election fraud

Our Observer beaten up after exposing electoral fraud

Julien — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:07:46 +0200

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

One of our Observers for Russia, Belonuchkin was knocked to the ground and kicked in the head repeatedly by two youths on Tuesday. The social activist, who is used to being called upon for advice, says that when he came out of his house to talk to the young enquirers, they immediately attacked him. Belonuchkin acted as an electoral monitor for the Russian Communist Party in several polling stations in the Moscow suburb of Dolgoprudny, though he is not himself a member of the party. Following the vote, he sent us photographic evidence of electoral fraud, which we published on Dec 5. However, despite strong proof of malpractice, the town's prosecutor's office refused to take up the case. Belonuchkin decided to initiate it himself, and was called to testify on the 15^th of this month - exactly two weeks from Tuesday.

So far, we haven't been able to get in touch with Grigori as he's still in hospital. We'll publish more on this story as soon as we have further information.

Would Zimbabwe really be better off without Mugabe?

Julien — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:00:02 +0200

The monster is cornered posted on Flickr by Sokwanele

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.

Although the word on the street is that Mugabe is about to hand over his Mercedes to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, this is far from certain. Some say that the most likely outcome of the elections is a run-off in a few days' time, buying Mugabe's ZANU party some much-needed time. There are also worries about a deal being done behind closed doors- which would mean both parties are manipulating the electoral process. Nevertheless, our Observers are already imagining a life without the iron-fisted dictator.

"The government's waiting to declare Mugabe as president"

Julien — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:22:28 +0200

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.

The Independent Results Centre, whose first estimations we published yesterday, has today released figures that show Mugabe in a far more favourable light. The current president's share of the votes has increased from 37% to 42% overnight, while opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's count has dropped from 58% to 51%.

Zimbabwe on a knife-edge awaiting poll outcome

Julien — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 17:35:29 +0200

Photo taken in Musina, South Africa, near the border with Zimbabwe, and posted by Sokwanele March 3

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.

Everybody expected Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) party to rig the election results. Mugabe has been in power for 28 years and openly admits that he will not give up his presidential throne. However, when the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party announced a 58% win in the presidential election on Monday, observers questioned whether the ruling party had done quite enough rigging. Now, a delay in the results is raising concerns that the hitch is being corrected, and when Mugabe is declared president, violence will break out. Our Observers in the country's capital predict what will happen next.

Vote-riggers can’t break their habit

Julien — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 13:13:25 +0100

Stories of ingenious election rigging in Russia are not unheard of. But in this year’s presidential election on March 2 the tales have become taller. Despite Putin’s chosen successor Dmitry Medvedev expecting an easy win, dead people still managed to rise from their graves on Sunday in order to give him an extra vote. Strange? A blogger from Moscow told us that even if their leader is sure to win, with a history of authoritarian rule, some Russians don’t know any other form of electoral success than “cheating, beating and grabbing”. A combination of grovelling campaigners and rigid habits — along with the prevailing support of the mass media — helped Medvedev sweep the polls with a landslide 70% victory. “All Russians as one man” is a Soviet idiom that has stuck fast and will die hard. And vote-riggers are even willing to set off air-raid sirens to keep it that way.

Election riddled with rigging, says blogosphere

Julien — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 19:55:05 +0100

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 this 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.

Was the election in Georgia fraudulent or not?

Julien — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:24:00 +0100

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.

35 burned alive in a church, a pastor bears witness

Julien — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 14:32:55 +0100

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.

Rumours sent by text add to violence

Julien — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 17:59:31 +0100

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.

Election fraud: new video emerges

Julien — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 11:03:35 +0100

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.