. The big winner was the Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA), who won 11 seats on their first election after splitting from ARENA.

Switzerland enshrines the right of the people to vote on legislation that affects them. That is why there are so many referenda in Switzzerland. This one covers five topics: Housing restrictions (limits of second houses); Six weeks of vacation for all; Tax-supported building society to support environmental measures; State earning from gambling to be used for public good; and the new Book-Price agreement.

The results on the five topics were: "Housing restrictions," passed (51% in favor); "Six weeks of vacation," failed (33.5%); "Tax-supported building society," failed (45%); "Gambling revenue," passed (87%); and "Book-Price agreement," failed (42%).

The President of Moldova is a largely symbolic role. That symbolism, however, speaks volumes about the political power in Moldova. That the Presidency has been vacant for almost three years also speaks volumes about the deep divisions in parliament. Today, still with much friction, Moldova finally has a president.

The Parliament of Moldova elected Nicolae Timofti, on the final allowable ballot, with 62 of the 101 possible votes. There were 61 votes required, so Timofti had a one-vote cushion. Had the parliament not elected a president this time, parliament would have been dissolved and new elections called—again.

Timor-Leste's third presidential election pits incumbent José Ramos-Horta against Taur Matan Ruak (CRNT) and Francisco Guterres (FRETILIN). Since there are over a dozen candidates and since the popular movement to get Ramos-horta to run for re-election garnered 120,000 signatures, it seems likely that Ramos-Horta will win re-election.

Incumbent President José Ramos-Horta failed to garner enough votes to finish in the top two positions. Thus, this run-off will be between opposition leader Francisco Guterres and former guerrilla leader Taur Matan Ruak.

The next Territorial Council election is scheduled for March 18, 2012.

The Saint Barth First! party received 74% of the votes and 16 of the 19 seats in the Territorial Assembly. It is affiliated with the French party Union for a Popular Movement (Union pour un Mouvement Populaire; UMP).

The German President is a largely symbolic role.

Germany's new president is an anti-communist East German Lutheran pastor, Mr. Joachim Gauck. He received 991 votes out of 1232 possible. He was supported by Chancellor Angela Merkel. This marks the first time in memory that the President and the Chancellor are from the former East Germany.

The election must be held within 90 days of the death of President Sanha (January 9, 2012). The date was finalized for March 18, 2012. In order to become a presidential candidate, the current prime minister, Carlos Gomes Júnior, resigned on February 10, 2012.

This first round was won by Carlos Gomes Júnior, who took 49% of the vote. He will face off against Mohamed Ialá Embaló (who received 23%) in the April 22 April 29 run-off election.

The People's Assembly has 35 members, elected for five-year terms in single-seat constituencies. We expect the Pro-President bloc to win a majority of seats in the Assembly.

As only 13 of the constituencies had a candidate receive a majority of the vote, the remaining 22 constituencies will hold run-off elections.

This is a referendum on the Family Code passed by parliament under Borut Pahor. Among other things, it expanded existing same-sex registered partnerships to have all rights of married couples except adoption. It also expanded provisions protecting the rights of children, such as outlawing corporal punishment or establishing a children's ombudsman.

The referendum failed; only 45.3% of the voters voted in favor of the law. The turnout was just under 30%.

As no candidate won a majority of the votes cast in the first round, the second round will be held in accord with the Senegalese Constitution of 2001. The two candidates are Abdoulaye Wade (incumbent) and Macky Sall.

In the 2007 presidential election, Wade came in second in the first round, but converted all of the other votes to him in the second. In this election, the opposite happened: Wade received no more votes in the second round than in the first. Thus, Macky Sall won the presidential election.

The 20 members of the Territorial Assembly (Assemblée Territoriale) are popularly elected to five-year terms using multi-seat constituencies and proportional representation.

The new President of the Territorial Assembly is Vetelino Nau of the Popular Union for Wallis and Futuna (Union Populaire pour Wallis et Futuna; UPWF). This party is associated with France's Socialist Party (Parti Socialiste; PS).

The 2011 presidential election was annulled by the Supreme Court. This election will be held to replace the current Acting-President Vadm Brovtsev.

Because no candidate received a majority of the votes cast, the run-off election will be between Leonid Tibilov (42%) and David Sanakoyev (25%).

