Politics Archives - Page 21 of 39 - Blog Bellew

A Day in the Field

F and I got to our first polling station at 6.25 am – thirty-five minutes before opening time. All the election staff were there making preparations.

Election Day

After a day travelling and three days of briefings and preparation it is time for the STOs to do their job. It’s as well to have an alarm clock because an STO and his partner arrive at the first polling station between an hour and thirty minutes before it opens – typically at 7.00 am.

Day by Day

It has been customary to hold General Elections in the UK on Thursdays since the 1930s. The tradition originated because Thursday was often Market day and voters would be in town. Now, as a result of the ill-advised Fixed-term Parliaments Act of 2011, they are held every five years on the first Thursday in May.… Continue reading Day by Day

How to be an STO

Who appoints the LTOs and STOs on an EOM? If you don’t know what the initials stand for, read yesterday’s post.

OSCE/ODIHR

Election observation amongst OSCE member states has developed since the 1990s. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) itself is more than twenty years younger than me.

Mission to Moldova

I spent yesterday travelling to Chisinau on Turkish Airlines with a stop-over in Istanbul. I am here as part of an Election Observation Mission (EOM).

Ding-Dong

“I’d like a big box of soluble Solpadeine Plus, please” is a tongue twister over which I stumble. By the way, I’m not OD-ing just stock-piling in case of post-Brexit shortages.

Moldova and Ukraine

Two dates are pencilled in my diary next year. On 24th February Moldova is holding parliamentary elections and on 31st March there is a presidential election in Ukraine.

Mad as a Wet Hen

Plucky TM PM has been more resilient than I expected. What do you think of the deal that she says is now non-negotiable?

Dead Man’s Penny

The first I’d heard of a Dead Man’s Penny was by chance yesterday. If you know all about them you may want to skip to a digression at the end of the post.