elections | Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion - Part 3
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Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on January 09, 2018 7 Comments
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.

Posted by New Neo on November 08, 2017 29 Comments
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.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on September 24, 2017 9 Comments
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.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on September 19, 2017 5 Comments
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.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 26, 2017 1 Comment
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.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 08, 2017 6 Comments
The British have officially closed. It might be a few more hours before we have an official result. The population will elect 650 Members of Parliament (MP), but the Conservatives need 326 seats in order to form a government. They currently hold 330, but some polls have shown the party losing enough seats to sit below the threshold. Exit polls have shown that the Conservatives have lost seats, but still maintain the majority. I will update this post as information rolls in.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 02, 2017 5 Comments
A new poll has shown that British Prime Minister Theresa May and her fellow conservatives face a massive loss in seats in the snap election scheduled for June 8. YouGov released a poll that shows Conservatives at 310 seats, down from the 330 they hold now in the House of Commons. They need 326 seats in order to form the government. The poll showed Labour could have 257 seats, up from the 229 seats they hold now. Yet, other polls have shown Conservatives with a comfortable lead while one Professor Jacobson saw have the Conservatives blowing everyone else out of the water. Can we trust polls? First off, in 2015, pollsters received a shock when the Conservatives came out on top in the general election, which caused the British Polling Council to perform an inquiry into polls and the result. Then 2016 brought doubt to polls after the Brexit vote and President Donald Trump demolished failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Also, YouGov used a different methodology to find the stats.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on May 16, 2017 10 Comments
The latest polls suggest that UK’s Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn might be leading his party to a historic defeat in next month's general election. The Conservatives, under the leadership of Prime Minister Theresa May, "are set to become the biggest party in almost every area of Britain including traditional Labour strongholds," British newspaper The Sun reported on Monday. Labour has already been battered in local elections held earlier this month, “losing hundreds of seats and the control of stronghold councils defended by Labour for decades” -- as the British newspaper Independent described it. Sensing an impending electoral drubbing, Corbyn admitted that his party faces "challenge on historic scale" in this general election.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on May 08, 2017 14 Comments
Nowhere has the victory of the establishment candidate Emmanuel Macron in the French presidential election been cheered more fervently than in Berlin and Brussels. Last night, President-elect Macron received a ‘warm call’ from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French news agency AFP reported. "Congratulations, Emmanuel Macron. Your victory is a victory for a strong and united Europe and for French-German friendship," Merkel's spokesman said on Twitter. Merkel's Chief of Staff Peter Altmaier was quoted saying “[Macron’s] success is a great opportunity for Franco-German friendship.”

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 05, 2017 12 Comments
French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron's party En Marche claims hackers have hit the campaign just two days before the country hits the polls. Reuters reported:
Some nine gigabytes of data were posted by a user called EMLEAKS to Pastebin, a document-sharing site that allows anonymous posting. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for posting the data or if any of them were genuine.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on May 04, 2017 17 Comments
"France will be led by a woman, either me or Angela Merkel," Marine Le Pen said last night as she clashed with the pro-EU candidate Emmanuel Macron in the final debate ahead of Sunday's presidential run-off. Le Pen's statement points to the long shadow of the German Chancellor that looms large over the establishment candidate Macron. Merkel, hoping to boost Macron's chances, had endorsed him last week, praising his "consistently pro-European policy." "I would be very pleased if Emmanuel Macron were to win, because he stands for consistently pro-European policy," Merkel said in an interview last week, claiming that he will be a "strong president for France" and "his victory would be a good sign for the political center, whose strength we would like to maintain here in Germany, as well."

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on April 23, 2017 19 Comments
Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron and Front National's Marine Le Pen have qualified for the second round in the French presidential election securing 23.7 and 21.7 percent of votes respectively, French news agency AFP reports. Conservative François Fillon conceded defeat after getting 19.5 percent of the votes. Fillon endorsed Macron and called his supporters to vote for his rival in the final round. A fact that should cheer liberals and feminists alike: with today's result, France is just one step away from getting its first female president.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on April 18, 2017 7 Comments
As France heads to the first round of presidential elections on Sunday, Front National's candidate Marine Le Pen vows to put an end to the Open Borders Policy for illegal migrants. "Mass immigration is not an opportunity for France, it's a tragedy for France," Le Pen told her supporters. "The French sometimes have fewer rights than foreigners -- even illegal ones." Defending her campaign promise to take France out of the European Union, Le Pen said, "France has the right to regain its national sovereignty, its freedom to decide for itself."

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on March 21, 2017 5 Comments
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's challenger, Social Democratic Party's (SPD) candidate Martin Schulz kicked off his election campaign by bashing U.S. President Donald Trump. Schulz denounced, what he called, U.S. President's "misogynistic, anti-democratic and racist" rhetoric. These latest comments follow SPD candidate's earlier remarks in January when he called President Trump "un-American". Schulz was speaking at the SPD party convention on Sunday that unanimously confirmed him as party's Chancellor candidate. Long-time E.U. insider Schulz is running on the slogan "Make Europe[-an Union] Great Again". He served from 2012 to 2017 as the President of E.U. Parliament.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 12, 2016 7 Comments
The current Austrian presidential election is filled with more drama than America's election cycle, if you can believe that. Independent presidential candidate Alexander Van der Bellen, backed by the Green Party, barely beat Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer in May in an election that came down to the mail-in ballots. However, Austria's highest court overturned the election results in July when the justices noticed problems with mail ballots affecting, "nearly 78,000 votes - more than twice the margin separating the two candidates." As a result, a runoff election was scheduled for October 2. That election has recently been delayed and for an all too familiar reason -- mail-in ballots.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 17, 2016 4 Comments
Liz Cheney has emerged victorious in a primary election for Wyoming's only House of Representatives seat. Her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, once held the exact same seat. She said:
“No state has been hurt more by Barack Obama’s agenda over the past seven-and-a-half years than Wyoming,” said Cheney.

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 02, 2016 7 Comments
Austria's highest court ruled for a do-over of the presidential election runoff after it found discrepancies in the mail ballots. The mail-in ballots made former Green Party chief Alexander Van der Bellen president with 50.3% of the vote over Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer. Constitutional Court head Gerhart Holzinger said the court noted "that the irregularities affected nearly 78,000 votes — more than twice the margin separating the two candidates." From Reuters:

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 23, 2016 5 Comments
Independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen, backed by the Green Party, has become Austria's new head of state. He barely beat Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer. The Interior Ministry counted over 700,000 ballots, almost 12% of the country's registered voters, to determine the winner. Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka announced the results:
Van der Bellen reached 50.3 percent, 49.7 Hofer . In absolute terms, the scarcity of the result is visible: 2,254.484 votes could gather Van der Bellen, Hofer 2,223.458. The difference amounts to just 31,026 votes. The turnout was 72.7 percent, significantly higher than the first ballot reached 68.5 percent.