Beforehand I was sceptical about the value
of election observation.
My second experience
of election observation was in South Africa in 1994.
An overview of all stages
of an election observation mission, from the selection of priority countries to the final report.
Not exact matches
But first there are two preliminary
observations about the difficulty
of taking the right stance during this extraordinary
election that must be considered.
One interesting
observation to be gained from these figures is that the paid - time religious programs had reached the peak
of their influence, numerically at least, almost three years before most public attention was given to them in the
election year
of 1980.
But a lack
of deeper characters and bolder political
observation means that, unlike
election night, it's an amusing evening, if nothing more.
Our friend Ben Donahower (last seen on Epolitics.com writing about online opposition research) published a nice overview
of the Best and Worst
of Campaign 2012 on Campaigns &
Elections a couple
of weeks back, which included
observations from him, me, Keya Dannenbaum, Brian Hanf and Geoff Sharpe.
As the founder
of the EU's # 150 million Democracy & Human Rights programme, which finances all its
election observation missions worldwide, I have seen polls in Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Palestine, Russia and many others.
One final
observation is that there is more to an
election than just the day
of voting.
A couple
of observations: first, note how early these guys are being hired — the
election was only a week ago, and the new media team is already being put into place.
The Central Regional Director
of the NCCE, Nicolas Ofori Boateng who made the
observation, said the situation had influenced voter turnout at district level
elections over the past years, as the electorates had lost confidence or felt betrayed by the assembly members.
But there are a number
of problems with these
observations as a way
of looking at the results
of this year's local
elections.
The
election observation mission is led by a 32 - year old, inexperienced member
of the European Parliament (MEP).
This highlights another important outcome
of the
observation of the 2015
election - the opportunity for parliamentarians and electoral officials from other countries to observe and learn from the UK's successes.
Although there is no direct relation between
election observation and successful
elections an independent observer mission has a number
of benefits.
Our friend Ben Donahower (last seen on Epolitics.com writing about online opposition research) published a nice overview
of the Best and Worst
of Campaign 2012 on Campaigns &
Elections a couple
of weeks back, which included
observations from him, me, Keya Dannenbaum, Brian Hanf and Geoff...
What they're saying: «From our
observations, there is a great deal
of anxiety among the public regarding nearly every part
of the electoral process,» Dr. Martin Mwondha, national co-ordinator, Citizens
Election Observers Network — Uganda.
He observed that with the successful
observation of the voter registration and general
elections, the group was now better prepared to observe the remaining set
of elections.
This
observation and assertion is grounded on the clear understanding and full knowledge
of the Traditional NDC Members and even the National Executive Committee (NEC)
of the NDC, that the Parliamentary Primaries which was held on the 22nd November, 2015 to elect a candidate was fraught and marred with violence, intimidations, fraud and false accusations spearheaded by Sam George, one
of the candidates, for which reason the result
of that
elections could not be said or taken to represent the Will and aspirations
of the majority
of the NDC membership in the constituency and the country at large.
Owen Bennett followed Farage around during he
election and his conversations and
observations formed the basis for Following Farage: On the Trail
of the People's Army (Biteback # 12.99).
Shehu expressed pleasure at what he called the world body's accurate
observation of the trends in President Muhammadu Buhari's government, which he said could only lead down the path
of free and fair
elections come 2019.
Ahead
of the 2015 General
Election, Anthony Seldon wrote a clear introduction to this expert volume
of essays, setting out the
observation that David Cameron's place in history was already secured: for holding the coalition itself together; significantly improving the economic outlook; overseeing some steady domestic reform; restoring dignity to the PM's office; and winning the Scottish referendum (25).
Finn's
observations also raise issues particularly germane to the 2015 General
Election: that an unintended net Coalition effect is the genuine emergence
of four - party politics at Westminster (at that stage envisaged as being Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats and UKIP).
CODEO has since grown to become the largest independent and non-partisan domestic
election observation coalition in Ghana dedicated to the promotion
of free, fair and transparent
elections in Ghana.
YIAGA, which is one
of the groups accredited for the coverage
of the Anambra governorship
election observers in a press briefing to unveil pre-
election observations through its project, Watching - The - Vote said it gathered that there is high enthusiasm among electorate, security and the INEC in the state.
Susan Hyde points out that even semi-democratic countries invite
election observation, despite the risk
of international criticism, in part because refusing observers is taken as an admission
of electoral malpractice.
As a side note, I canvassed for Hochul and Weprin in those
elections and my analysis reflects my unscientific
observations from knocking on hundreds
of doors in those two districts.
Here, he adapted Louis Begley's novel with Jim Taylor (Jurassic Park III,
Election) and uses his powers
of observation to spotlight a lot
of the strangeness
of ordinary people.
Though he contemplated turning his
observations into a nonfiction account
of the political process, Neel instead turned to fiction to craft a gripping look at what might happen if nefarious forces tried to subvert a presidential
election.
The Paradox
of the Zero Bound Subpar Economic Recovery Gets Premium Market Valuation Wall Street Earnings Expectations Ignore Economic Divergences The Great Divergence An Update on International Market Valuations Business Cycles,
Election Cycles, and Potential Risks An Update on Valuations and Forward Earnings Assumptions Bond Yields, Earnings Yields, and Inflation A View from the NBER Recession Indicators Three
Observations on Third Quarter Earnings Forward Looking Measures Still Don't Provide Evidence for a V - Shaped Recovery This Earnings Season, Watch Sales Forward Earnings Imply a Return to Near - Record Profit Margins Without Phoenix Stocks, Volume Continues to Contract Is the Job Market Ready for a Recovery?
When this is done for predicting
elections, say, something called «stratification» is used, where
observations are qualified by (in this case) spatial extent, time
of day, and other auxiliary variables and the response state
of atmosphere considered as conditioned on these, and the model evaluated comparably, where it can be.
Althouse makes the interesting
observation that at the time
of the November 2000
election, there were no legal blogs to speak
of, and that things would have unfolded «differently if there had been legal bloggers picking through the fast - accumulating wreckage hour by hour.
Anyway, what I'd like to do here is presume Trump's defeat in advance and make a few
observations about democracy, the rule
of law and the importance
of humour in
elections.