Ghana goes to the polls today to elect a new President and Parliament. Observers are expecting a tight race between the two main candidates - the incumbent President John Mahama and Nana Akufo-Addo. John Mahama has promised to improve the living standard of the people. His main challenger Mr Akufo Addo, a keen supporter of the free market economy, has pledged to use the oil wealth for education.

n Tunisia, the ruling coalition has decide to hold Presidential and parliamentary elections on June 23 next year. The new President will be chosen directly by voters.

The move comes in the wake of growing criticism from the opposition that the ruling Ennahada coalition wants to control the government and avoid elections.

The Islamist Ennahda Movement won the country's first free elections last October after the uprising which set in motion the “Arab Spring”. Ennahda leads a government comprising of two secular parties, the Congress for the Republic and the Ettakatol.

The agreement has to be approved by the Constituent Assembly, where the ruling coalition has a majority of the 217 seats.

The Constituent Assembly elected Moncef Marzouki as the President in December 2011 to follow Zine el Abidine, who was ousted as President in January 2011 after weeks of protests.

Those protests inspired the wave of “Arab Spring” uprisings that spread across the Middle East and North Africa.

elhi Electoral Office has launched a fresh drive for comprehensive revision of electoral rolls from today in all the 70 Assembly Constituencies in the national capital with January 1st, 2013 as qualifying date. The drive has been initiated following an Election Commission's directive.

The objective of this exercise is to update the electoral roll by including the names of the eligible citizens who will attain the age of 18 years or more on January 1st, next year and to delete the names of non-existent electors due to death, shifting and other reasons.

According to the Delhi Chief Electoral Ofiicer, Vijay Dev, during this exercise people will be able to file claims and objections till 14 th of next month and the revised electoral roll will be published on January 10, 2013.

The disposal of claims and objections will be completed by 15th of December this year while updating of database and printing of supplementary lists will take place between 15th to 28th December.

AIR correspondent reports that currently the number of voters in Delhi is around 1.18 crore.A helpline will be available for the general public in the election office for electoral roll related enquiry.

The Number is - 23918888. People can also have full information about the electoral roll at the website www.ceodelhi. nic.in .

Campaigning for the polling in the Palestinian Authority controlled West Bank areas has begun . The Palestinian Central Electoral Commission has allowed campaign time of 13 days for the Municipal elections which would be held on October 20. Half a million voters will decide the political fortunes of 4989 candidates in the fray including 1000 womens in these municipal elections. Most of the candidates belong to the nationalist Fatah party of President Mahmoud Abbas and the leftwing groups the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP).

 he Election Commission of India and the Supreme Presidential Committee of Egypt today signed an MOU for mutual sharing and cooperation in Electoral Management & Administration. The MOU's were signed this morning by the Visiting Secretary General of the Supreme Presidential Committee of Egypt, Justice Hatam Bagato and Chief Election Commissioner of India V.S Sampath in New Delhi. Speaking on the ocassion V.S Sampath said, under the MOU signed, both countries will share knowledge and experience including, technology used in elections.He said the pact also provides for prevention of fraud and voter education. He said, mutual exchange program between the electoral bodies of India and Egypt will go a long way in improving and updating the election process to ensure conduct of free and fair polls.
The CEC V.S Sampath also lauded Egypt for the succesful conduct of Presidential Polls under challenging circumstances. The Visiting Secretary General of Supreme Presidential Committee of Egypt Justice Hatam Bagato said, Egypt and India have shared historic ties and the bilateral cooperation on the electoral front promises a better future for the people of both countries.

The Rajasthan High Court today declared the election to Nathdwara Assembly seat, null and void. In the election held on this seat in December, 2008, the then Congress candidate and presently, Union Minister for Surface Transport, Dr. C.P. Joshi was defeated by his rival Kalyan Singh, by merely one vote. Dr. Joshi filed a writ against the election in the Rajasthan High Court in January 2009. Delivering the judgement in Jodhpur today, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari found Kalyan Singh, his wife and two others guilty of violating the election rules. This decision is being seen as a major relief to Dr. C.P. Joshi.

