Subject: News from NDI: Nigerian Website Informs Public Ahead of Polls, Citizens and Government Join Forces for Transparency
From: "National Democratic Institute" <[email-masked]>
To: "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 15:07:41 -0400

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 		 [1]
 		Nigerian Website Presents Election Observation Data Ahead of New Polls
[2]

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 		September 2014 

 		 [2]

​As Nigeria prepares for national polls next year, a new website [3], the
first of its kind, uses infographics and maps to present the findings of
citizen observers from the country's 2011 presidential elections. 

The site was created by the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), Nigeria's
largest citizen election observation organization, with assistance from
NDI. TMG's parallel vote tabulation (PVT), or "quick count" in 2011
deployed trained observers to polling stations across the country to verify
official results during a time when both Nigerians and the international
community were concerned about the possibility of electoral misconduct. 

The interactive website provides data from TMG's 2011 citizen monitors, and
serves as a tool for both a voter education and for the public to measure
improvements in Nigeria's electoral process. 

"It's setting a really powerful precedent for citizen efficacy and
engagement," said Pat Merloe, NDI senior associate and director for
electoral programs. Read more » [2] 

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Legislatures and Civil Society Join Forces to Open Democratic
Decision-Making [4] 

With the goal of making parliaments around the world more open and
accessible to citizens, the Legislative Openness Working Group of the Open
Government Partnership​, co-chaired by NDI and the Congress of Chile,​
launched a campaign earlier this month to help countries share tools and
strategies for engaging tech-empowered ​constituents. ​The Global
Legislative Openness Week (GLOW), which began on the International Day of
Democracy, Sept. 15, encouraged countries to develop concrete commitments
to ​l​egislat​ive transparency. Read more» [4] 

Tunisia on Democratic Path, But Must Keep Partisanship Out of Election
Process [5] 

A pre-election assessment mission organized by NDI and the International
Republican Institute (IRI) reported that the country appears to be on a
decidedly democratic path since the beginning of its political transition
in 2011. But to maintain public confidence, it must ensure parliamentary
and presidential elections this fall are free of undue partisan
interference and manipulation, the delegation said. Read more» [5] 

Moldovans Want More Communication from Elected Officials, Poll Says [6] 

According to recent public opinion polling by NDI, pro-Russian sentiment
among citizens declined by 18 percent between February and June of this
year, while economic issues such as unemployment, corruption and poverty
are among the top concerns for Moldovans. But a majority also believes the
government needs to communicate better with citizens on issues that matter
to them, from the economy to its European Union Association Agreement. Read
more» [6] 

NDI Welcomes New Board Members [7] 

Pictured above: The NDI Board of Directors held a meeting in Jordan in
2013. 

 NDI announced this month the addition of five new members to its board of
directors. They are former U.S. Senator Edward "Ted" Kaufman of Delaware;
Ambassador Karl Inderfurth, former U.S. assistant secretary of state for
South Asian Affairs; Tamara Cofman Wittes, director of the Center for
Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution; James O'Brien, vice chair
of the Albright Stonebridge Group and former presidential envoy for the
Balkans; and Mary Cathryn Ricker, executive vice president of the American
Federation of Teachers (AFT). Read more » [7] 

Robust and Public Review Needed for Afghan Electoral Reform [8] 

NDI welcomes the conclusion of the 2014 presidential electoral process and
commends the new government's plan to form a special commission on
electoral reform. In addition to the appraisal of reforms needed to prevent
the recurrence of abuses in future elections, the Afghan people deserve a
full and public account of the 2014 electoral process, including timely
release of all data related to the runoff audit. The review of the 2014
electoral process should include a thorough inquiry into the
vulnerabilities that allowed high levels of fraud to take place, and the
investigation and prosecution of those responsible for it. Read more» [8] 

Ukraine Can Overcome Challenges to Democratic Parliamentary Elections [9] 

The integrity of Ukraine's Oct. 26 parliamentary elections will depend on
Ukrainians taking concerted, proactive steps to compensate for weaknesses
in its electoral framework and embracing new political practices, NDI said
in a pre-election assessment report released Sept. 19. "Never before has
Ukrainian democracy held so much promise and faced so many obstacles at
once," the delegation said. Read more» [9] 

Guinea Wins with Women [10] 

Last year's legislative elections in Guinea marked a major milestone for
the country as the first competitive, multi-party polls for National
Assembly since ​the country gained independence in 1958​. But women's
representation in elections still lags behind. To help ​them overcome
barriers to participation, women from six political parties came together
in Conakry to assess their parties' inclusion of women, and steps they can
take to increase the number of women candidates. Read more» [10] 

Russian Court Overturns Foreign Agent Status of Russian Election Watchdog
[11] 

The Moscow City Court has overturned a Russian government decision labeling
the Golos Association, Russia's preeminent election monitoring group, a
"foreign agent." Golos documented widespread fraud during Russia's 2011
parliamentary and 2012 presidential elections. In 2013, Golos was fined for
failure to declare itself under a 2012 "Foreign Agent Law" for receiving
foreign funding and conducting loosely-defined "political activity."
Throughout the process, Golos has maintained that it had ceased to receive
foreign funding after the passage of the law. Read more» [11] 

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