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Recent political earthquakes such as the assassination attempt against former president Donald Trump and President Joe Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 campaign quickly overshadowed the various court proceedings involving the [...]

The report discussed the contents of the Royal Designation Letter addressed by King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein to Jordanian Prime Minister Jaafar Hassan on September 15, 2024, to form a new government. The designation followed the conclusion of the twentieth House of Representatives elections held on September 10. The report delved into the designation letter's most significant contents. These included the elections conducted under a new election law, a pivotal development that emerged from the recommendations of the Royal Committee for Modernizing the Political System in Jordan on 3/10/2021. This law, which allocated 30% of its seats to political parties, marks a significant shift in our political landscape. The designation also addressed the perilous developments witnessed in Palestine, particularly the genocide committed by the Israeli army in Gaza and the West Bank. These actions have far-reaching repercussions on Jordanian security and politics, necessitating utmost vigilance and concern. The report concluded that the royal directives in the designation letter underscored our unwavering commitment to the Palestinian cause. They focused on internal political affairs and some economic files related to mining, attracting investments, and developing infrastructure. However, the most significant emphasis was on the constants of Jordanian foreign policy, especially its continued support for the Palestinian people against Israeli aggression and occupation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To what extent are local races across the country being increasingly driven by politics at the national level? In this article, we examine the nationalization of elections for state executive branches' primary front line legal actors in the criminal courts—local prosecutors. We seek to better understand the factors influencing prosecutor election outcomes and why these types of elections have become more nationalized in recent years. More specifically, we aim to evaluate what effect this greater nationalization has had on the electoral fates of incumbent prosecutors seeking re-election. To date, there is a paucity of scholarship on prosecutor election outcomes within political science despite their importance historically and in light of recent events. This article seeks to fill an important gap in our understanding of what drives prosecutor elections in the United States. More broadly, we believe this research helps us better understand how even these local elections can be impacted by national events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Election supervisors are part of the election organizers in Indonesia, regulated by Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning general elections. The regulation on women's representation in the Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) is contained in Article 92, paragraph 11, as much as 30% of women's representation. This research uses a qualitative approach using archival studies on various elections and affirmative regulations. The findings in this study are the results of women's quotas spread across 514 regencies/cities. Male representatives numbered 1633 (85%) and women 274 (14%) out of 1907 commissioner seats contested. This study opens further discussion for the Indonesian government to amend the election law regarding women's representation in Bawaslu, as a regulatory sanction is required if the quota is not fulfilled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the little-studied issue in Ukraine of the legislative ban on holding extraordinary, or early, elections of People’s Deputies of Ukraine during the period of the special legal regime of martial law. The subject of the research is such a type of early parliamentary elections as mid-term elections of a people’s deputy. The urgency of the researched issue is due to the ongoing martial law regime in Ukraine and the need to hold these elections. The complexity of the investigated issue is due to the legal ban on holding any elections in Ukraine during this martial law. A significant difference between ordinary and extraordinary parliamentary elections in the conditions of this martial law has been identified: the ban on holding ordinary parliamentary elections leaves the country with a valid parliament, and the ban on holding extraordinary parliamentary elections deprives the country of its current parliament. In order to investigate the legality of this ban on mid-term elections of people’s deputies, the following were analyzed: firstly, the publications of Ukrainian scientists regarding these mid-term elections of people’s deputies in the conditions of this martial law; secondly, the legislative justification of the body of state management of the election process in Ukraine regarding the non-appointment and non-holding of these interim parliamentary elections during martial law, using the example of the case of December 13, 2023. Among the main things, it was clarified: firstly, that this ban is not a norm of the Constitution of Ukraine neither for scientists nor for the state election management body; secondly, that this prohibition does not have sufficient legal force without a constitutional justification; thirdly, that