ELECTION RESULTS (July–September 2016)
Belarus: Elections for the 110-seat House of Representatives were held September 11. Results will be reported in a future issue.
Croatia: Snap elections were held September 11 for the 151-seat Parliament following the ouster of Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković and the dissolution of Parliament in June. The center-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) increased its seat share to 61, though it failed to reach a governing majority. The center-left Social Democratic Party (SDP) won 54 seats, and the Bridge of Independent Lists (Most Nezavisnih Lista) won 13 seats. As of this writing, negotiations to form a governing coalition are ongoing.
Gabon: According to official results for the August 27 presidential election, incumbent Ali Ben Bongo Ondimba of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) won 49.8 percent of the vote, narrowly defeating rival Jean Ping of the Gabonese Progress Party (PGP), who garnered 48.2 percent. EU observers questioned the unusually high turnout in Bongo’s home province of Haut-Ogooué and called for the release of results by polling station. Defeated candidate Jean Ping filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court contesting the legitimacy of the election results. Violence and looting followed the release of the results, leading to at least six civilian deaths.
Jordan: Elections for the 150-seat Chamber of Deputies were held on September 20. Results will be reported in a future issue.
Mongolia: In on June 29 parliamentary elections for the 76-seat State Great Hural, the opposition Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) won a decisive victory, garnering 45.9 percent of the vote and 65 seats. The ruling Democratic Party (DP) won 33.7 percent and 9 seats the Mongolian [End Page 179]People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) won 8 percent and 1 seat, and independent candidates won 12.3 percent and 1 seat.
Russia: Elections for the 450-seat State Duma, originally scheduled for December 4, were held September 18 instead. Results will be reported in a future issue.
São Tomé and Príncipe: After the July 17 presidential first round, results were annulled due to missing votes from the town of Maria Louise and from diaspora voters. A second round was held August 7. Incumbent Manuel Pinto da Costa boycotted the second round due to alleged fraud in the first round, which led Evaristo Carvalho of the Independent Democratic Action Party to be elected unopposed. In the first round, Carvalho had received 49.9 percent of the vote; Pinto da Costa, 25 percent; and former prime minister Maria das Neves of the Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe/Social Democratic Party, 24.8 percent.
Seychelles: In elections held September 8–10 for the 34-seat Parliament, the opposition coalition Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) won 49.6 percent of the vote and 19 seats, defeating the ruling People’s Party (PL), which won 49.2 percent and 14 seats.
Zambia: In August 11 presidential and legislative elections, incumbent Edgar Lungu of the Patriotic Front (PF) was reelected with 50.4 percent of the vote, defeating rival Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development (UPND), who garnered 47.6 percent. Hichilema filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court alleging fraud, though the Court eventually upheld the results. In concurrent balloting for the 158-seat National Assembly, Lungu’s PF party won 42 percent of the vote and 80 seats. Hichilema’s UPND won 40.4 percent and 58 seats; the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) won 2.7 percent and 3 seats; the Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) won 2.2 percent and 1 seat; and independent candidates won 9.5 percent and 14 seats. Violent protests and clashes persisted through the three-month campaign period, though observer groups found that election day was peaceful.
UPCOMING ELECTIONS (October 2016–September 2017)
Afghanistan: legislative, 15 October 2016
Armenia: parliamentary, by May 2017
Bahamas: parliamentary, by May 2017
Bulgaria: presidential, 6 November 2016 [End Page 180]
Cape Verde: presidential, 2 October 2016
Côte d’Ivoire: parliamentary, by December 2016
Democratic Republic of Congo: presidential/legislative, 27 November 2016 (likely to be postponed)
Gabon: parliamentary, by December 2016
The Gambia: presidential, by December 2016
Georgia: parliamentary, 8 October 2016
Ghana: presidential/legislative, 7 December 2016
Guyana: presidential, by December 2016; parliamentary, by November 2016
Haiti: presidential, 9 October 2016
Iran: presidential, by June 2017
Kenya: presidential/parliamentary, by August 2017
Kuwait: parliamentary, by July 2017
Lithuania: parliamentary, 9 October 2016
Macedonia: parliamentary, 11 December 2016
Mongolia: presidential, by June 2017
Montenegro: parliamentary, 16 October 2016
Morocco: parliamentary, 7 October 2016
Nicaragua: presidential/legislative, 6 November 2016
Palau: presidential/legislative, 1 November 2016
Romania: parliamentary, 11 December 2016
Saint Lucia: parliamentary, by December 2016
Singapore: presidential, by August 2017
Somalia: presidential/legislative, by October 2016
Sudan: legislative, by December 2016
Timor-Leste: legislative, by July 2017
Turkmenistan: presidential, by February 2017
Uzbekistan: presidential, 4 December 2016
Election Watch provides reports of recently decided and upcoming elections in developing nations and the postcommunist world. Some of the data for Election Watch come from IFES, a private, nonprofit education and research foundation that assists in monitoring, supporting, and strengthening the mechanics of the electoral process worldwide. For additional information, visit www.ifes.org. [End Page 181]