Election Results (December 2009–March 2010)
Bolivia: In the December 6 presidential election, incumbent Evo Morales of the Movement to Socialism (MAS) was reelected with 64 percent of the vote. Manfred Reyes Villa of the Progress Plan for Bolivia–National Convergence (PPB-CN) won 26 percent. In concurrent legislative elections for the 130-seat Chamber of Deputies, the MAS won 64 percent and 88 seats; the PPB-CN won 26 percent and 37 seats; the National Unity Front won 6 percent and 3 seats; and the Social Alliance won 2 percent and 2 seats.
Chile: In the January 17 presidential runoff, the candidate of the Coalition for Change (CC), Sebastián Piñera of the center-right National Renewal party, defeated the candidate of the Coalition of Parties for Democracy (CPD), Eduardo Frei of the Christian Democratic Party, winning 52 percent of the vote. In the first round on December 13, Piñera won 44 percent of the vote, Frei won 30 percent, and independent Marco Enríquez-Ominami won 20 percent. In concurrent legislative elections for the 120-seat Chamber of Deputies, the CPD won 44 percent and 57 seats, the CC won 43 percent and 58 seats, the Clean Chile–Vote Happy coalition won 5 percent and 3 seats, and independent candidates won the remaining 2 seats.
Colombia: Legislative elections were scheduled for March 14; results will be reported in a future issue.
Costa Rica: In the February 7 presidential election, former vice-president Laura Chinchilla of the ruling National Liberation Party (PLN) of President Oscar Arias was elected with 47 percent of the vote, surpassing the 40 percent threshold needed to avoid a second round. Ottón Solís of [End Page 173] the opposition Citizens’ Action Party (PAC) won 25 percent, and Otto Guevara of the Libertarian Movement Party (PML) won 21 percent. In concurrent elections for the 57-seat Legislative Assembly, the PLN won 37 percent and 23 seats, the PAC won 18 percent and 12 seats, and the PML won 14 percent and 9 seats. The Accessibility Without Exclusion Party won 9 percent and 4 seats, and the Social Christian Unity Party won 8 percent and 6 seats. Other parties won the remaining 3 seats.
Croatia: In the January 10 presidential runoff, Ivo Josipović of the Social Democratic Party defeated Zagreb mayor Milan Bandić (independent) with 60 percent of the vote. In the first round on December 27, Josipović won 32 percent, Bandiæ won 15 percent, Andrija Hebrang of the governing Croatian Democratic Union won 12 percent, independent Nadan Vidošević won 11 percent, and Vesna Pusić of the Croatian National Party of outgoing president Stjepan Mesić won 7 percent.
Dominica: In December 18 parliamentary elections for the 21 elected seats in the House of Assembly, the ruling Dominica Labour Party won 61 percent of the vote and 18 seats, and the United Workers’ Party won 35 percent and 3 seats.
Honduras: In November 29 elections for the 128-seat National Congress, the National Party, whose candidate Porfirio Lobo won the concurrent presidential election, won 71 seats, while the Liberal Party won 45 seats. The Christian Democratic Party won 5 seats, the Democratic Unification Party won 4 seats, and the Innovation and Unity Social Democratic Party won 3 seats.
Iraq: Parliamentary elections were held on March 7; results will be reported in a future issue.
Sri Lanka: In the January 26 presidential election, incumbent Mahinda Rajapakse of the United People’s Freedom Alliance was reelected with 58 percent of the vote, while opposition leader General Sarath Fonseka of the New Democratic Front won 40 percent. General Fonseka was arrested on February 8 for “military offenses.” Election observers from the Commonwealth expressed concerns about the amount of violence during the campaign as well as misuse of public resources and state media in favor of the incumbent.
Tajikistan: Preliminary results for the parliamentary elections on February 28 for the 63-seat Assembly of Representatives showed that President Imomali Rakhmon’s People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan won 72 percent of the vote. The opposition Islamic Rebirth Party won 8 percent, and the progovernment Communist Party won 7 percent. The OSCE said [End Page 174] there had been serious irregularities and that the election had “failed on many basic democratic standards.”
Togo: The presidential election were held on March 4; results will be reported in a future issue.
Ukraine: In the February 7 presidential runoff, Viktor Yanukovych of the Party of Regions was elected with 49 percent of the vote, defeating Yulia Tymoshenko of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, who won 45.5 percent. In the first round on January 17, Yanukovych won 35 percent; Tymoshenko won 25 percent; independent Serhiy Tigipko won 13 percent; independent Arseniy Yatsenyuk won 7 percent; and incumbent Viktor Yushchenko of the “Our Ukraine” Bloc won 5 percent.
Upcoming Elections (April 2010–March 2011)
Afghanistan: legislative, 18 September 2010
Azerbaijan: parliamentary, 7 November 2010
Bahrain: parliamentary, November 2010
Benin: presidential/legislative, March 2011
Bosnia and Herzegovina: parliamentary, October 2010
Brazil: presidential/legislative, 3 October 2010
Burkina Faso: presidential, 21 November 2010
Burundi: legislative, 23 July 2010
Cape Verde: parliamentary, January 2011; presidential, February 2011
Central African Republic: presidential/parliamentary, April 2010
Colombia: presidential, 30 May 2010
Czech Republic: parliamentary, 28 May 2010
Dominican Republic: legislative, 16 May 2010
Egypt: parliamentary, November 2010
Estonia: parliamentary, March 2011
Ethiopia: parliamentary, 23 May 2010
Guinea: presidential, 27 June 2010
Haiti: presidential, November 2010
Hungary: parliamentary, 11 April 2010
Jordan: parliamentary, by April 2010 [End Page 175]
Latvia: parliamentary, 2 October 2010
Madagascar: parliamentary, May 2010; presidential, October 2010
Mauritius: parliamentary, July 2010
Micronesia: legislative, March 2011
Moldova: parliamentary, by December 2010
Palestinian Territories: presidential/parliamentary, 28 June 2010
Philippines: presidential/legislative, 10 May 2010
Poland: presidential, October 2010
Qatar: parliamentary, June 2010
Rwanda: presidential, 9 August 2010
São Tomé and Príncipe: parliamentary, by 11 April 2010
Slovakia: parliamentary, 12 June 2010
Solomon Islands: parliamentary, April 2010
Sri Lanka: parliamentary, 8 April 2010
Sudan: presidential/legislative, 11 April 2010
Suriname: legislative, 25 May 2010
Tanzania: presidential/legislative, October 2010
Uganda: presidential/parliamentary, February 2011
Venezuela: legislative, 26 September 2010
Election Watch provides reports of recently decided and upcoming elections in developing nations and the postcommunist world. Some of the data for Election Watch come from IFES, a private, nonprofit education and research foundation that assists in monitoring, supporting, and strengthening the mechanics of the electoral process worldwide. For additional information, visit www.ifes.org. [End Page 176]