Timor-Leste has held six national elections since independence in 1999. Throughout this period the incidence and severity of electoral violence has varied considerably. For example, between May and August 2007 violence escalated during parliamentary elections in spite of a code of conduct committing political parties to nonviolence. Group clashes and widespread destruction of property were...

This report recommends reinstating a number of longstanding provisions to protect the franchise for those who are entitled to exercise it. These include: • restoring the traditional seven day close of rolls period to enrol or update enrolment details; • restoring provisions allowing electors to notify changes to enrolment details in writing; • removing the...

Indonesia has held its third democratic elections since the fall of Suharto. Parliamentary elections took place on 9 April. Elections in Indonesia are now fairly routine and the country has become the most robust democracy in Southeast Asia. In the parliamentary election on 9 April, 38 parties contested but only 9 won seats. Parties in...

In a new Lowy Institute Analysis, 'Between defiance and détente: Iran’s 2009 presidential election and its impact on foreign policy', Iranian researcher Mahmoud Alinejad looks ahead to the Iranian presidential election on 12 June. He assesses the four candidates’ prospects and analyses the potential impact of the election on key aspects of Iran’s foreign policy...

This research paper analyses the 2009 Queensland state election and argues that the result demonstrates that despite running a budget deficit resulting from a large spending program, a Labor government can still be re-elected.