White voters are the most loyal to one party among the South African electorate.
Racial identities continue to shape voter behaviour in post-apartheid South Africa.
South Africans in the UK and other foreign countries voted ahead of the polls opening at home.
Benjamin Cremel/AFP via Getty Images.
The growing loss of support for the governing ANC raises the possibility of South Africa having its first national coalition government since 1994.
The Electoral Commission of Zambia delivered elections that saw Hakainde Hichilema become the new president in 2021 despite democratic backsliding under the ruling Patriotic Front.
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Stakeholders, whether they be policymakers, political parties, civil society or the media, must proactively pursue electoral integrity.
A man casts his vote during South Africa’s 2019 national election.
Phill Magakoe / AFP via Getty Images.
The Independent Electoral Commission cannot afford to put a foot wrong in the country’s most important election since democracy in 1994, on 29 May.
Kenya’s supreme court judges annul the results of the 2017 presidential election.
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Two conditions enable courts to take the risk of nullifying the elections of ruling party candidates.
Opposition supporters calling for free and fair elections outside the offices of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission in Harare in 2018.
Jeksai Njikizana/AFP via Getty Images.
Zimbabwe’s 2023 elections look like their predecessors: stolen. But this one is a bit different. Opposition strategies and regional responses have changed too. What does this mean for the future?
Nelson Chamisa, leader of Zimbabwe’s main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change, addresses supporters at a rally.
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Nelson Chamisa defines himself as a social democrat who believes in providing substantial welfare to support healthcare and basic education.
European Union election observers in Zimbabwe during the 2018 general elections.
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Observers regularly face dangers owing to political instability, insecurity, violence and other crises in some countries.
The African National Congress has lost electoral support but remains dominant.
Phill Magakoe / AFP via Getty Images.
Dissatisfied ANC voters were much more likely to switch their votes if they held positive views of an opposition party. However, the problem for the opposition is that few people held these views.
Workers next to the Independence Monument, depicting a hand holding a map of the country, in the city of Hargeisa, Somaliland, in September 2021.
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Whichever way the ongoing armed conflict ends, the loser will be Somaliland president Muse Bihi Abdi.
Counting of votes during the 2023 presidential elections at a polling station in Lagos.
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Electoral violence, low voter turnout, ethnic politics and voters’ suppression were notable features of the 2023 general elections in Nigeria.
Members of a European Union election observation team speak to voters in Zimbabwe.
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Voters speak favourably about the potential of observation to improve overall electoral quality and transparency.
Voters display their permanent voters card during the 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections in Lagos.
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Logistical challenges facing the 2023 elections remain huge given the number of political parties, the security environment and the number of contestants at various levels.
Supporters of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party describe their presidential candidate and his running mate as unifiers because of their ethnic and religious mix.
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Damage to the fragile Nigerian state is one possible fallout of mixing religion with politics.
Outgoing Lesotho prime minister Moeketsi Majoro, right, hands over the national flag as the symbol of passing power to his successor, Sam Ntsokoane Matekane, on 28 October 2022.
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The new coalition government must act quickly to address the kingdom’s massive socio-economic problems, and restore faith in democracy.
Sam Matekane, Lesotho’s new prime minister has the daunting job of restoring public trust in politics and government.
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Unable to change the country’s vulnerability to shifts in the global and regional economy, the new prime minister Matekane has few economic levers to pull.
Lesotho Revolution for Prosperity party leader Sam Matekane (centre), Alliance of Democrats deputy leader Professor Ntoi Rapapa (L) and Movement for Economic Change leader Selibe Mochoboroane.
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The new governing coalition enters office amid euphoria and excitement. There are great expectations it will end corruption and fix the ailing economy.
Lesotho citizens queue to vote in a previous national elections.
EPA-EFE/ Kim Ludbrook
Despite their pretensions to support reforms, it is clear that successive governments are not interested in the reform.
Protests demanding better living in Angola have become common since 2011. This one was in November 2020.
EFE-EPA/Luso
Angola’s 2022 election is the first in which citizens born after the war are old enough to vote.
A Kenyan elections official registers a voter’s details.
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The presence of fringe presidential contenders is a marker of maturing democracies.