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Prime minister Justin Trudeau told reports he hopes for a smooth transition of power after the presidential election. However, he made it clear that he has told local and state officials to be prepared for disruptions following election night. These comments are the first time a prime minister has discussed the instabilities of an ongoing election in the United States.

It is definitely interesting to see the ripple effect of president Trump's statements across the globe. It really shows that this is not a typical election or typical presidential behavior and that there is a lot of tension on a global scale for the upcoming election.

It is crazy to think that the Israeli government is using minorities lack of confidence in government to their advantage. He is turning away those who are most vital to the stability of his country.

It's very interesting to see how the current Israeli prime minister is trying to "prevent" election fraud by putting cameras to view the elections.

Netanyahu was brilliant to propose the cameras to prevent election fraud because he has effectively created a safety net for himself. If he passes the bill, it will show him as getting stuff done, and could promote his candidacy. If he loses, all he has to do is say that there was election fraud due to no cameras. "Pre-election trick" was the perfect description here.

About Israel's election: Natanyahu running for third term, only other percieved challengers unable to run because some law and court issues.

Oooh. So much to discuss about Israeli politics.

Its interesting that Israel-US relations may have a sway in the US presidential elections, even when Israel itself is tainted with corruption.

Stateless Somalia is attempting to re-legitimize itself by creating a new electoral process for the 2016 election. Somalia's next president will be elected on November 30th. Some interesting aspects to note is that this election is not universal, but putting a process in place is the country's first step to developing universal elections by 2020 and creating more political participation.

I think it is especially interesting how hard they are trying to get female representation (1 of ever 3 seats in the House of the People will be contested by only women, 30% of seats in the upper house reserved for women, 16 of 51 delegates required to be women, registration to be a candidate is half as much for women compared to men). I appreciate that they are trying to get diverse representation, but did they go so far as to be a little patronizing? I don't know enough about Somalia to answer, but I'm curious what you think.

This election seems like choosing the lesser of two evils for Brazil, whichever that may mean for them. Bolsonar has used far-right fiery rhetoric to denounce climate change, social reform, and the West, while Lula was unable to run in the last election because of corruption charges. Many analysts see this election as a tipping point for Brazil on many issues, including poverty, education, and environmental protection. Neither side was able to secure the win in the first round of voting, but Lula is in the lead and Bolsonaro came in at a much closer second than many pollsters anticipated. It will be interesting to see what the next 4 weeks will hold.

Brazil usually has a pretty high voter turnout (around 80%). I wonder if that will stay the same or if it will drop in this election.

This French perspective on the US electoral process is really eye-opening. As Americans we are desensitized to the fact that vast swathes of our country are effectively ignored in the Presidential election process. However, from an outside perspective this phenomenon appears strange and disturbing. In France, which elects its presidents directly, the electoral college seems to subvert the interests of democracy without a clear purpose. Thus, the analysis of non-swing states addresses questions I would have never really thought to ask. This article focuses primarily on Georgia and South Carolina as examples of this phenomenon. The finding that many individuals in poor and uneducated populations in these states don't know who the Republican candidate is or when the election will occur is shocking and a little alarming, but, upon greater investigation, makes sense. Why would a presidential candidate ever visit either of those states in this day and age?

Let's talk about this one in class!

An interesting article on the Chilean election. This theme reflects on our study of economic approaches, in particular the aftermath of the shock therapy first instituted in Latin America to combat inflation in Chile. This policy was so painful for so many people that, in the 2000s, South America experienced a sharp political left turn, one of whose leaders is Chavez. He has ruled Venezuela with an almost autocratic grip, but seems at his weakest in years for this year's election.

Election Central!  

List of top false info stories circulating before election

Norwegians voted in a parliamentary election on September 12th-13th, with growing economic inequality, climate change, and oil dominating the political issues. The Labour Party candidate, Jonas Gahr Stoere, is leading in polls, expected to beat incumbent conservative Prime Minister Erna Solberg. Climate change has surfaced as a key issue among voters, leading an increasing number of seats to go to members of parties that would curtail Norway's oil and gas drilling, a major source of jobs for the country. Though Stoere may become reliant on left-leaning parties to claim a majority in parliament, the Labour Party candidate has rejected ultimatums over oil, citing major job loss, and instead promised to cut the countries carbon emissions.

Interesting to see Norway's political shift and hopeful class shift with new parliament leaders.

Good job finding a non-American source, Ershai. . .the Irish Times! "the Labour Party candidate has rejected ultimatums over oil, citing major job loss, and instead promised to cut the countries carbon emissions." , , , how? Too bad that in this case, labor and environmentalism seem to be political opponents.

Center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) narrowly defeated Chancellor Angela Markel's center-right Christian Democratic Party, officially marking the end of Merkel's 16 years of leadership. The narrow outcome means the SPD must collaborate with other parties to form the new government, a process that could take weeks, if not months, leaving Europe's largest democracy in a state of uncertainty. This election signals an end to an era for Germany, a longtime leader in Europe with Merkel at the helm.

Contains 5 possible coalitions that could result from the recent german election

"The victory completes a stunning political revival for Mr. da Silva - from the presidency to prison and back - that had once seemed unthinkable. It also ends Mr. Bolsonaro's turbulent time as the region's most powerful leader. For years, he attracted global attention for policies that accelerated the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and exacerbated the pandemic, which left nearly 700,000 dead in Brazil, while also becoming a major international figure of the far right for his brash attacks on the left, the media and Brazil's democratic institutions."

Mandatory voting proposal. Compares to Australia, which has had mandatory voting since 1924.

While there is a lot of fraud, there seems to be hope. The two heads of the Independent Election Commission are much less corrupt and plan to throw out nearly a million votes (25% of those cast) to reduce the effect of ballot-stuffing and coercion.