this ban does not have an undeniable link of consistency with the Constitution of Ukraine: some claim that this ban corresponds to Article 64 of the Constitution of Ukraine, others claim that it does not correspond to it, but contradicts it. It is proposed to consider as an alternative to this ban on elections during this martial law the electoral qualification of martial law - a special and temporary restriction of the circle of voters for holding these byelections in the conditions of this war. A specific version of this qualification is proposed - the qualification of a legal entity [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this is to implement the law while creating a participatory election climate for the public. In the previous elections, the role of monitors was mostly focused on the D)day of voting, then what is the pattern of monitoring participation in the 2024 elections? As a non-structural state institution, this intersects with the implementation of governance so that it is the main problem in this study, where analyzing the participation of election monitors in governance is important to provide feedback in the implementation of electoral democracy. This study uses a descriptive qualitative approach with a research focus on the participation of election monitors as a representation in governance which is applied as an effort to prevent violations and other vulnerability issues. The results of the analysis show that the participation of election monitors includes policy making in the form of regulations (planning), the implementation of participation in the form of monitoring, and the resulting evaluation in the form of recommendations. At the level of governance, participation can be identified from the pattern of collaboration that shows the legitimacy of each other, upholding diversity and inclusivity both from the involvement of institutions that have a concentration on inclusive election issues and ideas built in election monitoring. In the implementation, it shows the expertise of each in showing participation to the level of public orientation so that public control is one of the important elements in realizing participatory election monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract\nPLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARYIn contrast to the extensive literature on the determinants of campaign spending and its effect on candidates’ electoral performance, comparatively less literature exists on the legal and sanctioning characteristics of political finance systems. Though some contributions have analyzed and compared the institutional designs of these financing systems, limited literature has empirically examined infractions and sanctions of electoral laws, categorized as either a crime or a misdemeanor, by the candidates. Limited knowledge exists about the political and sociodemographic profile of candidates who commit such offenses or misdemeanors, a gap this study addresses by empirically analyzing electoral law infractions. Using the case of Chile and an unpublished database of infractions of 38,246 candidates in the local elections of 2008, 2012, and 2016, as well as the legislative elections of 2009, 2013, and 2017, we present four conclusions. First, only about one-fifth of candidates commit such infractions. Second, such infractions are more common during first-tier elections, especially in deputy and senatorial elections. Third, the candidates most likely to commit such infractions are independent candidates who compete in regions remote from large urban centers, especially in rural areas. Fourth, the rise in infractions is linked to a new law that more strictly regulates candidates’ campaign spending. The study enhances our understanding of the efficacy of political finance systems and the enforcement of electoral sanctions.In general, electoral infractions are studied from the point of view of the conduct of voters or of the bodies in charge of regulating elections. Not much has been written about electoral law infractions committed by candidates. In this article, we describe and analyze those infractions committed by candidates taking as a case study the elections in Chile between 2008 and 2017 (38,246 candidates), corresponding to three municipal elections and three legislative elections. We find that about 20% of all candidates commit electoral infractions, that these infractions are more frequent in legislative elections, and that the candidates most likely to commit infractions are independents. We suggest that the rise in infractions in 2016 and 2017 responded to a series of reforms to the campaign spending law in 2016 that established new fines for minor infractions and prison sentences for serious infractions. Accordingly, this article provides a novel statistical analysis of electoral infractions in the context of a much stricter and more rigorous campaign spending law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One way to think about the “scope” of a case is based on the range of parties who are—or must be—involved in it. The broader a case’s scope in this regard, the more burdensome and costly it can be for plaintiffs to file and the more complicated and time-consuming it may be for a court to adjudicate. Requiring large numbers of parties to be involved in a case can sometimes effectively preclude otherwise meritorious suits from being filed. This is especially true in election law disputes which often arise under harried circumstances and can be subject to strict time constraints. This