Elections, Elections, Elections

[DKTanker]

51 minutes ago, sunday said:

They will find more "lost" votes next time.

McAuliffe conceded however, in New Jersey.....

[seahawk]

Not enough fake votes then?

If the official result is close, the real result will be a major victory for the Republicans.

[glenn239]

3 hours ago, DKTanker said:

A state that went for Biden by 10 points just a year ago.  A state that hasn't seen a statewide election go to a Republican in over ten years.  

I've mentioned here a couple times that in Canada when parties get swept into power, the provinces get sick of them and sweep them right back out within a decade.  Looks like that can happen in the US as well, although Biden's mismanagement to make it happen so quickly is remarkable - up here it usually takes 8 years, not 8 months!

[Markus Becker]

3 hours ago, BansheeOne said:

I've seen some reports suggest that this may have contributed to his win, as association with the (post) Trump GOP would have done more harm than good in purple Virginia. I think what worked for him was mostly things working against the Democrats (or arguably, the latter working against themselves), both at the national level with the less-than-stellar start of the Biden admin, and the local fight over the school curriculum issue where the case of the father whose daughter got assaulted by an allegedly gender-fluid schoolmate served to make people up to and including the "Washington Post" come down for parents having a say; even though, and maybe because, it was actually just thinly connected to the greater ideological conflict about Critical Race Theory, preferred pronouns and such. 

The false flag White Nationalists didn't help too I guess. 

[lucklucky]

7 hours ago, R011 said:

Bloodbath may be overstating.  The margins were close, something like 52% to 48% and the Republicans only got a single seat majority in the lower house of the Legislature.  Still, an interesting change.

I quote a member of Democratic campaign.   https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2021/11/02/larry_sabato_on_virginia_gov_race_its_a_bloodbath.html

[lucklucky]

https://taibbi.substack.com/p/the-red-pilling-of-loudoun-county

Also complicating the “Lee Atwater” narrative is the role of Asian and South Asian parents in yesterday’s results. “A lot of immigrant families came here specifically for the school system,” is how one Indian-American parent put it to me yesterday. “When you start messing with that, and say, we don't have a say, that’s when people who’ve always voted Democratic will flip on them.” Reporting about Asian and South Asian families upset about new initiatives to deemphasize admissions criteria like test scores has often been dismissive or caricatured, and that certainly seems to have been the case in Loudoun County, where a significant portion of the people seriously being cast today as dupes answering a dogwhistle are immigrant, minority residents who’ve given Democrats their votes for decades.

[rmgill]

5 hours ago, BansheeOne said:

I've seen some reports suggest that this may have contributed to his win, as association with the (post) Trump GOP would have done more harm than good in purple Virginia. I think what worked for him was mostly things working against the Democrats (or arguably, the latter working against themselves), both at the national level with the less-than-stellar start of the Biden admin, and the local fight over the school curriculum issue where the case of the father whose daughter got assaulted by an allegedly gender-fluid schoolmate served to make people up to and including the "Washington Post" come down for parents having a say; even though, and maybe because, it was actually just thinly connected to the greater ideological conflict about Critical Race Theory, preferred pronouns and such. 

Trump polls badly with suburban housewives. 

However, parents being told they have no stake in their children's education and that the rape of their daughters at schools is a non issue that they should not be worried about probably also polls rather badly for those suburban housewives. 

[sunday]

10 hours ago, lucklucky said:

I quote a member of Democratic campaign.   https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2021/11/02/larry_sabato_on_virginia_gov_race_its_a_bloodbath.html

It could be they were only able to "compensate" something around a 20-point Republican vote lead. 🤣

[sunday]

This looks like an example of fine journalism

 

[BansheeOne]

Surprise, surprise! 

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Nicaragua: President Ortega wins 4th term in 'sham' election

2h ago

President Daniel Ortega has secured a clear victory in the Nicaraguan election. Most of his political opponents have been thrown in jail, and human rights groups and newspapers have also been shut down.

Polling stations in Nicaragua closed on Sunday in an election the US has labeled a "sham," after all of President Daniel Ortega's serious challengers were locked up or fled into exile.

With over half the ballots counted, Ortega was on course for a fourth consecutive term in office with 75% of the vote.

After casting his vote on Sunday, the longtime leader slammed the US for interference in his country.

"The immense majority of Nicaraguans are voting for peace and not for war and not for terrorism," he said.

What has the international community said?

Various international bodies have criticized the election including the United States, the European Union and global human rights groups.

US President Joe Biden described the vote as a "sham" election in a statement on Sunday evening.