Uttar Pradesh says elections to student`s unions in the state universities and colleges will be held as per recommendations of Lyngdoh committee recommendations. An official spokesperson said that as per recommendation of the Committee printed publicity materials, banners and use of loud speakers are banned in the elections.

 thiopia's government has insisted the country is stable following the death of long-time Prime Minister Meles Zenawi at the age of 57. Mr Meles's death has sparked fears of a leadership vacuum which could lead to instability in Ethiopia. Mr Meles died at a hospital in the Belgian capital, Brussels, late on Monday after a long illness. His body has been flown back to the capital, Addis Ababa, and a period of national mourning has been announced. State media reported that Deputy Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn will take over until elections in 2015. Ethiopian government spokesman Bereket Simon said at a news conference in Addis Ababa, that Mr Hailemariam has been appointed acting Prime Minister. He said there will be no election as the constitutional procedure allows us to continue with the Deputy Prime minister acting as Prime Minister for now.

Nepal Election Commission says elections to the Constituent Assembly are not possible on November 22. Addressing a press conference in Kathmandu today, acting Election Commissioner Neel Kant Uprety said that the elections cannot be held as parties failed to amend the Interim Constitution and election regulations. The Commission also pointed out that there would be no credibility of the elections if the political parties do not have consensus over the issue. The Election Commission had set a deadline of July 22 to remove legal and constitutional difficulties by amending election related Acts and the interim constitution to hold the election on the stipulated date and has extended the date by one week.

The Election Commission today rejected Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav's vote in the Presidential poll and directed the Returning Officer (RO) not to count it as the secrecy of the ballot had been violated. An Election Commission statement said, the issue of second ballot paper to Mulayam Singh Yadav was not warranted under rule 15 of the Presidential and Vice- Presidential Elections Rules, 1974. Therefore, the second ballot paper issued to Yadav may not be taken up for counting.

Mr. Yadav had on Wednesday first cast his vote in favour of BJP-backed candidate P A Sangma instead of UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee. However, realsing his mistake he had sought a second ballot paper to make a correction.

Libyans and the International community have hailed the success of first historic elections after decades. Election Commission has put the initial turnout figures around 60 percent. Results are expected on Monday or Tuesday.
One person was reported killed in the poll related violence. Barring the reports of ransacking of a dozen polling stations in Bengazi, Adjabiya and Brega where ballott slips were torn and snatching of ballott boxes at two polling stations in Bengazi , polling was by and large peaceful. Our West Asia Correspondent has filed this story-

AIR correspondent reports that Libyans celebrated the nation’s journey on road to democracy by turning out in large numbers at the polling stations. Long queues of voters were seen at polling stations braving the high temperature. Election Commission said voting was smooth except for some polling stations in the eastern region of the country. International Observers monitoring the polls have hailed the organization of elections and people's participation but cautioned against the disruption of polls in the eastern parts of the country.

The Head of EU Observers team Alexander Graf Lambsdorff said the situation in the eastern parts especially the city of Adjabiya was not encouraging. However, Libya's Deputy Interior Minister Omar Al Khadrawi told that the situation in eastern region is now under control. Reports suggest Ahmed Jibril’s National Front, Muslim Brotherhood’s The Justice and Construction Party, Islamist insurgent Abdul Hakim Belhadj’s Al Watan Party are the front runners in these elections.

In Libya, protesters demanding greater autonomy for eastern Libya have ransacked the offices of Libya's electoral authority in Benghazi. Witnesses say about 300 people chanting pro-autonomy slogans took ballot boxes out of the building and burnt election papers in the street. Libya is to elect a new Parliament on Saturday in the first democratic polls since the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi. Pro-autonomy leaders in eastern Libya have called for a boycott of the vote. They want eastern Libya to be given a larger share of seats in the new 200-member legislature which is tasked with drawing up a constitution. Libya's electoral law apportions 60 seats to eastern Libya and 102 to the west with 38 going to the rest of the country.
The Benghazi head of the High National Election Commission, Jamal Bukrin told newsmen that a group of people entered the commission's premises, ransacked the offices and destroyed what they found inside the building. The call to boycott Saturday's vote was made by a group that has proclaimed itself the authority of a semi-autonomous territory in Cyrenaica or eastern Libya.

 As a matter of abundant precaution, each set of nomination papers will have 60 proposers and 60 seconders against 50 proposers and 50 seconders required as per the election rules. 

South Korea's former opposition leader announced his Presidential bid today, joining the ranks of liberals looking to replace the country's conservative leader Lee Myung-bak. Chung Se-kyun of the Democratic United Party, who headed the centre-left party from 2008 to 2010, has become the fourth liberal heavyweight to declare candidacy for the December Presidential election.

Chung, a five-term legislator who served as Commerce Minister in the previous administration, said in a statement he will become the "Economy President" that people can trust. His rivals include Moon Jae-in, a senior advisor to the party, and Sohn Hak-kyu, who led the party after Chung stepped down.