Essay explores doctrines courts have applied in recent years that have unnecessarily expanded the scope of certain election litigation. For example, some courts have applied Bush v. Gore’s Uniformity Principle at the remedial stage of election cases. Under this approach, equal protection concerns would arise from allowing plaintiffs to seek relief against allegedly invalid electoral rules only for themselves, rather than for all impacted voters within the jurisdiction. Such reasoning has led some courts to hold that relief is unavailable unless a challenge to election-related legal provisions is brought by, or otherwise on behalf of, all such voters. Because serving as the plaintiff in a case and obtaining a favorable judgment are legally significant distinctions, courts need not expand the scope of election litigation by applying Bush’s Uniformity Principle at the remedial stage. Other courts have applied standing doctrine to expand the range of defendants who must be involved in election litigation. These jurisdictions have prohibited plaintiffs from suing a state’s chief election officers (such as a Secretary of State or members of a state election board) to challenge a state law, regulation, or other election-related provision which county officials are primarily responsible for implementing or enforcing. They have instead required plaintiffs to identify, serve, and sue each county election administrator throughout the state, often totaling scores of defendants. Courts need not apply standing doctrine in this manner, however, in order to ensure they can redress plaintiffs’ alleged harm. Since state and county election officials work together to conduct elections, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(d)(2) would likely allow a court to enforce an order involving state election officials against their county counterparts. Moreover, the authority of state election officials in most jurisdictions to make rules, issue directives and guidance to county administrators, and otherwise assure uniformity in elections should also generally be deemed sufficient to ensure such state-level defendants can assure compliance with court orders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the recent ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Peter Obi v. INEC (2023), with a particular focus on Issue Two, which concerns the Independent National Electoral Commission's (INEC) failure to electronically transmit the presidential election results. The PEPC concluded, among other points, that the Electoral Act 2022 does not mandate the electronic transmission of results, except through the INEC Regulation 2022. This work contends that the PEPC erred in this ruling by failing to consider the principle of lexspecialis derogat legi generali, which holds that specific rules regarding the conduct of an election, such as INEC Regulations 2022, are as important as the Electoral Act 2022. The study concludes that the PEPC's failure to consider this principle renders its ruling on Issue Two per incuriam, where relevant legal principles and statutes were not properly applied by the court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Anbar University for Law & Political Sciences is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study attempts to reveal the impact of distribution inequality of electoral districts on the election outcomes in Jordan. Since 1993 elections, electoral laws and regulations have been adopted that underestimate population density in Jordan, meaning that some regions with lower population densities have obtained more parliamentary seats than regions with high population density, including the governorates of Amman, Irbid and Zarqa. Successive Jordanian governments' strategies have intentionally ignored electoral geography, which reduces the chances of mainly the Palestinian component obtaining significant numbers of seats in the Parliament. Governments have also sought to mitigate the chances of Islamic, Leftist and Nationalist parties obtaining a majority of seats in the Parliament, and thus being able to exert effective pressure to hold the executive authority accountable and responsible for its actions. In addition, low levels of confidence of most Jordanian citizens in Parliament have resulted in a lack of true desire to vote, which has led to an increase in the percentage of wasted votes compared with the cast votes. The study concludes that the executive authority's domination in drawing and dividing electoral districts as part of its hegemony and control over the general policy of elections has purposefully neglected population density and geographical criteria. In light of the study results, an urgent need arises to endorse an election law that accomplishes the standards of distributive justice, maximizes the role of supportive and opposition parties, raises citizen confidence in Parliaments, reduces the percentage of wasted votes and finally activates a truly representative Parliament. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Election Commission of Sri Lanka is riding a wave of praise after completing a peaceful presidential election on 21st September 2024. Less than a month before, however, the commission was found responsible for a breach of fundamental rights for its failure to conduct local government elections scheduled for 2023. This blogpost argues that the landmark decision sends a strong signal to all guarantor institutions in Sri Lanka to maintain their independence and to use their powers to discharge their functions.

