1. Bolivia's Autonomist Right -- A Dangerous Threat
   Against The Current vol. 135
   Resource Type: Article
   First Published: 2008
   Autonomist right-wing forces in the Bolivian department (state) of Santa Cruz — acting through the offices of the prefecture (governorship) and Santa Cruz Civic Committee — held an illegal May 4 rerendum on departmental autonomy. According to the consulting agency Captura Consulting the “yes” side won 85% of the votes cast, with 15% against. However, many organizations within the left-indigenous bloc of the department had called for a boycott of the referendum, and were successful in obtaining an abstention rate of over 40%. Compare that to the remarkably low abstention rate of 15% in the December 2005 general elections that brought Evo Morales, the country’s first indigenous president, to office at the national level. Nonetheless, the right declared results a triumphant victory.
2. Elections and Regime Crisis
   Against The Current vol. 124
   Resource Type: Article
   First Published: 2006
   Will the Democrats "regain control of Congress"? Will Joseph Lieberman change parties? Will Hillary Clinton be the Democratic frontrunner for 2008? How much does any of this matter?
3. Kenya's Opposition Party
   Against The Current vol. 133
   Resource Type: Article
   First Published: 2008
   That the elections in Kenya were rigged is no longer in question. And for most people that the culprit is the sitting president, sworn in so quickly that the ceremony has been jokingly likened to a lightning wedding, is no longer a question.
4. Letter to a Progressive Democrat
   Against The Current vol. 110
   Resource Type: Article
   First Published: 2004
   Dear Progressive Democrat: I voted for Ralph Nader in 2000 and I'm proud of it. You voted for Nader and you regret it (or, you voted for Gore, even though you liked Nader better).
5. Nader, Greens and Socialists
   Against The Current vol. 91
   Resource Type: Article
   First Published: 2001
   Blaming Ralph Nader for Bush is like blaming the abolitionists for slavery. The Greens ran Nader to end corporate oligarchy, not to support one wing of the oligarchy as a lesser evil against the other wing. Nevertheless, the Democrats, their liberal satellite organizations, and the corporate media are playing the blame game for all it is worth.
6. 25 Years After the Gdansk Uprising
   Against The Current vol. 121
   Resource Type: Article
   First Published: 2006
   Suzi Weissman interviews David Ost. The occupation of the Gdansk shipyard by Polish workers in 1980, demanding recognition of their independent trade union Solidarnosc, rocked the Eastern bloc and inspired the world. A quarter century later, Communist rule is only a bad memory but the present realities for the Polish working class are a grim choice between neoliberalism and reactionary psedo-populism. The following interview with David Ost, conducted by Suzi Weissman November 28, 2005 for her radio program “Beneath the Surface” on KPFK in Los Angeles (90.7 FM), explores what’s happened to post-Solidarity Poland. It has been edited for publication here.
7. Voter ID Laws, Voter Fraud
   Against The Current vol. 133
   Resource Type: Article
   First Published: 2008
   The close primary election inside the Democratic Party between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton shows that every vote counts. The fiasco in the 2000 presidential election because of “hanging chads” also proves that every vote “not counted” does matter. And voter suppression under any circumstances — not just when elections are close — is a crime, a violation of basic rights and an attack on democracy.

Experts on Wahlbeobachtung in the Sources Directory

1. International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance