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EPDE newsletter 1, 2016 русский    1. Anar Mammadli pardoned after almost 2,5 years in prison 2. Trainings for EPDE observers in Tbilisi 3. Parliamentary elections in Slovakia, 5 March 2016: EPDE press release 4. German Foreign Ministry supports EPDE 5. Citizens’ observers demand transparent drafting of new election law in Armenia 6. Further restrictions against citizens’ election observation in Russia 7. Belarus: HRDFE offers support to the CEC on the implementation of the OSCE/ODIHR recommendations 8. Ukraine 2015 Local Elections: EPDE Experts Reports 9. EPDE Annual Conference Took Place in Berlin, 14-15 December 2015 Anar Mammadli pardoned after almost 2,5 years in prison On 17 March 2016, Anar Mammadli, EPDE board member and the Director of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center (EMDS), based in Baku, Azerbaijan, was pardoned by the president Aliev along with a number of high profile political prisoners.  Mammadli was imprisoned on 16 December 2013 following EMDS critical report documenting massiv fraud during presidential elections held on 9 October 2013. Please read more about the arrest of Anar Mammadlihere. Trainings for EPDE observers in Tbilisi From 21-24 March two EPDE trainings for more than 40 observers from seven countries have taken place in Tbilisi, Georgia. The trainings aims were to strengthen the capacities of the EPDE member organizations in the work with volunteers and to maintain security standards in the area of internet communication. The trainings were organized by the International Society for Free Elections and Democracy (ISFED) with the support of the European Commission. Parliamentary elections in Slovakia, 5 March 2016: EPDE press release From 1-7 March 2016, 50 EPDE observers from Poland, Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, Germany, Lithuania, Sweden and Ukraine  observed the last stage of the parliamentary elections in Slovakia scheduled on 5 March 2016. During the election day, EPDE observers visited over 250 polling stations in all regions of the country. EPDE observers underlined the transparency of the preparation for the election day and the overall trust and the integrity of the election day proceedings. However, some regulations of the 2014 adopted election law should be subject of further consideration in order to strengthen the rights of voters and observers. Please find here the EPDE conclusions and recommendations. German Foreign Ministry supports EPDE In the years 2016-2017, the activities of the EPDE will be supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Germany. This strategic support will cover several projects aiming at strengthening capacities and visibility of the EPDE member organizations operating in the countries of the EU-Eastern Partnership and Russian Federation. EPDE continues the realization of numerous projects with the support of the European Commission, the German-Polish Cooperation Foundation, the Council of Europe and the German Society for International Cooperation GIZ. Citizens’ observers demand transparent drafting of new election law in Armenia Citizen’s election observers urge the Armenian authorities to safeguard transparency of the process of drafting the new election law and to include all relevant experts, representatives of the civil society and the political parties in the process. The authorities should establish an updated voter register and provide proper voter lists, cancel undue restrictions of the observers’ rights and introduce cameras at the polling stations with live stream on internet. Citizens’ observers should be given the right to file complaints against the voting results if serious violations of the election law were documented. During the preparations for the constitutional referendum and on the voting day on 6 December 2015, mass violations of the voters and observers rights were documented by over one thousand of citizens’ observers deployed to all regions of Armenia. The EPDE experts prepared a comprehensive analysis which provides statistical evidence of massive manipulations of the voting results at the high number of the polling stations. You can find the recommendations here. Further restrictions against citizens’ election observation in Russia In the run-up to the parliamentary elections in Russia which are to be held in mid-September 2016, the government controlled parliament introduced new amendments to the election related legislation which further limits the rights of citizens’ observers to freely monitor the voting process. According to the new amendments, domestic observers are not able to conduct observation at several polling stations on the voting day but can be deployed only to one particular polling station. They have to be accredited at least three days before the start of the voting thus allowing the authorities to identify polling stations with and without election observers in advance. Read here for more details. Belarus: HRDFE offers support to the CEC on the implementation of the OSCE/ODIHR recommendations In a proposal presented to the Central Election Commission of Belarus (CEC), the Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections (HRDFE), an initiative of the EPDE members Belarusian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights Center Viasna, suggest a number of steps to implement the recommendations of the OSCE/ODIHR to ensure democratic conduct of the future elections in Belarus. 30 detailed instructions on implementation  proposed by HRDFE were apparently considered by the CEC working group. The HRDFE urges the authorities to ensure the transparency of the amending the electoral legislation by involving of independent experts, election observation NGOs and political parties in the process of drafting of election law. Recommendations of HRDFE are available here. Ukraine 2015 Local Elections: EPDE Experts' Reports Civic Network Opora and the Committee of Voters of Ukraine together with the international EPDE experts published four analysis on the conditions for democratic elections in Ukraine. Arkadii Lubarev from the Association Golos, Moscow, analyzed the implication of the new local election law. Steffen Halling from the Berlin based German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) monitored the election campaign in the Donbass region controlled by the Ukrainian government. Anton Shekhovtsov from the Legatum Institute (London) researched the quality and impartiality of the international election observation missions. Elena Nezhiradze (Tbilisi) analyzed the limited right to vote for the Internally Displaced Persons in Ukraine. The experts' team conducted its research during the local elections on October 25 and November 15, 2015. Additionally, 15 EPDE short-term observers from Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Germany, Moldova, Norway, Poland and Russia monitored the election day in the Kyiv area. The project was founded by the European Commission, the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Polish-German Cooperation Foundation. Please find the reports of EPDE experts here. EPDE Annual Conference Took Place in Berlin, 14-15 December 2015 On 14 and 15 December 2015 a third Annual Conference of EPDE took place in Berlin. 20 top monitors from 14 EPDE member organizations participated in the conference. The election experts developed a strategy of election monitoring in the countries of the EU Eastern Partnership and in Russia for the coming years.  A special EPDE guest, Prof. Pippa Norris, a McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, ARC Laureate Fellow and Professor of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney, presented the results of the research program "Electoral Integrity Project" which focuses on why election fails and what can be done to avoid it. More information on the Election Intergrity Project is available here.