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elections Tag

Bolivian Socialist President Evo Morales resigned on Sunday after only a month in office in his fourth term. He faced accusations of election fraud after "serious irregularities." From CNN:
Morales said he was stepping down "for the good of the country," which has been roiled by protests in the days following the October 20 election. Three people have died in the protests and hundreds have been injured.

Anti-EU parties have made big gains in the Sunday's European Election, securing outright victory in France, the United Kingdom and Italy. Nigel Farage's Brexit Party, Marine Le Pen's National Rally and Matteo Salvini's League party declared victory in their respective countries.

Early election results indicate a landslide victory for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu Nationalist party. It looks like the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and allies will receive around 350 out of 542 seats, well over the 272 majority mark.

Australia’s ruling conservative coalition has scored a stunning upset victory in the country’s general election, defying polls that were predicting an easy progressive win. The Labor Party was focused on climate change and raising taxes, and it appears there were a lot of "quiet Scott voters" who weren't interested in what they were selling.

The anti-EU parties are poised to win one-third of the seats in the EU Parliament election in May, according to a study titled "The 2019 European Election: How anti-Europeans plan to wreck Europe and what can be done to stop it," released by a pro-EU think-tank. By securing the controlling share of the seats, the anti-establishment rightist parties could "paralyze decision-making at the center of the EU" and end up "curbing the [bloc's] liberal orientation and returning power to member states," the London-based European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) said.

Three months after Germans went to the polls, Chancellor Angela Merkel is making a last ditch effort to form an alliance with the left-wing Social Democrats (SPD), a move that could secure her a fourth term in office. Last month, Merkel's traditional ally, the center-right Free Democrats (FDP), abruptly walked out of the talks, citing irreconcilable differences over refugee policy and other key issues -- leaving a so-called 'grand coalition' with the SPD her only path to power.

I wasn't very concerned about yesterday's Virginia gubernatorial election results, because I figured that Northam (D) would win and it probably had more to do with Gillespie (R) being a poor candidate than anything else, plus I consider Virginia a purple state becoming ever more blue. But the results in the state legislative races---and the fact that, as of this sitting, the Virginia House may be poised to be controlled by Democrats for the first time in many years---is particularly unsettling. The magnitude of that victory was unexpected and represents a big change; prior to this election the GOP held an approximately 2-1 majority there.

Despite her party's worst showing since 1949, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has managed to secure her re-election bid. Merkel's main rival, the Social Democratic challenger Martin Schulz conceded defeat earlier this evening. Merkel was quick to stake her claim to the Chancellorship, saying, "We are the strongest party, we have the mandate to build the next government — and there cannot be a coalition government built against us." Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), along with her Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU), secured over 33 percent of the vote.

Germany's right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD)  is set to become the third largest party in this month's parliamentary election, the latest polls suggest. The anti-mass immigration party is polling around 12 percent in most polls. Chancellor Angela Merkel, still ahead of the competition, is widely tipped to form the next government. But her current junior coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), is tanking in polls with less than a week to go before the election.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has struck a deal with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to give the conservatives the slim majority it needs for May to stay in her role. The New York Times reported:
With the deal, which is reported to provide Northern Ireland with additional funding of up to $2 billion over five years, Mrs. May will be able to win a clear majority vote in Parliament on Wednesday on the legislative program her government set out last week. Without the support of the D.U.P., Mrs. May risked losing that vote of confidence, which would have opened the way for the opposition Labour Party to try to form a minority government of its own.