Elections

The first female founder of an Afghan political party has urged the country to rethink the use of facial recognition technology in elections amid concerns it stopped large numbers of women from voting this year.

Authorities photographed all voters in September’s presidential election and used facial recognition software, a measure designed to combat fraud that women’s rights activists say deterred female voters from participating.

The 2018 midterm elections saw voters elect a record number of women to the House of Representatives, with a number of individual candidates achieving historic firsts with their victories.

For several weeks, angry Latin Americans have been protesting in the streets. In Bolivia, citizens are protesting allegedly fraudulent election results.

Female under-representation in politics continues to be a problem in Botswana, where only three women won seats in the 57-member National Assembly during last week’s general elections. Activists say the central African country has a bias against women both in its electoral system and its culture.

After the 2014 general election, Botswana only had four elected female Members of Parliament in the National Assembly. The number dwindled to three after the October 23 national poll.

Many feminists celebrated the incredible progress made in 2018 when more women were elected to Congress than ever before—but victories at the state level warranted commemoration, too.

Members of Portugal's new parliament took up office on Friday, among them the country's first black women lawmakers who campaigned on promises to fight racism and inequality.

The three women, who all trace their origins to Guinea-Bissau, an impoverished former Portuguese colony in west Africa, won office in the October 6 general election when Prime Minister Antonio Costa's Socialists were re-elected but without an absolute majority.

Monday’s federal election saw a new record – the most female Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons.

Global News counted a total of 98 women MPs that were elected across all parties, an increase of 10 from the 2015 election and seven from the 91 female-held seats at the time parliament dissolved.

Elected women also saw a general increase of representation in their respective parties.