The National Assembly is the unicameral legislative body of the Gambia. It consists of 53 members who are elected to serve a five-year term. Of those 53 members, five are appointed by the presiednt; the rest are popularly elected from 48 constituencies using a first-past-the-post system (plurality). Currently, the Alliance for patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) holds 42 of the 53 seats. There is little expectation that this will significantly change.

The Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), the ruling party of the Gambia, won 43 of the 48 elected seats. Due to a boycott by several opposition parties, they ran unopposed in all but 23 of the seats. The only other party to win a seat was the one seat by the National Reconciliation party (NRP). The remining four seats went to independent candidates.

The elections will be held to fill the 45 vacant parliamentary seats.

In the first round of the 2012 Presidential election, Tibilov received 42.5% of the vote (his opponent, David Sanakoyev, received only 25%). In the second round Tibilov was elected president with 54% of the vote.

Because no candidate received a majority of the votes cast, the run-off election will be between Leonid Tibilov (42%) and David Sanakoyev (25%).

Incumbent President José Ramos-Horta failed to garner enough votes to finish in the top two positions. Thus, this run-off will be between opposition leader Francisco Guterres and former guerrilla leader Taur Matan Ruak.

Results from the presidential election have former armed forces chief winning with 61 per cent of votes counted.

This is a non-partisan election.

This race seems to be between three candidates: incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy of the Union for Popular Movement (UMP), François Hollande of the Socialist party (PS), and Marine Le Pen of the Front National (FN).

The first round saw Le Pen receive 18% of the vote, which was not enough to propel her into the second round, which will pit right-wing Sarkozy (27% of the vote in the first round) against left-wing Hollande (29%). The second round happens on May 6. Between now and then, expect Sarkozy to move right to pick up some of Le Pen's voters. Unfortunately, this will alienate some of Sarkozy's base. Also unfortunately, many of Le Pen's voters see little difference between Sarkozy and Hollande on the issues that matter. The smart money is on Hollande to win the second round. However, Sarkozy is an excellent politician; we expect the second round to be very close.

The President is elected by the national Assembly. He is the head of state and holds a largely ceremonial position.

Hungarian President Pál Schmitt resigned his post due to allegations of academic misconduct. He allegedly plagiarized parts of his dissertation (doctoral defense). Apparently, 197 pages of his 215-page dissertation contained parts plagiarized from foreign scholars.

The winner of the selection for President of Hungary was János Áder, who received 262 out of the 307 votes cast in the National Assembly.

This round ended the election season in Iran.

The conservative bloc (United Front of Conservatives ; UFC) received 60% of the votes cast (a loss of 14 seats). The reformist bloc (Democratic Coalition of Reformists; DCR) received 36% of the vote (and gained 25 seats). The Islamic Society of Engineers party (ISE), the party of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, received the most votes of any single party (35%) and the most seats in the Majlis (98).

The National Assembly is a unicameral body. It comprises 131 members (deputies), elected for five-year terms: 56 members in single-seat constituencies and 75 by proportional representation. The proportional-representation seats in the National Assembly are assigned on a party-list basis amongst those parties that receive at least 5% of the total of the number of the votes.

The previous National Assembly election was on May 12, 2007. As such, we expect the next to be in late May 2012. The election is now set for May 6, 2012.

Of the nine parties who contested the elections, the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) received the most votes across Armenia. This resulted in 71 party-list seats. The second-place party was the Prosperous Armenia party (BHK), who received 30% of the vote and 34 party-list seats. The 41 constituency seats will be decided upon in the next week.

As no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a run-off election is scheduled for May 6, 2012, between incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy of the UMP and François Hollande of the PS.

In an election night that was closer than many expected, François Hollande beat Nicolas Sarkozy 52% to 48%. Thus ends the right's reign, which stretched back to 1995 when Jacques Chirac beat Lionel Jospin.

Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Greece in April 2012. Originally scheduled for sometime in 2013 (in accord with the constitution), they were moved to April 2012 for one main reason: The Greek debt crisis. One of the conditions to receive the loans was to form a coalition government and hold the elections to be held a year early. The date for the election was not set until late April.

Commentators expect a win for the parties opposed to the IMF- (and German-) imposed austerity measures. Parties looking to strengthen the safety nets and eliminate the debt through growth (not restriction) should do well as there is a lot of resentment in the streets of Athens.

