Elections
The African Women Leaders Network (AWLN), Ghana Chapter, has urged all women to take active interest in politics to let their voices become a powerful catalyst for political and economic transformation of the country.
“As we approach election 2024, we must challenge ourselves into meaningful actions. Let this election be a turning point where women leadership is not only encouraged but celebrated, where dialogues from every corner of the country, from the smallest village to the largest city, are voices of women who have been the backbone of our communities.’’
“Together, let us pave the way for a future where every woman, regardless of who you are knows that her voice matters, her leadership is valued and her potential limitless. We can change the narrative, and so we should do it.”
Chairperson of the AWLN, Dr Charity Binka, made the call at a town hall meeting of women of various leadership positions in the society, here.
Read here the full article published by the Ghanaian Times on 24 September 2024.
Image credits: Ghanaian Times
This potent idea, popularized by trailblazers like Shirley Chisholm and bell hooks, continues to resonate through women's leadership actions today. It's particularly relevant in the context of the 2024 election, as we witness Harris' campaign and the unmistakable impact of her personal experiences on her political vision.
Chisholm's legacy is one of groundbreaking firsts. The first Black woman in Congress and the first woman to seek the Democratic presidential nomination, Chisholm challenged the political status quo. Her unapologetic advocacy for women's rights, people of color and people experiencing poverty embodied the idea that personal experiences and identities shape political action. Chisholm famously said, "If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair." Her boldness and determination continue to inspire women to claim their rightful space in politics, serving as an example of hope and encouragement for generations to come.
Renowned author and scholar bell hooks spent her career exploring the intersections of race, gender and class. Her work has been instrumental in shaping our understanding of how systems of oppression operate and how individuals can resist. She argues that “personal is political” is not just a slogan but a strategy for liberation. By centering the experiences and perspectives of marginalized people, we can challenge dominant power structures and create a more just society.
Read here the full article published by The Fulcrum on 26 September 2024.
Image credits: The Fulcrum
The recent momentum around the ‘One Nation, One Election’ initiative, following the Union Cabinet’s approval of the report by the committee led by former President Ram Nath Kovind, has sparked a fresh debate on electoral reforms. Proponents argue that synchronising national and state elections could streamline governance, reduce election-related disruption, and even boost GDP. However, as with many grand reforms, the devil lies in the details. It is crucial to ask: What would this reform mean for women who rely on local elections — panchayats and municipalities — as critical entry points into politics?
Implications for local democracy
The Kovind Committee report proposes synchronising panchayat and municipal elections within 100 days of the Lok Sabha and state assembly elections. This approach undermines the critical role that local elections play in fostering women’s political participation and leadership at the grassroots level. While national and state elections tend to focus on broader, macro-level issues, local elections are grounded in the everyday concerns of communities — domains where women’s leadership has been particularly vital.
Read here the full article published by The Indian Express on 24 September 2024.
Image credits: The Indian Express
Harini Amarasuriya was officially sworn in as Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister on Tuesday, marking a historic moment as she becomes the first woman to hold the office since Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 2000.
The ceremony took place in the capital, Colombo, where the 54-year-old leader of the National People’s Power (NPP) took her oath of office administered by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Dissanayake also appointed a new cabinet of four members, including himself.
In her new role, Amarasuriya has been assigned several crucial portfolios that include Justice, Education, Labour, Industries, Science and Technology, Health, and Investment.
Her extensive responsibilities underscore the government’s commitment to addressing a range of pressing issues facing the nation, from educational reforms to health care improvements. She succeeds Dinesh Gunawardena, who resigned from his post following the presidential election.
Read here the full article published by The Indian Express on 24 September 2024.
Image credits: The Indian Express
It is still a man's world in the Haryana Assembly polls, with only 51 women candidates — most of them either having the backing of a political family or celebrity status — being fielded by frontline political parties.
Since it was carved out from Punjab in 1966, the state, known for its skewed gender ratio, has sent only 87 women to the assembly. Haryana has never had a woman chief minister.
An analysis of candidates' lists shows that the main opposition Congress has fielded 12 women candidates, the highest among the parties in these elections.
The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), contesting the elections in an alliance, have fielded 11 women candidates combined while the ruling BJP has named 10 women nominees.
The alliance of the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and the Azad Samaj Party (ASP) has named eight women candidates in the 85 seats it is contesting while AAP's list of 90 hopefuls has 10 women.
According to Haryana Vidhan Sabha records, in the five assembly elections beginning in 2000, a total of 47 women have become legislators in the state, notorious for its skewed gender ratio — 916 female births per 1,000 males in 2023.
Read here the full article published by The Hindu on 23 September 2024.
Image credits: The Hindu
Women for Election are calling for gender quotas for the next local elections as part of the Gender Quota Alliance today, Tuesday September 24.
Katie Deegan, from Women for Election, highlighted that the exclusion of women from the political sphere leads to a lack of fair representation of society.
