News from Around the World

Over 1,000 individuals voted in the NH Insider Presidential polls and they put former Vice President Al Gore and Arizona Senator John McCain in the lead. In second place for the Democrats is Gen. Wesley Clark at 23 % with all others in the single digits. For the Republicans Virginia Senator George Allen, at 12%, comes in third to "Other."

Commenting on the November 17 Presidential polls Armitage said the main concern of the US and the international community was how free and fair the election would be.

What is also striking is whatever takes place politically in this region immediately becomes a concern of the European Union and the United States. In other words, relevant international opinion is watching very closely what is occurring in Sri Lanka – especially in the northeast. All these, create a sense of responsibility on the part of the voters of this region when casting their ballots at the presidential polls.

As President Laurent Gbagbo heads towards the end of his five year term, it’s possible that violence may flare in Côte d’Ivoire, which has been functionally divided since a flawed election in 2002. Presidential polls have been postponed, and Gbagbo - at the urging of the UN and the AU - is likely to retain control after his term ends Sunday. This is unlikely to go over well with the opposition, who will likely consider his rule illegitimate after October 30th.

He said that this move is unfair because the winner of forthcoming Presidential polls scheduled to be held on November 17 will be affected by this and the next President will have to run the country on Alliance government’s economic plans for one year.

Scott Rasmussen is out with another rendition of his 2008 presidential polls.

A: The UNF stand is patently clear. The President was elected for six years. It is not a question of the President’s rights but the electorate’s. Nobody who elected her in 1999 expected her to go beyond her second six- year term. So, the Presidential polls have to be held this year.

The United National Party yesterday exhorted all voters to impel President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake to hold the Presidential polls this year.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s admission she talked to a Comelec official after the May 2004 presidential polls raises a key issue that Filipinos, individually and collectively, must grapple with. It is not one of mere impropriety, as her spokesmen would have us believe. Neither is it of stability or the need for sobriety. The issue is, plainly, one of right and wrong, and what is to be done in the face of wrongdoing.

In the first opposition rally not to have been crushed by police since 2003 presidential polls ended in violence, protestors carried signs with the phrase "we want freedom" superimposed onto portraits of US president George W. Bush...

Leader of ANCP Abdul Latif Pedram, who got popularity in last October's Afghan presidential polls, has frequently lashing at government policy.

There are reasons for this evolution - mutual respect and a will to win. As the Republican Party looks to the future, it's increasingly difficult to ignore presidential polls showing Senator Clinton beating Senator Frist or Senator Santorum, while losing decisively to Rudy Giuliani.

There are reasons for this evolution - mutual respect and a will to win. As the Republican Party looks to the future, it's increasingly difficult to ignore presidential polls showing Senator Clinton beating Senator Frist or Senator Santorum, while losing decisively to Rudy Giuliani.

Voters in Togo turned out in force to elect a successor to Gnassingbe Eyadema, ruler for 38 years, as the opposition claimed the presidential polls had been rigged in favour of the late leader’s son.

Witnesses claim fraud in Togo presidential polls (AFP via Yahoo! News)

Six people were killed in fighting between rival political supporters in Togo's capital yesterday, a human rights group close to the ruling party said today, just a week before presidential polls are to be held.

Egypt Seeks Multi-Candidate Presidential Race. CAIRO (Reuters) - President Hosni Mubarak opened the door on Saturday to multi-candidate presidential polls in Egypt, a dramatic move welcomed by Washington and opposition groups as a step toward more open government. [Reuters: Top News]

Two Women Lead Chile Presidential Polls

You can argue that Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak might be in the pocket of the american's, his country does get 2-3 billion dollars in direct US aid every year. However he has always opposed democracy in Egypt. Naturally this is for self preservation. The constitution in Egypt would have be changed to allow for multi-candidate presidential polls. The current President is the only one who can make that change, and there he was this weekend, suggesting that he would make the changes necessary changes to allow for democratic...

He said the amendment would be put to a general public referendum before the presidential polls, which are scheduled for September.

After a five-month hiatus, it was nice to see The Horserace Blog pop up into the most recently updated section of the BatesLine blogroll. Jay Cost, who wrote the blog, a thorough and fascinating analysis of the presidential polls over the month leading up to Election Day 2004, announces that he is now a contributor at RedState.org. You can find an archive of his posts to date

President Hosni Mubarak took Egyptians and the rest of the world by surprise Saturday when he proposed multi-candidate direct presidential polls, replacing a 50-year-old system whereby a single candidate was vetted by the army before being submitted to a popular vote.

Mubarak said the amendment would then be put to a public referendum before the presidential polls, which are scheduled for September. Kamal said he expected the referendum to be held within nine weeks.

CAIRO (Reuters) - President Hosni Mubarak opened the door on Saturday to multi-candidate presidential polls in Egypt, a dramatic move welcomed by Washington and opposition groups as a step toward more open government.

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who narrowly lost presidential polls in 2002, did not respond to Mugabe's comments during speeches Tuesday at two rallies in his home region of Bindura, 125 miles south of the capital.

Mitofsky, Warren J. and Murray Edelman. 1995. "A Review of the 1992 VRS Exit Polls." Presidential Polls and the News Media. Eds. P. J. Lavrakas, M.W. Traugott, and P.V. Miller. Pp. 81-100. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Get it? The point being made by both Kristof and Yglesias is about the political currency of validation. America has been a fundamentally majoritarian nation since its inception, and hopefully with the exception of the Senate, it’s likely to stay that way. We’re used to it. Americans have learned to live with being on the losing side of a given vote, election, or national dialogue. What they have not learned to live with, and probably never will, are political leaders who, in seeking to justify their decisions, simply refuse to recognize...

Kefaya will also ask for the appointment of "a constitutional assembly to draft a new constitution" and for "a transitional period" before organizing presidential polls under the new constitution," Isaac also said.

Tsvangirai narrowly lost presidential polls in 2002 that were also condemned by observers as deeply flawed by political intimidation and vote rigging.

Kyrgyz parliamentarians took further steps March 26 to erase the remnants of ousted President Askar Akayev’s rule as they set 26 June as the date for new presidential polls.

Kyrgyzstan's new leaders cemented their grip on power Friday, naming an acting head of state and top ministers and announcing fresh presidential polls while seeking to restore calm and reassure allies.

Most observers have given the 13 March parliamentary and presidential polls a clean bill of health but on Tuesday Union of Active Forces of the Nation (UFVN) leader Joseph Douacle cried foul.

The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which followed closely fought presidential polls in 2002, has been used to shut down a number of independent newspapers and arrest their journalists.

He also accused Sao Tome's President Fradique de Menezes, closely linked to the main opposition Democratic Movement of Forces of Change (MDFM), of unscrupulously attempting to discredit his likely rivals in presidential polls expected in 2006.

Rice held talks with Karzai, who won the country's first ever presidential polls last October, and senior Afghan officials on how the United States could help rebuild the country.

Welch also hailed as "historic" Mubarak's decision to amend Egypt's constitution to allow for the first competitive presidential polls next September.

A third European diplomat said the whole process may be in a state of limbo until after Iran's presidential polls in June decide whether pragmatists or Revolutionary Guard hardliners take power.

NANTERRE, France (Reuters) - Two years before the presidential polls he dreams of contesting, France's leading conservative Nicolas Sarkozy is using his wealthy fiefdom west of Paris to test policies he would implement as the country's leader.