Election Results: (October–December 2015)

Argentina: In the November 22 presidential runoff, Mauricio Macri of the center-right We Can Change party won with 51 percent, narrowly defeating center-left candidate Daniel Scioli of the Front for Victory (FPV). In the first round of voting held on October 25, Scioli led with 37 percent, Macri received 34 percent, and Sergio Massa of United for a New Alternative (UNA) received 21 percent. Outgoing president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (FPV) was constitutionally barred from running for a third term. Elections were held concurrently for Argentina’s bicameral legislature. Of the 130 seats up for election in the 257-seat Chamber of Deputies, the FPV won 60 seats, the We Can Change alliance won 40, the UNA won 14, and the remaining 16 seats went to members of smaller parties. In the 72-seat Senate, 24 seats were up for election. Of these, the FPV won 13, We Can Change won 6, and UNA won 1.

Azerbaijan: In disputed November 1 elections for the 125-seat National Assembly, President Ilham Aliyev’s New Azerbaijan Party won 70 seats. Independent candidates aligned with the ruling party won 43 seats, while eleven small opposition parties split the remaining 12 seats. The leading opposition parties, including the Musavat party, boycotted the vote, alleging massive violations in the run-up to the election. International observers condemned the government’s “crackdown on independent and critical voices” and refrained from sending observer missions due to the lack of a free and fair electoral environment.

Belarus: In the October 11 presidential election, longtime incumbent Alyaksandr Lukashenka won 83 percent. Mainstream opposition leaders were barred from running. The only opposition candidate who participated, activist Tatianna Karatkevich, received just 4 percent and was disowned by almost all opposition parties except her own Tell the Truth movement. The “against all” option received 6 percent. Election observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) stated that “significant problems, particularly during the counting and tabulation, undermined the integrity of the election.”

Belize: In November 4 elections for the 31-seat House of Representatives, Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s United Democratic Party won its third consecutive election, obtaining 51 percent and 19 seats. The People’s United Party won 48 percent and 12 seats.

Burkina Faso: After a year-long transition following the overthrow of longtime incumbent Blaise Compaoré, presidential and parliamentary elections were held on November 29. Former prime minister and former president of the National Assembly Roch Marc Christian Kaboré—who left the ruling Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) to found the new opposition People’s Movement for Progress party (MPP)—won 53 percent. Former finance minister Zéphirin Diabré of the liberal Union for Progress and Reform (UPC) finished second with 30 percent. Twelve other candidates split the remaining votes. In concurrent elections for the 127-seat National Assembly, MPP won 55 seats; UPC, 33; CDP, 18; and the Union for Rebirth–Sankarist Movement, 5. The remaining 16 seats went to members of smaller parties.

Burma: On November 8, the country held elections for the bicameral legislature. In the 440-seat House of Representatives, 330 seats were up for election (the remaining 110 seats are reserved for the military). Of these, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won 255 seats, defeating the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which received 29 seats. The Arakan National Party (ANP), which represents the Rakhine minority, and the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) each won 12 seats, while the remaining 22 seats went to independent candidates and members of smaller parties. In the 224-seat House of Nationalities, 168 seats were up for election while the remaining 56 seats were reserved for the military. The NLD won 135 seats; USDP, 11 seats; ANP, 10 seats; SNLD, 3 seats; and the remaining 9 seats went to independent candidates and members of smaller parties. The legislature will vote to elect the country’s president in March. Aung San Suu Kyi is constitutionally barred from running for the presidency because her sons are both British citizens.

Côte d’Ivoire: In the...