"What Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, orchestrated today was a pantomime election that was neither free nor fair, and most certainly not democratic," Biden said in a White House statement.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday said the rejection by some Western countries of Nicaragua's election results was unacceptable.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has called Ortega a "dictator" and characterized the election as "fake."

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares called the election "a farce against the people of Nicaragua, a farce against the international community and above all a farce against democracy."

"There was no kind of verification of these elections. They have no type of guarantees for Spain and the majority of the international community and the European Union," he added. "There was no free and fair election."

Seven people who could have challenged Ortega in Sunday's vote are now in prison, along with 32 other opposition figures, following a government crackdown that started in June against opposition parties.

Ortega, leader of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), was running against five other candidates critics have called regime collaborators.

With no international observers at the election, foreign media denied access and the director of Nicaragua's last opposition daily La Prensa in jail since August, the US said Ortega is "determined to hold on to power at any cost."

[...] 

https://m.dw.com/en/nicaragua-president-ortega-wins-4th-term-in-sham-election/a-59745207

[TonyE]

Central America is back in the 80s boys!💪

[Simon Tan]

Central America is only emulating the nortenos. Stop being so racist.

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 12.11.2021

Author Sonia Phalnikar

France: Far-right TV star Eric Zemmour shakes up presidential race

A radical writer and TV celebrity, Eric Zemmour, has emerged as a serious contender for France’s presidential election, disrupting electoral calculations and spooking the country’s political right.

Until a few months ago, France's next presidential election was largely expected to be a predictable duel between President Emmanuel Macron and the leader of the far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National), Marine Le Pen.

That was until Eric Zemmour, a far-right French commentator and TV celebrity, burst onto the political scene and sparked a media frenzy with inflammatory views on Islam, immigration and feminism, which he blames for the supposed decline of France.

He hasn't declared his candidacy yet but the 63-year-old has already shot up the opinion polls and upended political calculations ahead of the election in April.                                         

A recent survey by polling institute Ifop showed Zemmour would win 17% of the first-round vote, overtaking both Le Pen and the center-right candidate — who has yet to be decided — to make it to the second round, though some analysts have warned the polls should be treated with caution.

"Zemmour is creating a rupture in the French presidential race," Philippe Corcuff, a political scientist at the Institute of Political Studies in Lyon, told DW. "He appears more respectable and less on the right than Marine Le Pen whereas objectively he's actually much more right of her with his racist and xenophobic discourse."

'Setting the agenda'

The paradox is explained by the fact that for years, Zemmour has been a well-known figure in France's media and in intellectual circles, making him look like a respectable figure from the traditional right.

A long-time journalist for France's conservative newspaper, Le Figaro, Zemmour is also a best-selling author and was until recently a prime-time commentator on a Fox-style news network. He's been attracting huge crowds at campaign-like events across France as he promotes his latest book.

But, he remains notorious for his polarizing views. He has called for a ban on "foreign" first names such as Mohammed, he has denounced LGBT "propaganda," he's railed against the immigration of Muslim Africans, and he has said Islam doesn't share France's core values.

Zemmour, who is of Jewish and Algerian descent, is also accused of trying to rehabilitate France's wartime Vichy regime, which collaborated with the Nazis. He has twice been sanctioned for inciting racial hatred.

"There's relentless coverage of Zemmour in the media. He is on television every day. And even if he isn't, he's being debated," Jean-Yves Camus, director of the Observatory of Radical Politics at the Jean-Jaures foundation in Paris told DW. "He sets the agenda and the others on the right are just left responding to issues that he has raised."

Stealing Marine Le Pen's thunder

Though surveys show that Zemmour's appeal cuts across the political right, he poses a particular challenge to Le Pen, who is plummeting in the polls.

In recent years, Le Pen has tried to rebrand and soften her party's image to broaden its appeal and has abandoned some of the far-right's more extreme positions popular under her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen. It has left her vulnerable to Zemmour, who is now outflanking her on the right with his hard-line views on Islam's place in France, immigration and national identity.

"The rank and file of the National Rally may be more radical on those issues. For them, Marine le Pen is too soft, too mainstream, not radical enough and, most importantly, she's standing for the third time," said Camus, an expert on the far-right.

"There's a certain fatigue. Some have been waiting for years for their party to come to power and they know from the opinion polls that Marine le Pen will not be elected."

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/france-far-right-tv-star-eric-zemmour-shakes-up-presidential-race/a-59790036

 

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Date 11.11.2021

Czech government approves prime minister's resignation

Prime Minister Andrej Babis' Cabinet met on Thursday to tender their resignation. The move follows the coalition agreement between center-right parties after last month's elections.