The New Democracy party (ND) lost 15% at the polls, but received 17 more seats than in the previous election (now at 108 seats). This made them the first party, overtaking the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) who fell to third place with only 41 seats. This massive shift was due to PASOK supporting the austerity measures and ND fighting them. Furthermore, the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) gained 39 seats over the previous election to finish at 52, taking the position of second party. Right-wing Independent Greeks (ANEL), who split from New Democracy, received 11% of the vote and 33 seats.

The President of Serbia is the popularly-elected head of state. He is elected to a five-year term, which can be renewed once. The current president, Boris Tadić (Dempcratic Party), resigned his post on April 5, 2012, to force the presidential election to correspond to the parliamentary election. Tadić has been president of Serbia since 2004, but since Serbia only became independent in 2006, Tadić is allowed to run for re-election.

Boris Tadić received a plurality of the votes cast in the May 6, 2012, election. However, since he did not receive a majority of the votes cast, he will face Timoslav Nikolić (Serbian Progressive Party) in a run-off election on May 20. Tadić received 25.3% of the vote to Nikolić's 25.1%.

Recent piolling suggests that the opposition Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) will win a plurality of seats. The current first party in the National Assembly, the Democratic Party of Serbia (DS) is polling more than 5% less than the SNS. Neither party, however, is polling a majority of the country. Thus, the new National Assembly will be a coalition government, as well.

All 250 seats in the National Assembly were up for election. Before this election, the first party was For a European Serbia (ZES), which held 102 seats. After the election, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won 24% of the vote and 73 seats. The ZES suffered from splits and reorganizations since the 2008 election and no longer exists. However, the former leader of the ZES, Boris Tadić, is the head of the Serbian Democratic Party (DS) which only received 22% of the vote and 68 seats.

Originally scheduled for 31 May 2009. Postponed to 11 October 2009, then to 16 March 2010, then to sometime in 2011, now scheduled for February 2012. It is now postponed to be within 90 days of the Constitutional Referendum. It is now scheduled for May 7, 2012.

It may be postponed again to reflect events on the ground in Syria.

The National People's Assembly is the lower house of parliament for Algeria. Its 389 members are elected through a party-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.

Reuters reports that election observers will be allowed to moniter this election.

The President of Serbia is the popularly-elected head of state. He is elected to a five-year term, which can be renewed once. The current president, Boris Tadić (Dempcratic Party), resigned his post on April 5, 2012, to force the presidential election to correspond to the parliamentary election. Tadić has been president of Serbia since 2004, but since Serbia only became independent in 2006, Tadić is allowed to run for re-election. Boris Tadić received a plurality of the votes cast in the May 6, 2012, election. However, since he did not receive a majority of the votes cast, he will face Timoslav Nikolić (Serbian Progressive Party) in a run-off election on May 20. Tadić received 25.3% of the vote to Nikolić's 25.1%.

The first presidential election for the Arab Republic of Egypt since the resignation of Hosni Mubarak is planned for the end of May. Officially vacant, the winner of this election will replace acting-president Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

This election is now officially scheduled for May 23 and 24, 2012. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, then the second round election will take place on June 16 and 17, 2012.

No candidate received a majority of the votes cast. The top two candidates were Mohamed Morsi and Ahmed Shafik. The former is of the Freedom and Justice Party; the latter, a Prime Minister under Mubarak. Hamdeen Sabahi of the pro-Western Dignity Party came in a close third. Protests broke out because the run-off election will be between an Islamist and the old regime.

Lesotho is a one party dominant state with the Lesotho Congress for Democracy in power. Opposition parties are allowed, but are widely considered to have no real chance of gaining power. Currently, however, the LCD holds only 62 of the 120 seats in the National Assembly, down 15 from the previous election. Thus, if trends continue, the LCD will have to govern in a coalition.

At least, this was the view until the beginning of February. At that point, the Prime Minister decided to leave the LDC and form a new party, the Ntsu Democratic Congress (NDC). This postponed the parliamentary elections. As parliament's terms ends on March 15, and as Lesotho's constitution requires general elections within three months of the dissolution of Parliament, the next parliamentary elections will be held on May 6, 2012 May 26, 2012.

The Senate of Lesotho has 33 members: 22 are hereditary chiefs and 11 are selected by the King of Lesotho.

The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly. The candidate must receive three-fifths of the vote by the fifth vote, otherwise there will be new Assembly elections.

The Albanian Parliament elected Bujar Nishani of the Democratic Party of Albania with 73 votes (out of 76 cast and out of 140 possible votes). This they did on the fourth ballot. The first four ballots were held on May 30, June 4, June 8, and June 11.

