Упражнения:
Burma's first general election for two decades will be held on 7 November, the ruling generals have announced, ending months of speculation. The poll is the first since pro-democracy leader's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in 1990. The military never allowed the party to take power, and it has been disbanded. Critics say this election will be a sham, because of poll laws which favour the authorities.
Two international organizations monitoring the elections in Sudan say the controversial polls failed to meet full international standards. The EU and the Carter Center, led by former US President Jimmy Carter, said there were significant failings, citing reports of intimidation and harassment. However, both concluded the polls were a significant step towards democracy.
Ethiopians go to the polls on 23 May to elect a new parliament. The previous elections were marred by allegations of government vote-rigging, and scores of people died in post-poll violence. Voters will elect the 547 members of the lower House of People's Representatives directly, and choose regional councillors who will in turn elect the upper House of Federation. Voting for the lower house is by the first-past-the-post system, with the candidate who wins the most votes being elected.
No party has been able to secure an outright majority in the House of Commons and, after four days of frantic negotiations between the parties, the shape of the next government is still not clear. The situation is described as a hung parliament, with no single party having enough MPs – 326 – to win parliamentary votes without the support of members of other parties.
Supporters of the defeated Ukrainian election candidate say they want to challenge the results of Sunday's vote in court. An MP from the candidate’s electoral bloc said that it suspected vote-rigging in 1,000 polling stations. The defeated candidate has reportedly told allies she will "never" accept her main rival as the winner of the poll. However, with nearly 100% of the votes counted , foreign monitors are saying the election was free and fair.
The voter turnout in Iraq's general elections was 62%, officials said, despite attacks that killed 38 people. Preliminary results are not expected for several days but the turnout figure is down from the 75% who voted in the previous general elections. Prime Minister's State of Law Coalition is widely expected to win the most seats. But it is unlikely one party will form a government alone and there may be months of negotiations on a coalition.
Australia's main opposition leader Tony Abbott, has criticised the nation's new Prime Minister after she called a snap general election. The PM, who leads the ruling Labor Party, earlier announced that elections would be held on 21 August. Recent opinion polls give Labor a slight lead over the Liberals and PM will be hoping to secure another three-year term. In a televised address in Canberra, the country's first female prime minister admitted that the poll would be "tough and close".
Hungary's conservative opposition party Fidesz has won a two-thirds general election victory, second round results have confirmed. With 99.22% of votes counted, the party had nearly 68% of the popular vote and 263 of the 386 seats in parliament, the national election committee said. Almost a third of the seats were left to be decided on Sunday following the first round two weeks ago. Fidesz promised to create jobs, lower taxes and reduce bureaucracy.
Vote counting has started in Sudan after the five-day landmark elections. There have been widespread allegations of ballot-rigging, both by supporters of President Omar al-Bashir in the north, and by ex-rebels in the south. Former US President Jimmy Carter, whose organisation has been helping monitor them, said it was too early to judge whether they were free and fair. Results are not expected for several days. But President Omar al-Bashir is expected to win another five years in office as his two main challengers withdrew from the race just before the vote, alleging fraud.
Iran's election oversight body on Monday declared the hotly disputed presidential vote to be valid after a partial recount, rejecting opposition allegations of fraud and further silencing calls for a new vote. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi claims he, not incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was the rightful winner and has called for a new election, something the government has repeatedly said it will not do.
The second round of the presidential election in Ukraine confirmed the assessment of the first round that most OSCE and Council of Europe commitments were met. The lack of confidence and the deficient legal framework were at the root of most problems encountered during this election, and constitute an immediate challenge for the new leadership. The professional, transparent and honest voting and counting should serve as a solid foundation for a peaceful transition of power.
