1. News and upcoming events of the ACEEEO
We are 30!
This year the ACEEEO has reached a milestone in its history, again. It was already 30 years ago that leading electoral officials of six former socialist countries decided to establish the Association of Central and Eastern European Election Officials. Since 1991 the name has changed a bit, but the abbreviation remained, and ACEEEO has grown to include representatives of Election Management Bodies of 25 countries and established effective links with many international and intergovernmental institutions working on elections and democracy.
In order to celebrate the 30-year-anniversary of this outstanding example of international cooperation, the ACEEEO invites its Members and Partners to take an active part in the programs planned to be implemented this year. Among others, we invite our colleagues to commemorate the Global Elections Day on the first Thursday of February; to share their memories about the elections of the last 3 decades in form of photos; to voice their ideas about the future of elections and send messages to future young voters; and participate in the upcoming Anniversary Annual Conference of the ACEEEO.
For further information please do not forget to read our upcoming newsletters and frequently visit the Facebook page of the ACEEEO.
Global Elections Day (GED)
On the 4 February 2021 Electoral Management Bodies all over the world will celebrate the Global Elections Day for the 16th time.
On the occasion of this celebration the Electoral Management Bodies open the doors of their offices, emphasizing once again the transparency in their work. They invite young voters, the media and other key stakeholders to present their achievements in organization of the electoral process, but at the same time they initiate conversation about the improvement of the processes. As the initiators of the GED underlined back in 2005, the main goals of this day are:
- to confirm our belief in the irreversibility of democratic processes;
- to inform the public about new achievements and challenges related to various types of voting systems;
- to draw the attention of parliaments, governments, politicians and world leaders on the importance of their leadership role that they play in promoting a culture of democracy and high levels of voter participation;
- to influence first-time voters and young voters to commit themselves to democratic values.
Therefore, we encourage all our Members and Partners to join the celebration and send us your short reports and photos about the activities. For further reference please visit: https://aceeeo.org/en/projects/global-elections-day.
‘They vote for the first time, but not the last – Trends, challenges, and best practices of youth participation’
Online Symposium, 4 February 2021
Undoubtedly, the matters of voters’ education, consciousness of the electorate, and a special focus on youth participation are not a new topic in electoral business. However, in the light of the developments in terms of new technologies the topic gained a new relevance in the recent decade. Thus, it is of utmost importance that the new generations of voters inherit the experience and knowledge about democratic processes and constantly polish their skills of being able to properly filter information and making a conscious decision about their future.
Therefore, the ACEEEO continues its long-lasting tradition of focusing to the electoral education of youth and organizes an Online Symposium on 4 February 2021.
The topic is not new for us; we kept this topic on the agenda of our annual conferences since the late 90’, beginning with the 8th ACEEEO conference in Bratislava, Slovakia titled ‘A Decade of Democracy: Increasing Voter Participation through Education’, continuing with the 13th ACEEEO conference in Tirana, Albania with the title ’Voter turnout with special regard to the first time voters’, and since the topic of education came up at almost all of our conferences.
As the first step in our journey this year, the ACEEEO invites all the interested to attend the Online Symposium on ‘They vote for the first time, but not the last – Trends, challenges, and best practices of youth participation’ on 4 February 2021, which will deal with the topic from an international comparative angle on the one side, and from a country specific perspective from the other side, tackling the experiences of international organizations and Electoral Management Bodies.
– DRAFT AGENDA –
(Time zone: CET / UTC+1)
14.00 – 14.10 – Greetings from Zsolt Szolnoki, Secretary General, ACEEEO
14.10 – 15.00 – Youth programs in Europe
Speakers:
Dániel Oross, Researcher, Centre for Social Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Centre of Excellence
Augusta Featherston, Youth Focal Point, OSCE/ODIHR
15.00 – 15.45 – Case studies on citizen and youth education
Speakers:
Representative of the CEC of Georgia (TBC)
Representative of the CEC of the Republic of Moldova
15.45 – 16.00 – Debate and closing remarks
The Online Symposium is freely accessible, however, prior registration is needed. If you wish to participate, please send an e-mail to aceeeo@aceeeo.org.
2. Elections in the region
|
Date |
Country |
Type of election |
|
14 February |
Kosovo |
Presidential |
|
March |
Bulgaria |
Parliamentary |
|
25 April |
Albania |
Parliamentary |
|
September |
Russian Federation |
Parliamentary |
|
2021 |
Bulgaria |
Presidential |
|
2021 |
Georgia |
Local |