43 constitutencies, 38 voted in favor of the referendum.

The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Members of the Senate are indirectly elected based on proportional representation by the Provincial Assemblies. Each of the 25 provinces elects four senators, with the exception of the city-province of Kinshasa, which elects 8. Elected senators serve 5 year terms.

The first presidential election for the Arab Republic of Egypt since the resignation of Hosni Mubarak is planned for the end of May. Officially vacant, the winner of this election will replace acting-president Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

This election is now officially scheduled for May 23 and 24, 2012. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, then the second round election will take place on June 16 and 17, 2012.

No candidate received a majority of the votes cast. The top two candidates were Mohamed Morsi and Ahmed Shafik. The former is of the Freedom and Justice Party; the latter, a Prime Minister under Mubarak. Hamdeen Sabahi of the Dignity Party (a left-wing Nasserist party) came in a close third. Protests broke out because the run-off election will be between an Islamist and the old regime—with no representation of the left end of the spectrum in the election.

As the elected parliament was unable to form a government, the President called for new elections. If there is little change in the composition of the Hellenic Parliament, expect the usual rivals (ND and PASOK) to form an unstable coalition that will last only until Grecian eyes turn away from austerity and the IMF package.

Papua New Guinea suffers from an unlikely bout of political instability. Its source is the Prime Minister. Actually, its source is the question of who the legitimate Prime minister is: Sir Michael Somare or Peter O'Neill. The Supreme Court sides with Somare (National Alliance Party); the parliament, O'Neill (People's national Congress). The reality: The Prime minister is appointed by the Governor General and has the support of the majority coalition in the National Parliament. Unfortunately, those two requirements conflict here.

The parliamentary election will begin on Saturday, June 23, 2012, and end on July 6, 2012. Currently, the National Alliance Party holds a plurality of 30 of the 109 seats; the People's National Congress, only three.

The State Great Hural is the unicameral Parliament of Mongolia. All 76 members represents 26 multi-member constituencies, and are elected by bloc vote for a term of four years. The election is only valid if 50% of the electorate vote. Mongolian citizens are allowed to vote from the age of 18 if they live in Mongolia. They may be elected to office at the age of 25. The government is dissolved and new elections are called if the prime minister or half of the minsters in the Cabinet resign. The Hural can also be dissolved if the President dissolves it or if two-thirds of the Hural's members vote for dissolution.

The Mongolian People's Party held 46 seats prior to this election. We expected the MPP to continue its hold on parliament, but would lose seats because of the economic downturn and the perception of corruption. We were wrong. The preliminary results suggest that the Democratic Party won a majority in the State Great Hural. While the party list seats are not official, the constituency seats have the Democratic Party at least 20 seats to the Mongolian People's Party's 15. As the results become official and complete (and as I locate a Mongolian translator), we will keep you abreast of the results.

Incumbent President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson is running for re-election. It is a sign of his poor planning that he is being challenged by not one, but by seven other candidates; usually, the Icelandic President runs unopposed. Grímsson originally stated that he would run for re-election, but a petition encouraged him to run (much like José Ramos-Horta in Timor-Leste).

The latest (late June) opinion polls had the incumbent in second place behind media personality Þóra Arnórsdóttir. However, Þóra had to suspend her campaign as she gave birth to her daughter. This interruption allowed Grímsson to close the gap. Some polls have him in the lead.

According to official results, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson won reelection with 53% of the vote. This makes him the longest-serving presidenet of the Republic of Iceland. His nearest competitor, Ðóra Arnórsdóttir, received only 33% of the vote.

The Senát is Senegal's upper house of parliament. The 100 seats are selected for five-year terms. Actually, 65 of the seats are chosen by the president, thus ensuring a friendly Senate for Macky Sall. The remaining 35 seats are selected by local councillors. Completing the Sall Revolution in the Senate will be easy. His problem will be the National Assembly.

The National Assembly is Senegal's lower house of parliament. The 150 seats are elected for five-year terms. Currently, the party of former President Abdoulaye Wade holds 131 seats. Current President Macky Sall hopes that this election will usher in a majority for his new party, the Alliance for the Republic (APR). Should this happen, it will complete the Sall Revolution, and Wade will fade from memory. That Wade lost the presidential election speaks favorably for the chances of the APR. That Sall is on record saying “A president without a majority cannot govern and we would find ourselves at an impasse,” increases the importance of this election to his supporters. Finally, that voter turnout is usually low in Senegal means Sall has a good chance to obtain his needed majority.

