Election Watch

ELECTION RESULTS (September–December 2017)

Argentina: Midterm legislative elections were held on October 22. Of the 127 seats up for reelection in the 257-seat Chamber of Deputies, the governing Cambiemos coalition of President Mauricio Macri won 61 seats (elevating its total representation to 109). The newly formed Citizen's Unity coalition led by former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner won 28 seats. The Justicialist Party, from which Kirchner had defected, won 18 seats. Ten smaller parties split the remaining seats. In elections for 24 of the 72 seats in the Senate, Cambiemos won 12; Citizen's Unity, 6; the Justicialist Party, 4; and the Front for Renewal of Concord, 2.

Chile: In the November 19 presidential election, none of the candidates obtained an outright majority, setting up a runoff scheduled for December 17. Former president Sebastián Piñera of the Chile Vamos coalition won 36.6 percent of the vote; Alejandro Guillier of the New Majority coalition (founded by incumbent president Michelle Bachelet), 22.7 percent; and Beatriz Sánchez of the newly formed Broad Front coalition, 20.3 percent. Five other candidates won less than 8 percent each. Elections were held concurrently for 23 seats in the 43-seat Senate and all seats in the 155-seat Chamber of Deputies. In the Senate, Chile Vamos won 12 seats; New Majority, 7; Democratic Convergence, 3; and Broad Front, 1. In the Chamber of Deputies, Chile Vamos won 72 seats; New Majority, 43; Broad Front, 20, and Democratic Convergence, 14. Candidates from smaller parties and one independent split the remaining seats. Results from the runoff between Piñera and Guillier will be reported in a future issue.

Czech Republic: In October 20–21 elections for the 200-seat Chamber of Deputies, the ANO movement led by Andrej Babiš won 29.6 percent of the vote and 78 seats. The Civic Democratic Party won 11.3 percent and 25 seats; the Czech Pirate Party, 10.8 percent and 22 seats; and the newly formed far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy, 10.6 percent and 22 seats. The governing Czech Social Democratic Party won only 7.3 percent and 15 seats, down from 20.5 percent and 50 seats in 2013. Smaller parties and independent candidates split the remaining seats.

Honduras: In the November 26 presidential election, results from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal reported that incumbent president Juan Orlando Hernández of the National Party won 42.9 percent of the vote; opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla of the Alliance Against Dictatorship, 41.4 percent; and Luis Orlando Zelaya of the Liberal Party, 14.7 percent. Domestic and international election observers reported significant irregularities in the Tribunal's tabulation of the ballots, and on December 8, Nasralla challenged the results before the Electoral Court. The election follows a 2015 Constitutional Court ruling that nullified a ban on presidential reelection. The Tribunal must declare a winner by December 26; the outcome will be reported in a future issue. In concurrent elections for the 128-seat National Congress, the National Party won 61 seats; Liberty and Refoundation, 30; and the Liberal Party, 26. Candidates from smaller parties split the remaining seats.

Kenya: In an August 8 vote, incumbent president Uhuru Kenyatta of the Jubilee Party won 54 percent, defeating opposition candidate Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement, who won 44.9 percent. On September 1, however, the Supreme Court invalidated the results, finding irregularities in the conduct of the vote, and a fresh election was scheduled for October 26. Then, on October 10, Odinga announced his withdrawal and urged an opposition boycott, citing the failure of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to implement "changes to its operations and personnel" to assure a credible rerun. In the October 26 election, Kenyatta won more than 98 percent of the vote, while Odinga, who did not submit withdrawal paperwork to have his name removed from the ballot, won less than 1 percent. Following the vote, the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed two petitions contesting the results, paving the way for Kenyatta's inauguration on November 28.

Kyrgyzstan: In the October 15 presidential election, Sooronbay Jeenbekov of the ruling Social...