During the 22-year rule of former Gambian President Yaya Jammeh, dubious voter registration processes contributed to election outcomes that lacked credibility. Now, with the first presidential elections under President Adama Barrow taking place in December 2021, an accurate voter register will be critical in ensuring credible and representative polls. 

Early in the morning on August 16, the Electoral Commission of Zambia announced that long-time opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development (UPND) had won the 2021 presidential elections with 59.4 percent of the vote.

In Algeria and across the world, social media’s role in disseminating information of public concern has been growing. However, with the rapid diffusion of fact-based information comes the spread of disinformation. This has been especially relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic as people have been searching for information on the virus through traditional and online media platforms. While some Algerians have started to receive vaccines to achieve immunity against the coronavirus, disinformation remains without an antidote.

Just weeks before the August general elections in Zambia, the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) released a series of revised accreditation requirements for citizen election observers that significantly hampered their ability to accredit observers across the country. Among the new regulations, citizen groups were required to provide evidence of at least three years of governance experience and each individual observer had to complete a certified application form in triplicate as well as submit certified copies of each observer’s national ID card.