The government of Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has agreed to resign, local media reported on Thursday.

It comes after a power-sharing agreement was signed to form a new coalition government by two center-right parties that won the most votes in October's parliamentary polls.

Babis said he sent his letter of resignation to President Milos Zeman who is currently being treated in hospital.

The outgoing prime minister took to Twitter to announce that his cabinet had followed through with the resignation in accordance with the constitution. 

Babis had hoped to secure another term in office but was narrowly defeated by the opposition in the October election.

Once the offer of resignation has been accepted, Babis's government will continue serving until the new coalition government is formally appointed.

Czech Republic's incoming coalition government

On Tuesday Zeman announced that he had asked Petr Fiala, head of the center-right coalition, to lead negotiations with "the goal of forming a new government."

Fiala heads the three-party coalition Together (Civic Democratic Party, Christian Democrats, TOP 09 party), which garnered 27.8% of the October vote.

On Monday, the coalition formally agreed to work in concert with the center-left Pirate Party and the independent collective STAN, which took a combined 15.6% of the vote.

The bloc will hold 108 of 200 seats in the lower house of the Czech Republic's parliament.

Babis and his populist ANO Party, which took 27.1% of the October vote, will now be relegated to the opposition. 

https://www.dw.com/en/czech-government-approves-prime-ministers-resignation/a-59785397

Edited November 13, 2021 by BansheeOne

[BansheeOne]

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Chile: Outsider candidates head for presidential runoff

16h ago

Chile is choosing its next president as the country prepares to rewrite its Pinochet-era constitution. Two diametrically opposed politicians are leading the race, which will be decided in the runoff round.

Chileans headed to the polls on Sunday to choose who will take over as president as the country plans to rewrite its dictatorship-era constitution after widespread protests brought the government to its knees two years ago.

Early results showed Antonio Kast and Gabriel Boric leading. With nearly 97% of votes counted, far-right candidate Antonio Kast appears to have won the first round, with 27.94% of the vote. Leftist Boric secured 25.75%. 

Kast and Boric look set for competing in a runoff round, which takes place if neither candidate secures the necessary 50%, due to be held on December 19.

Kast and Boric express cautious optimism

"We are going to work to restore peace, order, progress and our liberty," Kast said on Sunday from his election bunker, where the mood was jubilant given his lead in the first round of elections.

"We still have a stretch left to cover. We are going to move forward with everyone, because this is a triumph for all of Chile," Kast added.

Meanwhile, Boric told supporters on Sunday night that they ought to remain "humble and receptive" if they were to win the second round.

He acknowledged the need to broaden his base, adding "hope wins over fear."

While seven candidates are in the race, polls have shown voters turning away from the established political parties and favoring the two diametrically opposed outsiders.

Polling stations were set to close at 6 p.m. local time (2100 GMT), however, long queues in many places meant that some had to stay open longer.

Who are the candidates?

Gabriel Boric, the 35-year-old who emerged as a student-activist-turned-lawmaker, is heading the Approve Dignity coalition that includes progressive, leftist and green parties.

He has promised to tax the super-rich to help pay for social services and protect the environment. He is considered the frontrunner, along with his far-right rival Antonio Kast.

The 55-year-old Kast has stood out with his praise for the brutal dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet that took over Chile in a bloody coup in 1974 and lasted until 1990.

The father of nine has promoted conservative talking points such as "family values" and attacked immigrants, blaming them for crime in the country.

Both have attracted support from around a quarter of voters in pre-election polls. The remaining candidates — Christian Democrat senator Yasna Provoste, far-left professor Eduardo Artes and progressive politician Marco Enriquez-Ominami — have failed to match their popularity. 

[...]

https://m.dw.com/en/chile-outsider-candidates-head-for-presidential-runoff/a-59895303

 

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Bulgaria exit polls: President Radev set for election victory

20h ago

Early exit polls showed Bulgarian President Rumen Radev ahead of his rival, academic Anstas Gerdzhikov, in the decisive runoff round of the presidential vote.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev is projected to win another term with nearly two-thirds of the vote, according to exit polls published after the Sunday election by Alpha Research and Gallup International.

He was facing Anastas Gerdzhikov in the runoff round, after falling short of the required 50% support in the first round held last weekend. 

The 58-year-old president campaigned on an anti-corruption message. He is broadly aligned with other non-corruption forces in the country, including the newly founded "We Continue the Change" party which placed first at the recent general election.