The candidates were able to campaign freely in a competitive, yet polarized election environment. The campaign atmosphere was negatively affected by mutual accusations of fraud, last minute amendments to the election law and attempts to remove the heads of key institutions for partisan purposes. The misuse of administrative resources continued and the intertwining of political and economic interests persisted. Any democratic election depends not only on the conduct of the election process, but also on an adequate, clear and stable legal framework being in place. Therefore, a unified election code should be adopted before holding the next elections. As stated following the first round, amending the election law between two rounds is appropriate. Newly adopted amendments were presented as a reaction to allegations that one of the candidates would withdraw their members from commissions, thus depriving them of a quorum and disrupting the election. Both candidates used the amendments by either claiming that they would destroy any chance of holding a democratic election or, on the contrary, that they would preserve the process. However, the last minute amendments did not impact the conduct of election day.
Despite shortcomings, the existing legal framework can still provide a basis for holding democratic elections, as confirmed by the first round. However, the provisions in the election law concerning the second round leave important aspects unaddressed and others open to varying interpretations. Legal provisions on transparent campaign financing are necessary. Notwithstanding the rising political tension, the Central Election Commission continued to operate mostly in a non-partisan manner, and was efficient in organizing the second round. However, it did not clarify the application of important aspects of the law. Some of its actions again lacked transparency.
The media provided voters with an opportunity to make an informed choice. Political talk shows on TV offered voters a variety of opinions and granted the candidates more balanced coverage than the news. The State TV station failed to comply with its legal obligations to provide impartial coverage, of candidates and significantly favored one candidate in its newscasts. Voters would have benefited from a debate between two candidates.
Overall, the quality of the voter lists has improved, but in order to eliminate remaining inaccuracies, further efforts are necessary. Specifically, voters added to the lists in polling stations should be included in the state voter register before the next election.
Disturbingly, in the last days of the campaign, pressure was exerted on the judiciary, when the prosecutor started to question the judges who decided election related cases. The election day was orderly and calm. Our observers assessed the voting, counting and tabulation overwhelmingly positively. The transparency was greatly enhanced by the large presence of observers. Women were well represented in precinct commissions.
a ballot – бюллетень;
a ballot box – урна для голосования;
a caucus – закрытое собрание членов партии;
a free and fair election/vote – свободные и честные выборы;
a front-runner – кандидат, имеющий больше всего шансов на победу;
a high/low voter turnout – высокая/низкая явка избирателей;
a hung parliament – «подвешенный» парламент;
a multi-member constituency – многомандатный избирательный округ;
a partial recount – частичный пересчет голосов;
a peaceful transition of power – мирная передача власти;
a runoff election – второй тур выборов;
a single member constituency – одномандатный избирательный округ;
a successor to smb – преемник;
a system of proportional representation – система пропорционального представительства;
a televised address – телевизионное обращение;
a vote of no-confidence – вотум недоверия;
acting president – исполняющий обязанности президента;
ahead of elections – накануне выборов;
allegations of vote/ballot-rigging – обвинения в фальсификации результатов;
amendments to the election law – поправки в закон о выборах;
an affirmative vote – голос «за»;
an early election/snap election – досрочные выборы;
an election observer – наблюдатель на выборах;
an election official – член избирательной комиссии;
an oversight body – наблюдательный орган;
challengers/rivals/contenders/contestants – соперники;
composition of a coalition – состав коалиции;
current government – действующее правительство;
deficient legal framework – несовершенная законодательная база;
election/electoral campaign – предвыборная кампания;
electoral code – избирательный кодекс;
Electoral College – коллегия выборщиков;
electoral district – избирательный округ;