President Macky Sall postponed the National Assembly elections until July 1, 2012 (from June 17, 2012).

President Sall's coalition wins the National Assembly overwhelmingly, carrying 119 out of the available 150 seats. Former President Wade's Senegalese Democratic Party won only 12 seats, down from 131. However, turnout was a mere 37%, signalling a lack of excitement among the Senegalese for President Macky Sall and his control of the government.

The Public National Conference will be the transitional legislative body for Libya. Among the usual legislative acts, the PNC will select the members of the Constituent Authority, which will draw up the new constitution. Once the constitution is drafted, it will be put to a referendum. The election is planned for June 19, 2012. The election is postponed until sometime in the first half of July. The election date is now July 7, 2012.

The National Forces Alliance received 48% of the party votes cast. This translated into 39 of the 80 party seats in the General National Congress. The remaining 120 seats are pledged to independents; thus, independents will determine the structure and flavor of the General National Congress.

The parliament of the Republic of the Congo is a bicameral legislature. Its lower house is the National Assembly. The 137 members of the lower house are elected from single-member majoritarian constituencies, with run-off elections if needed. This electoral system reduces the effective number of political parties. Here, there are only four parties: the Congolese Movement for Democracy and integral Development, the Congolese Party of Labour, the Pan-African Union for Social Democracy, and the Union for Democracy and the Republic. Currently, the Congolese Party of Labour, holding 47 of the 137 seats, is the first party.

The Congolese Party of Labour won 57 of the 69 races decided in the first round. Its allies won 10.

Question:

Do you support on electoral system of single-member constituencies with each elector being entitled to cast only one vote?

While a majority of those voting did approve the referendum, the necessary turnout was not met. Thus, the referendum failed.

The President of India is its Chief of State. The President is elected by the Parliament and the 29 Vidhan Sabha (state legislatures). Thus, local elections play an important role in the selection of the Indian President.

Incumbent President Bako Sahakyan is constitutionally allowed to run for re-election. As he received over 85% of the vote in the 2007 election, there is little doubt that he will win this election convincingly.

Traian Băsescu is the current president of Romania, and has been since 2004, when he was elected by a majority of the voters. He was suspended from the Presidency by the Parliament in 2007 due to charges of corruption. In the impeachment referendum of 2007, the people supported him (74% against impeachment), and he retained the presidency. The new impeachment is due to old political feelings, charges that Băsescu plagiarized part of his thesis, and a general dislike with the austerity measures Băsescu supports. Also expect him to lose because of this last item.

The question is: Do you agree with the dismissal of Romanian President, Mr. Traian Băsescu?

Sunteţi de acord cu demiterea Preşedintelui României, domnul Traian Băsescu?

The parliament of the Republic of the Congo is a bicameral legislature. Its lower house is the National Assembly. The 137 members of the lower house are elected from single-member majoritarian constituencies, with run-off elections if needed. This electoral system reduces the effective number of political parties. Here, there are only four parties: the Congolese Movement for Democracy and integral Development, the Congolese Party of Labour, the Pan-African Union for Social Democracy, and the Union for Democracy and the Republic. Currently, the Congolese Party of Labour, holding 47 of the 137 seats, is the first party.

CONEL moved the second round of the election to August 5, 2012.

Passing the referendum would decrease the House from 51 seats to 39; the Senate, from 27 to 17.

The National Assembly is a unicameral body, with 220 members: 130 members elected by proportional representation and 90 members elected by provincial districts. Theoretically, the Assembly sits for a four-year term. The National Assembly also elects the

Angola is a one party dominant state. Expect the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) to take a majority of the seats in the National Assembly.

The Hong Kong Legislative Council will be composed of 70 seats, half by geographic constitutencies and half through functional constituencies. The legislators serve four-year terms of office.

Queen Beatrix dissolved parliament on April 23, 2012, at Prime Minister mark Rutte's request. That request followed the protest by the Party for Freedom against austerity measures in the Netherlands.

This date, announced by Hugo Chavez, is earlier than expected; Venezuela's presidential elections are usually held in December.