Bawaslu as an election supervisory agency has the authority, one of which is to decide on an election violation. If you look at the process of resolving election violations, it can also be related to the concept of justice, because election violations are not a category of ordinary crimes, but extraordinary crimes whose resolution requires the concept of justice in order to realize a good democracy. The election law has contained the formulation of delix and the threat of sanctions and penalties for election violations, including the mechanism for resolving them. In a theoretical study, the conviction of a person is closely related to criminal responsibility. The focus of the discussion on legal issues is how the process of resolving election violations against the concept of justice and the implications of the decision on election violations by Bawaslu on KPU policy making. This research is a type of qualitative research. This research emphasizes on election management institutions, so the main approach used is the institutional network approach to Bawaslu, namely through a legal approach and a conceptual approach. Meanwhile, the legal material uses laws related to elections and its derivatives, namely the Bawaslu regulations in dealing with election violations. The influence of a Bawaslu decision is very important in deciding election violations, if the independence of the Bawaslu is still attached and its dignity is maintained, then the democratic process in this country will run very well and fairly for all people who want electoral justice to be realized. With the importance of an Bawaslu decision in deciding a violation, Bawaslu itself must be far from being neutral. The code of ethics as the guardian of the dignity of democracy must be strictly guarded. Revision of Law 7 of 2017 concerning Special General Elections regarding administrative sanctions against administrative violations committed by election participants and election organizers is urgently needed. The sanctions given should be clearer and firmer so that the sanctions imposed are commensurate with the type of violation committed, which in the end can serve as a deterrent so that the election organizers work according to applicable norms/rules and have a deterrent effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article argues that the set of contested elections procedures in the U.S. House of Representatives represent inadequate safeguards against abuse in the increasingly heated political environment and must be improved to protect principles of democratic government, particularly honoring the wishes of voters. Topics include history of the elections power within the House, the purpose behind the Federal Contested Elections Act (FCEA), and how these issues could be resolved.

Copyright of Route Educational & Social Science Journal (Ress Journal) is the property of Ress Academy Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article examines the role of the progressive forces in recent revolutions in Kyrgyzstan, and asks why their movements have not led to real political change in this Central Asian country. In Kyrgyzstan, the progressive forces are identified with such groups as young people, the educated middle class, lawyers, and journalists. Their discourses, such as demands for fair elections and the rule of law, have been central to the three revolutions that have taken place in Kyrgyzstan since 2005, as has their concept of Umut , or hope. The central thesis of this article is that, although these forces may have led recent revolutionary movements, they have proved unable to establish political dominance after the completion of revolutionary processes. Instead, after each revolutionary attempt, the rules of "local politics" have been consistently reasserted in Kyrgyzstan. These are rules based on the power of informal social and political networks governed by rules of reciprocity and the pursuit of self-interest. In spite of this recurring outcome, the progressive forces retain their commitment to hope, and it is the prism of hope which this paper uses to make sense of revolution's failure. In this paper, a contribution to the anthropology of revolution, that idea of hope is deconstructed: this permits a greater focus on how and why the promises of revolution have, so far, been betrayed and unfulfilled in contemporary Kyrgyzstan, where the idea of hope plays a fundamental representational and political role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does introducing de jure political equality affect legislative representation and the identity of elected politicians? This article exploits differences in enfranchisement rates across electoral districts to present evidence on the consequences of one of the most sizable franchise extensions in European history, the 1912 Italian reform, which trebled the electorate and left electoral rules and district boundaries unchanged. Enfranchisement increased the vote share of left-wing social reformers but had no impact on their parliamentary representation, on the parliamentary representation of the aristocracy and traditional elites, or on political competition. I document and analyze elite's efforts to minimize the political impact of enfranchisement: social reformers were systematically defeated in districts that saw a surge in political violence as well as in districts where conservative candidates had signed a secret pact (the Gentiloni pact) with the Catholic Electoral Union. I discuss the implications of these findings for theories of democratization and elite persistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender quotas in legislative elections are a central component of institutional reform to foster women's inclusion in politics. However, stigma remains that women elected under quotas may be of lower quality than the men that they replace. We investigate how quotas affect the qualifications of parliamentarians, by