Deegan said: “Gender balance in local government isn’t just a matter of fairness; it’s a matter of better decision-making. Democracy functions better when it represents everyone it serves and when there is a balance of men and women involved.”
Ireland is now 22 out of the EU 27 countries in regard to gender balance in politics.
“The stagnation in the number of women Councillors elected in the recent local elections, at just 26% means that new radical measures are needed so that we don’t have to wait another three decades for even 40% women in local government.
"Our democracy is neither healthy nor sustainable if we exclude the voices and experiences of half of the population," Deegan said.
Read here the full interview published by the Westmeath Examiner on 24 September 2024.
Image credits: Westmeath Examiner
Elections in 2020 were profoundly marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in delays and cancellations, logistical challenges for candidates and election administrators and often low turnout. Women’s leadership was frequently in the spotlight during the pandemic. The pandemic raised complex and deeply gendered challenges for citizens and created obstacles for MPs to communicate and engage directly with their constituents. It changed the ways parliaments operate, introducing flexibility and new technologies. A substantial number of MPs across the globe were infected, many lost their lives.
Click here to access the report.
Source: IPU
Within the next two years, 38 states will hold gubernatorial elections, including two states - Virginia and New Jersey – who will hold gubernatorial elections in November 2021. These elections provide multiple opportunities for women. Nine women currently serve as governor and just 44 women have ever served in gubernatorial office in U.S. history. Candidates, including some potential women candidates, are already jockeying for the governors’ offices.
But running for office isn’t the only way women can participate in politics and wield power. Political donations provide critical resources that help candidates win elections and they signal that a candidate has support and the potential to be competitive. Furthermore, research finds that candidates and party leaders are more attentive to the interests of political donors. The 2018 and 2020 election cycles demonstrated that women are emerging as a significant force as political donors, and the 2021 and 2022 races present an opportunity for women to flex that power and make their mark in gubernatorial elections.
In The Money Hurdle in the Race for Governor, co-authors Kira Sanbonmatsu, Kathleen Rogers, and I note the dearth of women governors and the challenges women candidates face in seeking gubernatorial office. Our research also reveals that women’s giving in gubernatorial elections hasn’t reached its potential. Women make up a majority of the American electorate and vote at higher rates than men yet have lagged behind in terms of political giving. That tide may be turning.
Click here to read the full article published by the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) on 14 January 2021.
This study applied a conceptual framework that uses a comparative and gendered approach to estimate the cost of politics, using a set of pre-identified variables regularly incurred by both candidates seeking political office and elected representatives while in office. This consideration was in line with the notion that analysis of election delivery and management should not be looked at in the realm of an event but rather as a cycle. The conceptual framework enabled the research team to arrive at both statistical and qualitative evidence regarding the cost of politics in Uganda.
Click here to see the report.
This year marks the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees women the right to vote. But the United States was hardly the first country to codify women’s suffrage, and barriers to vote persisted for some groups of U.S. women for decades. At least 20 nations preceded the U.S., according to a Pew Research Center analysis of women’s enfranchisement measures in 198 countries and self-administering territories. Today, none of these 198 countries and territories bar women from voting because of their sex; some countries do not hold national elections.
Here is a closer look at the history of women’s suffrage around the world. This analysis focuses on when women in each country won the right to vote in national elections, not regional or local elections.
Click here to read the full article published by the Pew Research Center on 5 October 2020.
RepresentWomen tracks women's representation and leadership in the United States and around the world to identify the "best practices" for creating a more representative government. Our research indicates that even as more women run, electoral rules and systems play a major role in determining electoral outcomes. As seen in both our 2016 and 2020 reports, we find that electoral outcomes for women and people of color are overall better in jurisdictions that have implemented ranked choice voting (RCV).
The 2020 ranked choice voting report, "In Ranked Choice Elections, Women WIN" provides a thorough review of ranked choice voting in the United States and how it is impacting women's representation in the cities that have implemented it. Over the last decade, 19 cities and counties have used ranked choice voting to elect sitting city officials, including 13 mayors and the city councilmembers in 14 jurisdictions. Over the last decade (2010-2019), women have won 45% of all municipal ranked choice elections. As of April 2020, nearly half of all mayors (46%) and 49% of all city council seats decided by RCV are held by women.
Click here to see the report.
Political campaigns online have demonstrated that they can help candidates win elections, include more citizens’ concerns in political debates or allow upcoming parties to gain political exposure.
However, social media can also have a negative effect on political and electoral integrity by attacking an essential principle of democracy: the fundamental right of citizens to access trustable, reliable information to form their political opinions and, ultimately, decide their votes.
In this context of potential manipulation of public opinion through digital information operations, electoral management bodies, monitoring authorities, legislators and political parties face increasing difficulty in protecting the integrity of the political process.
Based on International IDEA’s work in Tunisia, Panama and Bolivia, this Fact sheet seeks to identify some overarching recommendations and a way forward based on how these types of activities may have potentially influenced their recent elections.
Click here to see the fact sheet.