Latest content: Promoting Democracy

The Electoral Commission of Zambia has 48 hours from the close of polling stations to declare the winner of the country’s 2016 General Elections and Referendum.

The Commonwealth’s Special Adviser on Political Dialogue to Zambia has urged the country’s politicians and their followers to “stand united” and refrain from any acts or use of language which could incite electoral violence.

A spokesperson for the Commonwealth Observer Group to Zambia, Mr Kenneth Tsekoa, has urged the country’s people to play their part in ensuring peaceful and credible elections on Thursday 11 August 2016.

Full coverage as voters in Zambia go to the polls.

The Commonwealth will observe the upcoming general elections and national referendum in Zambia scheduled for 11 August 2016. The former President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, will lead the Commonwealth Observer Group.

Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has announced Professor Ibrahim Gambari as her Special Adviser on Political Dialogue to support the Electoral Commission of Zambia.

“We congratulate Nauru for participating peacefully and in high numbers in their 2016 General Election.”

The Commonwealth Observer Mission has issued an interim statement following the general election in Nauru, providing an outline of its key findings as voting draws to a close and results are tabulated.

Statement by H.E. Anote Tong, Chair of the Commonwealth Observer Mission deployed to observe Nauru’s 2016 General Election.

Former President of Kiribati Anote Tong led a team of Commonwealth election observers to Nauru for the country’s general elections, scheduled for 9 July 2016.

Electoral commissions from thirty-nine countries have welcomed the announcement of a new Commonwealth compendium of good practice to assist member countries in delivering fair, credible and inclusive elections.

At the opening ceremony for the 2016 Commonwealth Electoral Network’s Biennial Conference, Deputy Secretary-General Josephine Ojiambo spoke of democracy as a “work of constant evolution”, with election commissions bearing a leading responsibility to advance good electoral practices.

The heads of election commissions from across the Commonwealth will gather in Trinidad and Tobago next week for a major international conference aimed at advancing good practices and principles for elections.

The independent Commonwealth Observer Group has issued a report on the United Republic of Tanzania’s general elections of October 2015, which includes recommendations to boost the independence of electoral commissions in both Zanzibar and the mainland.

Commonwealth independent observers put forward recommendations to Uganda’s Government and Electoral Commission to address concerns about the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections in a report published today.

The Commonwealth Ministerial Committee on Belize, chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Barbados, Senator the Hon Maxine McClean, and comprising Barbados, Canada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Malaysia, Nigeria and Tanzania, as well as Belize and United Kingdom as observers, met on Monday, 16 May 2016, to discuss the recent events taking place in the Adjacency Zone between Belize and Guatemala. 

Senior election officials from across the Pacific this week underscored their commitment to “enhance inclusion and access for all”, as they agreed that the participation of women and disabled people in elections and protecting the independence of electoral management bodies were shared priorities.

Commonwealth election observers made a series of recommendations following St Vincent and the Grenadines's recent parliamentary elections, in a report published today.

Electoral commissions from across the Pacific are gathering in Fiji for three days from 9-11 May to discuss ways in which electoral integrity can be promoted within the region.

The final report by the Commonwealth Observer Group on the 2016 General Election in Vanuatu.

The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group has called for “clear, measurable progress” in Maldives.

The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) gathered in London on 24 February 2016 for an extraordinary meeting to discuss the outcomes of a fact-finding visit by a delegation of its members to the Maldives earlier in the month.

More than 15 million people are eligible to vote by the close of polls on Thursday 18 February, in the country’s third major elections since the restoration of multi-party politics in 2005.

As Commonwealth observers began deploying across Uganda, the group’s Chair, Olusegun Obasanjo, expresses hope that people will enjoy a peaceful and credible election on 18 February.