The Parliament of Montenegro, Skupština Crne Gore, is the unicameral legislature of Montenegro. Its 81 members are elected to four-year terms through proportional representation in a single, national district. Seat assignments are calculated using the d'Hondt method with a 3% threshold. As expected, this system produces many effective parties in parliament, although they do tend to form coalitions to maximize their electoral chances. The current first party is the center-left Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro (DPS CG), with 34 seats. It joined with the Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI) to form the Democratic Party of Socialists bloc. This bloc joined with the Social Democratic Party of Montenegro (SDP CG) and the Bosniak party (BS) to hold an absolute majority of 47 of the 81 seats in parliament.

The 2012 elections are six months ahead of schedule. The ruling coalition sought the snap elections to give them the political position necessary to negotiate joining the European Union. Observers expect the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro (DPS CG) to continue being the first party.

A referendum on approving the constitution drafted by the Icelandic Constitutional Assembly.

Palestine is currently divided into two pieces: West Bank and Gaza Strip. Because of the national elections in 2006, HAMAS won a majority of the seats to the national legislature, the Legislative Council. Unfortunately, HAMAS has powerful enemies and was not allowed to fulfill its electoral duties. Fatah, the other party in the Legislative Council, continues to assert that it is the legitimate ruler in the State of Palestine—contrary to the vote of the people. To prepare for the next elections, the Central Elections Commission began regestering voters in Gaza. They also began arresting HAMAS members. Because of this, HAMAS expelled the CEC from Gaza.

In an attempt to end the problems (these problems at least), Egypt offered Cairo as a meeting place between the two factions to allow them to select a caretaker government to steer Palestine to the next national elections. Unfortunately, Egypt cancelled the June 20 meeting.

Fatah made the announcement that local elections would be held. HAMAS objected as this pronouncement violated the agreement that the next local elections would be held in both West Bank and Gaza on the same day.

While the election is scheduled to be on October 28, 2012, there have been calls for an early election. Thus far, these calls have been resisted.

A parliamentary election is scheduled for sometime in 2012.

There will be two questions on this referendum: The first question will ask voters whether they prefer the status quo or a change in status; The second will ask voters whether they would prefer independence, statehood or free association in the case of a status change.

The House of Assembly is the unicameral parliament for the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The Chief of State is the monarch of the United Kingdom (currently Queen Elizabeth II), as represented by her Governor-General on the Islands. The Head of Government is the Prime Minister, who is elected by the majority party in the House of Assembly. Because the Islands elects its members from single-member districts (15 of them), there are just two main parties: the Progressive National Party and the People's Democratic Movement. In the 2007 elections, the Progressive National Party won 13 of the 15 elected seats.

Due to ministerial corruption (selling Crown land for personal gain), the United Kingdom suspended the Islands' self-government in 2009, vesting executive power in the Governor-General. This 2012 election will mark the Islands' return to self-government.

Incumbent President Ernest Bai Koroma won election in 2007 with 55% of the vote in the second round. He was once again selected by his party to represent them in the campaign. However, as Sierra leone is a multi-party democracy, this selection does not mean he will win. In fact, the global economic downturn may put him on the back bench in November.

Of the 124 seats in the House of Representatives, 112 are popularly elected in multimember constituencies using proportional representation. The remaining 12 are reserved for the chiefs of Sierra Leone.

The All People's Congress currently holds a plurality of the seats (59). This is typical as Sierra Leone is a multi-party democracy in which there are three major parties and several smaller ones.

The Nepalese Constituent Assembly is the unicameral parliament for Nepal. Its primary purpose is to draft a new constitution for Nepal. As the previous Constitutent Assembly (seated in 2008 for its two-year term, extended to four) was unable to do this due to political skirmishes, it dissolved itself, setting November 22, 2012, as the next election—almost six months in the future.

It appears as though the Nepali election will take place in March 2013, if the Constituent Assembly does not provide the necessary framework for the Electoral Commission to operate.

The unicameral National Assembly of Burkina Faso is the country’s legislative body. In 1995, it became the lower house of a bicameral Parliament, but the upper house (Chamber of Representatives) was abolished in 2002. Members are elected by direct popular vote in multi-member constituencies (21 from one national constituency and 90 from 13 regional constituencies — 2 to 10 per region) using the party-list proportional representation system. All members serve five-year terms.

This election is scheduled for May 2012.

The House of Assembly is the lower house of the Bermudan parliament. The upper house, the Senate, is an appointive body.

The National Council is the upper house of the Bhutanese parliament. There are 25 members, 20 elected from a non-partisan election, and five appointed by the Druk Gyalpo (Monarch of Bhutan).

National Council elections are scheduled for December 2012, postponed from December 2011.