After casting his vote on Sunday, Radev said he wanted to continue his mission of change.

"Let's not give the past a chance to undermine our future," he said. "Let us decide our destiny and our future ourselves, and not give others a chance to decide instead of us."

Who are the presidential candidates?

President Rumen Radev, a former fighter pilot, secured 49% in the first round and was considered the frontrunner entering the Sunday vote.

Radev has the backing of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, and is a fervent critic of former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.

Borissov is the leader of the center-right GERB party which has battled allegations of corruption.

Radev has in the past sought to maintain close ties with Russia, but he seems to have turned around perceptions that he is pro-Russian. "Radev is no longer considered a Moscow man," Gallup analyst Parvan Simeonov said.

His rival, independent candidate Anastas Gerdzhikov, received only 23% of votes in the first round.

Gerdzhikov is rector of the University of Sofia and is backed by Borissov's conservatives. The academic is a strong supporter of the country's Western alliances and supports reforming the country's judiciary and wants to improve the business environment.

[...]

https://m.dw.com/en/bulgaria-exit-polls-president-radev-set-for-election-victory/a-59893302

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 28.11.2021

Kyrgyzstan holds election following year of instability

Kyrgyzstan's last parliamentary elections ended with the winner being ousted by angry crowds of protesters. This time around, the new president is expected to cement his control over the government.

Voters in Kyrgyzstan headed to the polls on Sunday to elect a new parliament, a year after the previous elections resulted in widespread protests that toppled the apparent winner.

President Sadyr Zhaparov, who took office in January after being released from prison during last year's unrest, commands strong support according to recent polls. He looks set to cement his grip on power, as his political allies are expected to perform well on Sunday. 

However, the central Asian leader has claimed there was a plot against his government: "Some politicians are planning an armed coup," he said.

"We know them all, and after the vote we will take harsh measures against them. People who would take to the streets without a reason will face severe punishment," he said.

Around 1,300 candidates from 21 political parties are contesting 90 parliamentary seats in Sunday's election. 

Accusations of corruption

Zhaparov has pledged to "show the world" that his country can hold a free and fair election.

But critics have accused him of heading in the same direction as his predecessor, whose election sparked last year's protests, amid claims of corruption and election irregularities..

Shortly after coming to power, Zhaparov pushed through constitutional reforms that strengthened the position of the president at the expense of the parliament.

He also reduced the number of parliamentary lawmakers from 120 to 90, most of which are loyal to the president.

Kyrgyz authorities have also recently made several arrests in relation to the coup plot mentioned by Zhaparov, as well as four party officials for allegedly buying votes.

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/kyrgyzstan-holds-election-following-year-of-instability/a-59959941

[BansheeOne]

Some drop out, some drop in:

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Duterte’s chosen successor abandons Philippines presidential race

Senator Christopher Go, who had been given little chance of success, withdraws saying it is ‘not yet my time’.

30 Nov 2021

Philippine Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, the preferred successor to incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte, has announced his withdrawal from the race to be the country’s next leader.

After days of speculation, Go said on Tuesday he was pulling out of the 2022 presidential campaign because it was “not yet my time”.

Go, a close aide to the president, entered the contest for the country’s highest office two days before the November 15 deadline, after previously registering for the vice presidential race.

His sudden exit narrows the field of candidates vying to replace Duterte, who is constitutionally barred from seeking a second six-year term. Duterte is running for the Senate instead with the country of 110 million also choosing governors, mayors and local officials in the May 2022 elections.

“My family doesn’t want it either so I thought maybe this is not yet my time,” Go told reporters, as he stressed his loyalty to Duterte.

Most analysts had given Go little chance of success in the election, although he was the most likely candidate to protect Duterte from criminal charges in the Philippines, and an International Criminal Court investigation into the so-called “drug war” that has left thousands dead.

“From the very start he has launched a lukewarm campaign and it’s very obvious that he was just thrust into that job by President Duterte,” said Jean Franco, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines.

It is not clear who 76-year-old Duterte will now support.

[...]

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/30/dutertes-chosen-successor-abandons-philippines-presidential-race

 

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Far-right pundit Eric Zemmour to run for French president

Candidate tries to re-energize campaign after recent stumbles.

By Clea Caulcutt

November 30, 2021 12:08 pm

PARIS — Far-right TV pundit-turned-politician Eric Zemmour announced on social media on Tuesday that he is running in the French presidential election in April.

An anti-immigration hardliner who has twice been convicted for inciting hatred, Zemmour surged from nowhere to become a factor in the presidential contest in recent months. He had been widely expected to declare his candidacy after mounting a promotional book tour that doubled as a drive to drum up support for a presidential bid.

