Elections
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul was sworn in for her first elected term on Sunday, making history as the first woman elected to the position in the state.
The Democrat, launching her term as the 57th governor of New York, said her goals were to increase public safety and to make the state more affordable.
“Right now there are some fights we have to take on,” Hochul said after taking the oath of office at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany. “First we must and will make our streets safer.”
Hochul also called for making the state more affordable, citing the high cost of living. Also sworn in Sunday was Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado.
A native of Buffalo, Hochul, 64, defeated Republican congressman Lee Zeldin, an ally of Donald Trump, in November’s election to win the office that she took over in 2021 when former Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned.
Click here to read the full article published by PBS on 1 January 2023.
The United Nations have launched the DPPA Electoral Series, a new initiative to commemorate the 10th anniversary of our training course on political approaches to preventing and responding to election-related violence. In the inaugural video, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo explains her role as UN focal point for electoral assistance matters, the goals of UN support, their approach to elections and their work with partners.
Click here to access the video.
As the country goes to the polls, reforms introduced by hardline president Kais Saied have led to the exclusion of female candidates.
Tunisian will vote on Saturday in an election that will lead to a weakened parliament “almost exclusively dominated by men”, as activists warn of a stark deterioration of women’s rights under an increasingly authoritian president.
The controversial elections, boycotted by all the main parties, mark the final piece of the constitutional jigsaw President Kais Saied began assembling in July 2021, when he suspended the legislature in what critics called a power grab.
Click here to read the full article published by The Guardian on 16 December 2022.
Online abuse has a profound impact on the health of democratic societies, threatening progress on diversity and representation in politics. Research has shown that abuse can deter women and individuals from minority groups from pursuing careers in politics, and drive those already engaged to step down from political life. The 2022 midterm elections in the US saw a growing number of candidates from minority backgrounds running for office. Faced with growing public pressure, social media companies took steps to amend their policies and community standards to address illegal and harmful content and behavior on their platforms. Evidence has shown, however, that abusive image and video-based content can fall through the cracks of content moderation, pointing to a lack of adequate response from social media platforms. In the run-up to the November 2022 midterm elections, ISD investigated abusive content on Instagram and TikTok targeting prominent women in US politics. Researchers analyzed hashtag recommendations served to users on both platforms when searching for content related to several key women in US politics in the days before the election. This report finds that platforms recommend abusive hashtags when people search for the names of these female political figures, and also promote abusive content that violate their own terms of service, showing that harmful and abusive content targeting women running for, and in-, office remains in plain sight of the platforms.
Click here to access the report.
In the November 12 Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, the performance of women candidates was dismal and only one out of 24 in the fray was elected.
The new 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly will have just one woman MLA — BJP’s Reena Kashyap who emerged winner from Pachhad beating Congress’s Dayal Pyari. In the November 12 assembly polls, the performance of women candidates was dismal and only one out of 24 in the fray was elected.
The BJP, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress had fielded six, five and three women candidates, but only Reena Kashyap won the election. Kashyap, who had won Pachhad (SC) assembly bypoll in 2021, managed to retain her seat.
Click here to read the full article published by The Indian Express on 9 December 2022.
The deal to upholding women’s political participation and leadership in the 2023 presidential and General elections remains elusive and daunting, as the Woman Legislative Caucus of Liberia launches a two-day workshop for women aspirants to solicit support and mobilize more women to occupy the 30 percent space allotted to them at the Legislature.
The women taught fund-raising and campaign strategies and impact of legal framework on electoral process, among others.
Click here to read the full article published by The New Dawn on 6 December 2022.