eligible voters – лица, обладающие правом голоса;
failed election – несостоявшиеся выборы;
flawed/rigged election – сфальсифицированные выборы;
frantic negotiations – напряженные переговоры;
general election – всеобщие выборы;
governing coalition – правящая коалиция;
government reshuffle – перестановка в правительстве;
incumbent/sitting/current – действующий;
landmark elections – исторические выборы;
live debate – дебаты в прямом эфире;
lower/upper house – нижняя/верхняя палата;
midterm election – промежуточные выборы (США);w
misuse of administrative resources – злоупотребление административными ресурсами;
opinion polls – опрос общественного мнения;
outgoing President – президент, покидающий свой пост;
parliamentary/presidential election/polls/vote – парламентские/президентские выборы;
party convention – съезд партии;
polling booth – кабина для голосования;
polling day – день голосования;
polling station – избирательный участок;
popular vote – всенародное голосование;
preliminary count – предварительный подсчет;
president elect – избранный президент;
primary election (primaries) – первичные выборы (США);
projected winner – предполагаемый победитель;
re-election – перевыборы;
run-off election – второй тур выборов;
significant failings/violations – серьезные нарушения;
state voter register – государственный реестр избирателей;
swing states – «не определившиеся» штаты;
sworn in – приведенный к присяге;
the Central Election Commission – Центральная избирательная комиссия (ЦИК);
the closing of the polls – закрытие избирательных участков;
the first-past-the post system – мажоритарная избирательная система;
the opening of the polls – открытие избирательных участков;
the rightful winner – истинный/законный победитель;
to be ahead by a huge margin – опережать с большим отрывом;
to be in the lead by a margin of ….% over smb – опережать кого-либо на …%;
to bring the election forward – перенести выборы на боле ранний срок;
to call early/snap parliamentary election/polls/vote – назначить досрочные выборы;
to cast a ballot – опустить бюллетень/проголосовать;
to challenge the results – обжаловать результаты;
to claim /allege vote-rigging/fraud – заявить о фактах фальсификации;
to complete vote counting – завершить подсчет голосов;
to cross …% threshold to enter /make it into parliament – преодолеть 5 %-ный барьер для прохождения в парламент;
to declare elections valid – объявить выборы состоявшимися;
to disband a party – расформировать партию;
to disrupt the election – сорвать выборы;
to dissolve the parliament – распустить парламент;
to elect by an overwhelming majority – избрать подавляющим большинством;
to enter parliament/to make it to the parliament – пройти в парламент;
to exert pressure on smb – оказывать давление на кого-либо;
to favour a certain candidate – отдавать предпочтение определенному кандидату;
to form a coalition government – сформировать коалиционное правительство;
to get/obtain/win/poll/score/pull/garner/gain/take …% of the vote – получить ….% голосов;
to get/obtain/win/poll/score/pull/garner/gain/take seats – занять/получить ….мест (в парламенте);
to give in to/cave in to mounting pressure – уступить растущему давлению;
to give up/renounce the office – отказаться от поста;
to go to the polls – идти на выборы;
to hold/conduct an election – провести выборы;
to lift the immunity – снять неприкосновенность;
to maintain one’s majority in parliament – сохранить большинство в парламенте;
to meet international standards – соответствовать международным стандартам;
to monitor/observe elections – наблюдать за выборами;
to nominate a candidate – выдвинуть кандидата;
to offer one’s resignation – подать в отставку;
to operate in a non-partisan manner – действовать беспристрастно;
to provide free airtime – предоставить бесплатное эфирное время;
to provide impartial coverage of smth – обеспечить беспристрастное освещение чего-либо;
to reject opposition allegations – отвергнуть обвинения оппозиции;
to release final results – сообщить окончательные результаты;
to run for parliament/presidency – баллотироваться в парламент/на президентский пост;
to secure an outright majority – обеспечить себе абсолютное большинство;
to serve as a solid foundation for smth – служить прочной основой для чего-либо;
to sweep the vote – одержать безоговорочную победу;
to take power – прийти к власти;
to tip smb to win – отдавать/предсказывать кому-либо победу;
to unite the fragmented opposition – объединить раздробленную оппозицию;
to win the most seats – получить большинство мест;
to win/gain a sweeping/resounding/landslide victory – одержать безоговорочную победу;
to withdraw one’s candidature – снять свою кандидатуру;
with … % of votes counted – после подсчета….% голосов.
