election fraud

A Russian election observer who exposed several accounts of mass rigging following last December's Duma parliamentary poll has been assaulted outside his home in Moscow, just weeks before the date of the court case against the election riggers. In hospital with cerebral concussion, it looks as though Grigori Belonuchkin might not be well enough testify in the case. Read more...

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In their fourth day of waiting for election results, frustrated voters are imagining what their lives might be like after 28 years of dictatorial rule. Here are our Observers from the country's hopes and predications. Read more...

 

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The Zimbabwean capital of Harare is teeming with rumours following Saturday's elections. If you believe everything you hear then Mugabe has fled the country and militants are about to ambush the government. For Bev Clark, our Observer in the city, the government is delaying the results, which have been rigged to favour Mugabe, to avoid riots. Read more...

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It's two days since voters cast their ballot in Zimbabwe and the results are still not out. While the opposition claims a landslide victory and supporters prepare to welcome their new president, observers are advising them not to get over excited. Indeed, many suggest President Robert Mugabe is using the delay to steal the vote. Read more...

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Vote-rigging, banning candidates and censorship are all part of a traditional Russian election, according to many of the country’s bloggers. But this year, despite a clear front-runner, tales of even more ingenious methods are emerging on the blogosphere. Caught vote-rigging red handed? Just scream “terrorist”. Read more…

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Photo of a voting slip posted online by a blogger.

The Pakistani blogosphere is bursting with accounts of electoral fraud today as increasing numbers of bloggers tell tales of trickery and blind-eye attitudes in the general elections. Particularly low participation numbers make good conditions for usurpation and in the election both President Musharraf’s party and the opposition may have taken advantage of them. The accounts have yet to be confirmed by international observers. Read more…

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Although the election results in Georgia have been officially announced, they're still being contested by the opposition. The returning president Mikhail Saakashvili came first with over 50% of the votes, while his rival Levan Gachechiladze got only 25% of the share. While many Georgian bloggers are certain of fraud, others believe that this was the country's most democratic election to date. As well as this report, see the video campaign of Mikhail Saakashvili: where everyone wants him as president; from rugby players to soldiers; folk-singers to school-goers.

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An angry crowd set fire to a church near Eldoret (west Kenya) on Tuesday killing at least 35 people including women and children. Our Observer for Kenya, Fredrick Onyango, put us in contact with a pastor from Langas, a small town in the suburbs of Eldoret. With all shops closed, he explains to us how he cannot feed the sixty refugees he's currently housing in the church. Read his testimony.

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While signs of electoral fraud accumulate, the country responds to the results and the death count creeps up (250 on Tuesday morning). Our Observer Fredrick Onyango, who was pleased with election procedures on Friday, reassesses the situation today. He is particularly concerned about the amount of rumours circulating, apparently by text message. Read more...

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Smena, the website that published the video of a woman stuffing a ballot box on 2 December, has now published more images filmed in the same polling station. This second video shows the fraudsters folding the voting slips before putting them in the box. The person in charge of Smena said that they didn’t publish this film before because they wanted to wait for the reaction and denial of the authorities first. They say that they have yet more videos proving fraud.

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