capitalizing on the unique variation of national electoral systems used in European Parliament elections over its entire 40-year history. We provide compelling evidence that quotas are associated with higher overall levels of educational attainment in parliamentary delegations. Quotas increase the number of educated women within delegations while simultaneously increasing the level of education held by the remaining men. Thus, we provide robust support for the impact of quotas on legislator qualities in a way that has thus far been observed in only single country contexts and fixed time periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the history and impact of the Voting Rights Act 1965 and the South's current political landscape more than a decade after the devastating 2013 Shelby v. Holder Supreme Court decision, which eviscerated the landmark civil rights legislation. The VRA has been under constant attack in recent years, with efforts to reduce its effectiveness. These attempts have led to the implementation of suppressive voting laws and restrictive election policies by Southern lawmakers. The region has become more racially diverse, but these measures dilute the influence of a diverse electorate. With the 2024 election quickly approaching, debates on voting and elections are at an all-time high across the country. In response to systematic efforts to undermine democracy, grassroots activists have come together to fight these measures and offer new proposals to fully restore the VRA and build a more inclusive and sustainable democracy across the South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of unequal electoral turnout poses serious concerns for both the overall health of democratic politics, and the extent to which certain groups exert an unequal influence on the political process. This article explores the relationship between electoral rules such as: compulsory voting, electoral system proportionality, and voter registration with voter inequality in terms of age, income and education. This is examined using cross-national survey data and cross-level interactions between electoral institutions and socio-demographic variables. The final dataset is based on waves 2–4 of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems, and contains information on 133,000 individuals, within 45 countries, between 2001 and 2016. The results indicate that compulsory voting is associated with a significant reduction in turnout inequalities, while the effects of proportionality and voter registration are somewhat more mixed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article traces the history of attempts to institute compulsory voting in the U.S. during the Progressive Era and presents pro-democracy and reformers' arguments on compulsory voting. Topics discussed include Colonial Era statutes imposing fines for non-voting, legislative and academic efforts to institute compulsory voting, compulsory voting proposals from the 1930s to the present, right to vote as a privilege or duty, voter turnout and state enforcement of compulsory voting.

The presidential nomination model through the threshold is a provision regulated in the election law. The practice of presidential elections in Indonesia is often a difficult moment for both political parties and citizens. Several decisions of the Constitutional Court related to the review of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning Elections, particularly regarding the threshold for declaring Article 222 of the Election Law not contradicting the constitution, meaning that Article 222 of the Election Law is considered to have complied with Article 6A paragraph (2) of the Constitution, but from the results research on article 222 of the Election Law still does not reflect the meaning contained in article 6A paragraph 2 of the Constitution. This research aims to build a presidential nomination model in the 2024 general election in Indonesia. This research is a doctrinal research using a case approach and a legal approach. This study was conducted by looking at the practice of the electoral threshold model for the 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019 periods as well as the provisions stipulated in the Election Law and the constitution. The results of the study indicate that it is necessary to form an ideal presidential candidacy model, namely using the maximum threshold as a requirement, in order to produce qualified presidential candidates who become leaders who are responsible, have integrity and are the hope of all Indonesian citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study focuses on the first women MPs and ministers in Central Europe. Before the First World War, the women’s suffrage movement had also emerged here, but had not yet achieved any great success. The real turning point for women’s representation came with the First World War. In 1918 and 1919, women throughout the region were granted the right to vote and to elect representatives at parliamentary level. In Austria, and in part of Czechoslovakia, it was mainly women from the Social Democratic movement who played a decisive role. In these two countries, the proportions were similar in the early years. Women elected to the first Polish parliament were more mixed. Most of them came from the Polish independence movement and generally had intellectual family backgrounds. By contrast, the majority of the Austrian Social Democrat women MPs were indeed from working-class backgrounds. In the conservative Hungary between the two world wars, there were also women members of parliament, but in very limited numbers. This was probably related to the particularities of the system and society of the time. Finally, the study also deals with women in government (ministers, state secretaries). Here again, it was mainly women from the left who played a pioneering role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]