The Danish government has proposed a referendum on the abolition of Denmark's opt-outs from the European Union; the Common Security and Defence Policy, citizenship, police and justice and specifically the adoption of the euro. It is the intention of the Danish government to hold the referendum before the end of its parliamentary term in 2011.

This did not happen. The referendum is tentatively scheduled for 2012.

Indefinitely postponed (coup). Originally scheduled for 31 May 2009. Postponed to 11 October 2009, then to 16 March 2010, and may be held in 2011. Scheduled for December 29, 2011. Postponed until sometime in 2012.

In the event of no candidate receiving a majority of the vote in the first round, a second round will be held one week later.

As a result of the military coup, the election was postponed, Carlos Gomes Júnior (the main candidate) was arrested, and Mohamed Ialá Embaló (the opposition candidate) was also arrested.

The referendum is to change the constitution to allow for the president to be elected in a different manner. The ruling party says that passing the referendum will solve the political stalemate keeping Moldova from electing a president. Once the referendum passes (if it passes), presidential elections will be held within one month.

This referendum may never happen. Once the new president was elected, the need for the constituional referendum passed.

According to the constitution, a presidential election must be held sometime in 2012. The first round is scheduled for April 29, 2012. If no candidate received 50%+1, the run-off election will be held on May 13, 2012.

There was a coup d'état on March 21. The soldiers who staged the coup claimed it was due to the mishandling of the Tuareg insurgency. Unfrotunately, the power vacuum that ensued allowed the Tuareg rebellion to extend and consolidate its power over the entire northern region of Mali, even claiming Timbuktu.

According to the constitution, a presidential election must be held sometime in 2012. The first round is scheduled for April 29, 2012. If no candidate received 50%+1, the run-off election will be held on May 13, 2012.

There was a coup d'état on March 21. The soldiers who staged the coup claimed it was due to the mishandling of the Tuareg insurgency. Unfrotunately, the power vacuum that ensued allowed the Tuareg rebellion to extend and consolidate its power over the entire northern region of Mali, even claiming Timbuktu.

The (post-coup) leaders of Mali have cancelled this election.

Originally scheduled fro July 22, 2012. This election was cancelled by the coup leaders.

Senate terms are six years, with a third of the chamber elected every two years. The last Senate election in Mauritania was November 8, 2009. Thus, the next Senate election will be held in November 2011.

This election did not take place. It should take place in 2012.

The ruling party, Al-Mithaq, holds 41 of the 95 seats. The second party, Rally of Democratic Forces (Regroupement des Forces Démocratiques; RFD), holds only 15.

The Mauritanian National Assembly election is scheduled for October 1, 2011. It has been postponed to October 16, 2011. The election has been indefinitely postponed. The election is scheduled for March 31, 2012. The election is now set for May 2102. The election has been indefinitely postponed.

Due to the political disputes between the leading parties (Fatah and Hamas), the election has been postponed to after April 2012 May 4, 2012 after June 2012.

Due to the political disputes between the leading parties (Fatah and Hamas), the election has been postponed to after April 2012 May 4, 2012 after June 2012.

The Darfur Peace Agreement (the Abuja Agreement of 2006) included the provision for a referendum to be held throughout the Darfur region to determine the permanent status of that region within the Republic of Sudan. There are two options: Creation of the region called Darfur Region; Retention of the status quo.

The National Election Commission website has yet to update its referendum calendar to reflect the referendum's postponement.

President Jahjaga, elected in 2011, stated that she would only serve until the constitutional changes were made and the president of Kosovo became a popularly-elected position. This election may be postponed until 2013 to coincide with the parliamentary election.

Originally scheduled for September 2010, the parliamentary elections were moved to sometime in 2012.

Originally scheduled for September 2010, the parliamentary elections were moved to sometime in 2012.

The election of the Assembly of the Representatives of Yemen was postponed two years from April 27, 2009, to give more time for reforms to take place. These elections were further postponed to an unspecified time in 2011 as a result of the continuing unrest and calls for reforms in Yemen.

Robert Mugabe seeks to win yet another term of office.

A constitutional referendum on changing the constitution of Zimbabwe. This will be held after the Constitutional Convention prepares a draft.

The referendum was originally scheduled for late June 2011, but has been postponed to September 2011. The date has yet to be set (as of September 1), so there is doubt as to whether this vote will happen soon.

The date was missed. The referendum is now scheduled for 2012—sometime.