But Zemmour, 63, has struggled in recent weeks to keep his campaign on the rails. His poll numbers have dropped, allies have deserted him and he made a disastrous visit to the southern city of Marseille at the weekend, where he was pursued by protesters and pictured making an offensive one-fingered gesture from his car window to an unknown woman.

Zemmour, who will run as an independent candidate, is currently third in the presidential race, according to POLITICO’s Poll of Polls. Incumbent centrist Emmanuel Macron is in first place, followed by far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

In a 10-minute video released on Tuesday, Zemmour said that he took the decision to run for the presidency because “no other politician has the courage to save the country from the tragic destiny that awaits it.”

“I’ve decided to run in the presidential election so that our children and grandchildren don’t suffer barbarity, so that our girls won’t be veiled … so that they can inherit a France as it was known to our ancestors,” he said, reading from a statement at his desk.

But even his video rollout did not go according to plan. French TV channels were forced to pull the video from TV bulletins after it emerged film extracts had not been cleared with rights holders, according to news website Les Jours.

Many accuse Zemmour of stoking divisions and encouraging discrimination against France’s Muslim population. He has repeatedly argued that France is being “submerged” by immigration and is in danger of “losing its identity” under the influence of Islam, which he says is “incompatible” with western values.

Zemmour joins a presidential field that already includes Le Pen and is expected to be formally joined by Macron early next year. The conservative Les Républicains party will choose its presidential candidate in a primary election in the coming days.

The repercussions of Zemmour’s presidential run on the race are unclear at this early stage. But one possible consequence is that he will split the far-right vote, making it more difficult for him or Le Pen to reach a likely second-round run-off.

[...]

https://www.politico.eu/article/frances-eric-zemmour-announces-presidential-candidacy/

 

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Date 03.12.2021

Austria: Karl Nehammer set to become new chancellor

The ruling People's Party has picked the current interior minister to replace Sebastian Kurz as party leader. Karl Nehammer is widely expected to become the next chancellor of Austria.

Austria's ruling People's Party (ÖVP) on Friday picked Interior Minister Karl Nehammer to become head of the party and the country's likely next chancellor.

The decision was made at a meeting of the center-right party's top brass in Vienna.

It will now be up to Austria's president to accept Nehammer's nomination and swear him in, but this is mostly a formality.

Why another change at the top of Austrian politics?

Nehammer's appointment comes after a day after the current party chief Sebastian Kurz, who is implicated in a corruption scandal, said he was stepping down from the role.

Kurz's departure had a domino effect, prompting Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg, who was only appointed to the role in October, to offer to quit so that the post of chancellor and head of the party could be held by one person.

Kurz had been Austrian Chancellor between December 2017 and May 2019 and for a second time from January 2020 to October, before being forced to quit over the graft scandal.

[...]

The conservative party is currently in a fragile governing coalition with the Greens, whose Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler made positive comments on Thursday about the possibility of Nehammer becoming chancellor, saying they would be able to work together. 

Last week, the country became the first in Europe to order a nationwide lockdown to stem a fresh wave of COVID-19 cases and will introduce mandatory vaccinations early next year.

Kurz's corruption probe continues

Kurz's announcement to quit politics came just two months after he resigned as chancellor over the graft probe. But he had remained the leader of the ÖVP.

In early October, prosecutors ordered raids at the chancellery and the finance ministry while investigating allegations that Kurz's inner circle used public money to pay for polls tailored to boost his image.

The scandal effectively ended a spectacular career, which saw him become the world's youngest democratically elected head of government in 2017 at just 31.

Kurz has denied any wrongdoing, saying he hopes to have his day in court to prove his innocence.

https://www.dw.com/en/austria-karl-nehammer-set-to-become-new-chancellor/a-60006966

[JWB]

President Duterte is running for the senate after his term as president is over in 2022.

Philippines: Old Families Strike Back (strategypage.com)

[TonyE]

The Clans of Manila......

[BansheeOne]

Could also go in the "Coups" thread, since they deposed the Queen.

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Date 28.12.2021

Barbados calls snap election after becoming republic

Weeks after removing Queen Elizabeth as head of state, Barbados is set for a general election. The country's ruling party currently has an overwhelming majority in parliament.

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley on Monday called a snap general election for January 19.

The move came just weeks after the country removed Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state and became the world's youngest republic.

In October, Barbados elected Sandra Mason as the country's first-ever president. Mason was sworn in as president on November 30.