The Presidential poll is slated for Dec.19. Lee is Constitutionally barred from seeking a second term.

he Congress has rejected Presidential contestant P. A. Sangma's demand for a debate with UPA's Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee. The party termed Sangama's demand as illogical and a nonstarter(असफल व्यक्ति ,unsuccessful person) as the President is not supposed to manage the economy.  Party spokesman Manish Tewari said in New Delhi yesterday that the Constitution does not ordain(rder by virtue of superior authority; decree) or mandate that the President of India manage the economy of the country.  He also rejected BJP's allegation that a consensus could not be built on the issue of Presidential election because the ruling alliance did not talk to the opposition before finalising its candidate. Meanwhile, six more candidates filed their nomination for the Presidential Election 2012 yesterday. Returning officer for the Presidential Election and Secretary General of Rajya Sabha V K Agnihotri rejected the nomination of Vinod Kumar Singh of Uttar Pradesh, who has not attached the certified copy of the entry relating to the candidate in the electoral roll of the Parliamentary Constituency in which the candidate is registered as an elector(मतदाता). 18 candidate have filed their nominations so far, but 6 nomination were rejected by the returning officer.  UPA nominee for the highest constitutional post Pranab Mukherjee will file his nomination on 28th of this month. Former speaker P A Sangma has also not filed his nomination for the Presidential Election yet.

French voters began voting on Sunday in the second round of general elections expected to hand President Francois Hollande's Socialist party a clear Parliamentary majority. Voters are to choose 541 deputies, with 36 already having been elected in the first round vote on June 10.

Opinion polls released before the end of campaigning at midnight yesterday, showed Mr Hollande's Socialists and their Parliamentary allies on track to take control of France's lower house National Assembly.

Mr Hollande, who defeated right winger Nicolas Sarkozy in May's Presidential election, has urged voters to give him a majority as he seeks to steer France through Europe's debt crisis, rising unemployment and a faltering economy.

Egypt votes to choose its first independently elected democratic President on Saturday and Sunday after a gap of 30 years. The second and the final round of polls will see Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Mursi pitted against Ahmed Shafiq, the last premier under Mubarak regime. The ruling military council has said that the Presidential election run-off will go ahead as per schedule.

Egypt moves one step ahead on the road to democracy as it votes for a new President on Saturday and Sunday. The Presidential election has been embroiled into controversies with the newly elected parliament banning Mubarak era officials to contest elections. It resolved only yesterday as the Supreme court set aside the law as unconstitutional and allowed Ahmed Shafiq, the last premier under Mubarak regime to run against Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Mursi. The two candidates got maximum percentage of votes in the first round.

Mursi has appealed to the Egyptians to vote out the remnants of Mubarak regime. He has tried to reach out to the revolutionaries, liberals and minority Coptic Christians saying he is in favour of taking all the groups together. However, the liberal, leftist and minority groups have been sceptical of Islamic agenda of Muslim Brotherhood.

But how far it will translate into votes for the other Presidential contender Ahmed Shafiq is a million dollar question who says with his experience he will work for a strong united Egypt.The revolutionary groups ,activists and liberals have alleged the ruling military council of a soft coup to retain the power.

The first round of parliamentary elections began in France on Sunday, where polls show that leftist parties could gain a slim majority of the 577 seats in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament. But, it is not clear whether the Socialists and their allies will win the necessary majority in the first round against the conservative UMP party, led by former President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Socialist President Francois Hollande unseated Sarkozy in a May 6 runoff election. He needs lawmakers' support to persuade European Union leaders, especially German Chancellor Angela Merkel, to focus on spurring economic growth rather than enforcing austerity in struggling European economies.

Early returns are expected after polling stations close Sunday evening. A second and final round of voting is scheduled for June 17.

France has about 45 million eligible voters. Those living in remote overseas territories, such as French Guyana, French Polynesia and the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, began voting on Saturday.

electioneering has picked up momentum with only four days remaining for the campaign for the bye-elections to be held on 12th of this month. 

The High Court of Karnataka has termed null and void the election of BJP MLA Nandish Reddy, due to lapses in election process in 2008. The petitioner Kavitha Mahesh had challenged Election Commission’s decision of rejecting her nomination as an Independent before the election. Judge Shailendra Kumar observed that M. Ashok, the Returning
Officer during the Assembly election had committed a lapse by rejecting the nomination of Independent candidate Kavitha Mahesh without giving any reason. He noted that it is responsibility of the Returning Officer to encourage the democratic process and not to hinder it.