What did Mottley say in her address?

In a political address broadcast on social media, Mottley listed her government's economic and financial achievements. She added that Barbados' economy was recovering despite that the damage the COVID-19 pandemic did to the country's crucial tourism sector.

In response to criticism of her government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mottley said that the country had entered a "silly season" and that it was time to put aside partisan squabbling.

In her address explaining the decision to hold the election, Mottley called on the people of Barbados to "unite around a common cause, unite behind a single government, unite behind a single leader." She added that she did not want Barbados to be a "divided nation."

Labor Party holds majority

Mottley is the leader of the Barbados Labor Party and the country's first female prime minister, having won the May 2018 election for a five-year term.

The next election would normally not have been due until 2023.

The Barbados Labour Party won all 30 seats of the lower house of the Barbadian parliament in the 2018 election and currently retains 29 of those seats.

https://www.dw.com/en/barbados-calls-snap-election-after-becoming-republic/a-60270800

And I missed this:

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Date 19.12.2021

Chileans take to the streets to celebrate leftist Boric's election victory

Gabriel Boric, who rose to prominence during anti-government protests, has defeated the right-wing populist Jose Antonio Kast. Tens of thousands of Boric supporters have celebrated his win on the streets of Santiago.

Chilean far-right presidential candidate Jose Antonio Kast conceded defeat to leftist Gabriel Boric late Sunday.

"I just spoke with Gabriel Boric and congratulated him on his great success," Kast tweeted. "From today he is the elected President of Chile and deserves all our respect and constructive collaboration. Chile is always first."

"We are united," Boric tweeted shortly after his election victory was confirmed. "We are hope. We are more when we are together. We continue!"

"I am going to be a president of all Chileans, whether you voted for me or not," Boric, who will take office in March, said in a call with outgoing President Sebastian Pinera on Sunday night. "I am going to do my best to get on top of this tremendous challenge."

Boric had garnered 56% of the votes with almost 99% of polling stations reporting, with Kast at 44%.

Who were the two candidates?

Voters were choosing between Boric, 35, a millennial former student protest leader who has vowed to raise taxes on the "super rich" and Kast, 55, a devout Catholic and father of nine who has repeatedly defended the country's former dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Kast's brother, Miguel, was one of Pinochet's top advisers. His candidacy was haunted by revelations that his German father was a member of the Nazis.

Why was there a runoff?

In the first round, both Boric and Kast drew less than 30% of the vote with Kast ahead of Boric by 2%, forcing the runoff. Boric, however, held the capital Santiago with a comfortable lead.

Both candidates are outside the centrist middle, which has ruled Chile since the country returned to democracy in 1990 after the years of military rule under Pinochet.

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/chileans-take-to-the-streets-to-celebrate-leftist-borics-election-victory/a-60187979

Edited December 28, 2021 by BansheeOne

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Portugal's Socialists land parliamentary majority

8h ago

Portugal's ruling socialist party has won the country's parliamentary elections after a large part of the votes were counted. The party has also secured an absolute majority in the parliament.

Portugal's ruling Socialists have won the country's snap parliamentary elections, beating the center-right Social Democratic Party (PSD), the national electoral commission announced on Sunday.

The Socialists, led by Prime Minister Antonio Costa, received 42% of the vote, the electoral commission said after counting 95% of the ballots.

Costa said the Socialists had secured an absolute majority of 117-118 seats in the election.

"An absolute majority doesn't mean absolute power. It doesn't mean to govern alone. It's an increased responsibility and it means to govern with and for all Portuguese," Costa said in his victory speech.

The Socialists will now be able to govern alone, after having relied on the Left Bloc and Portuguese Communist Party for support since 2015. Both left-wing parties lost seats in the Sunday election.

[...]

The election Sunday comes after two far-left parties switched sides and joined with right-wing parties in rejecting the 2022 draft budget put forward by Costa last October.

Burned by that vote, should the Socialists win the most votes but fail to gain a majority, Costa said he will govern as a minority party and seek support from other parties on a case-by-case basis.

Lisbon University politics professor Antonio Costa Pinto said that governing in such a way would unlikely last until the term expires in 2026.

Far-right party Chega, meaning "Enough," has emerged as the third largest party in parliament, having received 7% of votes. This is much more than the 1.29% it received in 2019, allowing it to enter parliament with a single seat.

[...]

https://m.dw.com/en/portugals-socialists-land-parliamentary-majority/a-60601902

[lucklucky]

 The so called Geringonça(Contraption) Government collapsed when Left Bloc( Modern Marxists) and Communists(Old Marxists) blocked the budget. They were not part of the Socialist Government but they give vote support in the Parliament via a loose agreement.

The reason for that  is they been seen supporting the Government so were haemorrhaging supporters by supplying votes to in fact a "semi-austerity" Government.  By provoking the elections they ended up making less immoderate voters move to Socialists and now left humiliated by being passed over by the right wing Chega party and libertarians of the Iniciativa Liberal. The Social Democrats retained their usual 2nd place and  continued being a decharacterized "center right" party by their ineffectiveness. Their leader will probably climb down. The right increased their vote share and absolute vote by 550000 but their biggest party lost votes and the traditional right wing party CDS disappeared from having elected representatives.

 

The PM Costa by his personality trait always want an escape route from responsibilities and i believe he preferred to not have a majority, so he  treaded careful with the victory knowing the demographic pressures, heavy debt, lack of economic growth for more than 20 years, being passed over by many of the former eastern Bloc will not give him much margin for future happiness. The problem is that there are radicals in his party that want all power and one crucial field the Justice system will be even more under Socialist control since many Socialists have legal problems.

In the end the Portuguese that voted gave once again their vote majority to those that promote dependency and at same time absolution from responsibilities. The decadence is to be expected to continue.

 Representatives elected , % , number of votes .

1. PS  117  41,7%2.246.637
2. PSD  71  27,8%  1.498.605
3. CH  12  7,2%  385.559
4. IL  8  5,0%  268.414
5. BE  5  4,5%  240.265
6. CDU  6  4,4%  236.635
7. CDS  0  1,6%  86.578
8. PAN  1  1,5%  82.250
9. L  1   1,3%  68.975
10. PPD/PSD.CDS-PP  3   0,9%  50.634
11. PPD/PSD.CDS-PP.PPM  2  0.5%  28.520

 

Edited February 1, 2022 by lucklucky

[lucklucky]

As a final semi humorous note, the Portuguese Parliament have 2 non white elected representatives. One is Socialist, the other is from Chega, the so called Far-right party in the DW post above.

[lucklucky]

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/03/30/a-peer-reviewed-statistical-analysis-of-the-2020-election/

Stephen Dinan of the Washington Times reported on a new peer-reviewed paper that analyzes the results of the 2020 election and found Biden received 255,000 excess votes. It has been accepted for publication by the journal Public Choice and was written by Dr. John R. Lott of the Crime Prevention Research Center. The linked pdf may not match the final printed version of the paper that will appear in the journal, but it is the copy that was peer-reviewed.

Both Dinan’s article and the paper are worth reading. Unfortunately, statistical analysis doesn’t prove anything, but I found Lott’s analysis impeccable and compelling. His discussion of the problems in several states with mail-in and absentee ballots is interesting and informative. He makes the following points very clearly.

1. Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin did not match signatures on the outer mail-in envelopes to the official registration records. Some states, like Pennsylvania accepted ballots that were not enclosed in outer envelopes. These acts are in violations of the laws in many states and make it impossible to verify a vote’s legitimacy.
2. Lott compares votes in adjacent voting precincts, where one of the precincts is accused of voter fraud, as with Georgia’s Fulton County, and finds statistically significant evidence of abnormal mail-in and absentee ballot results. In short, Trump’s absentee ballot share in the Fulton County precincts was depressed, compared to adjoining precincts. The largest estimate of depressed Trump votes was more than Biden’s margin in Georgia.
3. In Pennsylvania and other states, numerous voters trying to vote in person were told they had already voted absentee, suggesting that someone else had voted using their name. The differences found to be statistically significant in Georgia were not significant in Pennsylvania, but Pennsylvania was missing some essential data for the study, which was a problem.
4. In Nevada, 42,000 people voted more than once, 1,500 dead people voted, and 19,000 did not have a Nevada residence.
5. In Wisconsin 28,395 people voted without identification.
6. In Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, the rejection of improper absentee ballots in 2020 were a fraction of those rejected in 2016.

The most serious problems in the 2020 election were the procedural changes made, generally illegally, in absentee and mail-in voting. This type of voting is discouraged by the Jimmy Carter and James Baker, 2005 voting commission (Carter & Baker, 2005, pp. 46-47). The past problems with absentee voting in Europe have been much worse than in the U.S., at least prior to 2020, and as a result the practice is banned in 35 of 47 countries in Europe. In ten of the countries that allow it, the voter must show up in person and present a photo id, to pick up their absentee ballot. The remaining countries temporarily allowed voting in limited cases. Europe learned the hard way what happens when mail-in ballots are not secured, just as we did.

Lott concludes that his study underestimates the extent of voter fraud because it assumes that no voter fraud occurred with in-person voting. He also concludes that there were 142,000 to 368,000 total excess Biden votes, enough to swing the election. The statistical methods used for the study look valid to me, but as noted above, statistics are not proof. They do suggest that the election should be investigated, and the study shows that the permissive, and mostly illegal, absentee, and mail-in ballot procedures used in 2020 should never be repeated. I recommend everyone read Dinan’s article and the paper.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/03/30/a-peer-reviewed-statistical-analysis-of-the-2020-election/

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/mar/28/joe-biden-got-255000-excess-votes-fraud-tainted-sw/

 

[lucklucky]

As a side note, the Portuguese Constitutional Court ordered the Emigrant(Portuguese in foreign countries) General Election vote repeated because major parties agreed illegally that it was not necessary for emigrants to enclose their IDs in the double envelope when sending the vote by email,  smaller parties protested and Constitutional Court gave them reason. The whole election was tainted.

[R011]

12 hours ago, lucklucky said:

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/03/30/a-peer-reviewed-statistical-analysis-of-the-2020-election/

Stephen Dinan of the Washington Times reported on a new peer-reviewed paper that analyzes the results of the 2020 election and found Biden received 255,000 excess votes. It has been accepted for publication by the journal Public Choice and was written by Dr. John R. Lott of the Crime Prevention Research Center. The linked pdf may not match the final printed version of the paper that will appear in the journal, but it is the copy that was peer-reviewed.

Both Dinan’s article and the paper are worth reading. Unfortunately, statistical analysis doesn’t prove anything, but I found Lott’s analysis impeccable and compelling. His discussion of the problems in several states with mail-in and absentee ballots is interesting and informative. He makes the following points very clearly.

1. Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin did not match signatures on the outer mail-in envelopes to the official registration records. Some states, like Pennsylvania accepted ballots that were not enclosed in outer envelopes. These acts are in violations of the laws in many states and make it impossible to verify a vote’s legitimacy.
2. Lott compares votes in adjacent voting precincts, where one of the precincts is accused of voter fraud, as with Georgia’s Fulton County, and finds statistically significant evidence of abnormal mail-in and absentee ballot results. In short, Trump’s absentee ballot share in the Fulton County precincts was depressed, compared to adjoining precincts. The largest estimate of depressed Trump votes was more than Biden’s margin in Georgia.
3. In Pennsylvania and other states, numerous voters trying to vote in person were told they had already voted absentee, suggesting that someone else had voted using their name. The differences found to be statistically significant in Georgia were not significant in Pennsylvania, but Pennsylvania was missing some essential data for the study, which was a problem.
4. In Nevada, 42,000 people voted more than once, 1,500 dead people voted, and 19,000 did not have a Nevada residence.
5. In Wisconsin 28,395 people voted without identification.
6. In Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, the rejection of improper absentee ballots in 2020 were a fraction of those rejected in 2016.

The most serious problems in the 2020 election were the procedural changes made, generally illegally, in absentee and mail-in voting. This type of voting is discouraged by the Jimmy Carter and James Baker, 2005 voting commission (Carter & Baker, 2005, pp. 46-47). The past problems with absentee voting in Europe have been much worse than in the U.S., at least prior to 2020, and as a result the practice is banned in 35 of 47 countries in Europe. In ten of the countries that allow it, the voter must show up in person and present a photo id, to pick up their absentee ballot. The remaining countries temporarily allowed voting in limited cases. Europe learned the hard way what happens when mail-in ballots are not secured, just as we did.

Lott concludes that his study underestimates the extent of voter fraud because it assumes that no voter fraud occurred with in-person voting. He also concludes that there were 142,000 to 368,000 total excess Biden votes, enough to swing the election. The statistical methods used for the study look valid to me, but as noted above, statistics are not proof. They do suggest that the election should be investigated, and the study shows that the permissive, and mostly illegal, absentee, and mail-in ballot procedures used in 2020 should never be repeated. I recommend everyone read Dinan’s article and the paper.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/03/30/a-peer-reviewed-statistical-analysis-of-the-2020-election/

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/mar/28/joe-biden-got-255000-excess-votes-fraud-tainted-sw/

 

Is it by this John R. Lott?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lott_(political_activist)

Because if so, that's a great big red flag, as much as a study proving no interfeeance completed by a Democrat activist.  I'm not saying he's wrong, but this study needs a lot of neutral review before it can be taken at face value.