#OTD in 1874, Argentina held a presidential election amid the latter stages of the Argentine civil wars.
Former justice minister Nicolás Avellaneda was elected by the electoral college. The defeated candidate, former president Bartolomé Mitre, staged a failed rebellion in the aftermath.
#OTD in 2003, Transnistria, the Russian-backed breakaway territory from Moldova, held a constitutional referendum on allowing private land ownership.
56% of voters voted in favour of the proposals, but turnout was just 39% - below the 50% threshold required.
#OTD in 2022, an election was not held in the British Atlantic territory of Tristan da Cunha due to a lack of candidates. Eight members of the Island Council were elected unopposed, and James Glass was re-elected as the Chief Islander.
#OTD in 1832, indirect presidential elections were held in New Granada, which comprised modern day Colombia and Panama. Following a civil war and the dissolution of Gran Colombia, former vice president Francisco de Paula Santander was elected president. He would serve for five years.
#OTD in 1894, Japan held its third general election since the promulgation of the Meiji Constitution. The Liberal Party remained the largest party, followed by the Constitutional Reform Party.
However, elections in this period did not directly influence the government, and Itō Hirobumi remained PM.
#OTD in 2006, after 20 years in power, Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni was elected to another term in office with 59.3% of the vote.
This was the first election that political parties were allowed to formally contest since 1980, but the opposition remained heavily persecuted and repressed.
#OTD in 1846, the mayor of San Salvador, Eugenio Aguilar, was elected unopposed by the Legislative Assembly to become the fourth President of El Salvador.
Aguilar survived a coup attempt months later. He went on to serve as president for a further two years before standing down in 1848.
ICYMI: The 2000 Egyptian legislative election was held at the height of President Hosni Mubarak’s rule, and drew a spotlight onto the nature and limitations of his regime’s control over Egypt.
Listen/read here, or on your favourite podcast app: historyofelections.substack.com/p/episode-6-...
New episode: The 2000 Egyptian legislative election was held at the height of President Hosni Mubarak’s rule, and drew a spotlight onto the nature and limitations of his regime’s control over Egypt
Listen/read here, or on your favourite podcast app: historyofelections.substack.com/p/episode-6-...
New episode: The 2000 Egyptian legislative election was held at the height of President Hosni Mubarak’s rule, and drew a spotlight onto the nature and limitations of his regime’s control over Egypt
Listen/read here, or on your favourite podcast app: historyofelections.substack.com/p/episode-6-...
A pile of library books about modern Middle Eastern and Egyptian history
Research for the next episode...
#OTD in 1898, the South African Republic (Transvaal) held a whites-only presidential election. President Paul Kruger was elected to a fourth term with 69% of the vote.
This was the last election to be held in Transvaal before the Second Boer War, which ended with its annexation by Britain in 1902.
#OTD in 1901, Tomás Estrada Palma was elected to be the first president of Cuba. The election was technically uncontested due to his rival Bartolomé Masó withdrawing citing electoral irregularities, although Masó still won about 35% of the vote.
Estrada Palma served as president until 1906.
Map of 1956 election in Barbados. Image credit: FelipeRev, CC BY-SA 4.0
#OTD in 1956, the first general elections were held in Barbados since it gained self-government from Britain. The Labour Party won a second majority, though its Premier, Grantley Herbert Adams, stood down to become Prime Minister of the short-lived West Indies Federation.
Map of election results. Image credit: Tezwoo, CC BY-SA 4.0
#OTD in 2003, Croatia held a parliamentary election. The result was a victory for the Croatian Democratic Union, which returned to power under Ivo Sanader after three years of rule by the Social Democratic Party.
NEW: In 1940, amid the fall of France, French citizens in French Polynesia voted on whether to affiliate the colony with the Free French Forces led by Charles de Gaulle. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. historyofelections.substack.com/p/episode-5-...
Image of Félix Houphouët-Boigny
#OTD in 1975, Ivory Coast held presidential and legislative elections. As the country had been a one-party state since independence in 1960, President Félix Houphouët-Boigny and his Democratic Party of Ivory Coast – African Democratic Rally were re-elected to a fourth term without any opposition.
NEW: In 1940, amid the fall of France, French citizens in French Polynesia voted on whether to affiliate the colony with the Free French Forces led by Charles de Gaulle. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. historyofelections.substack.com/p/episode-5-...
#OTD in 1932, an election was held in Western Samoa. Then a League of Nations mandate ruled by New Zealand, this was the first election after Samoans gained representation in the Legislative Council. This election was for the European constituency, electing Irving Carruthers and Alan Cobcroft.
Research for the next episode is under way!
Image credit: Jj1984o, CC BY 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Locator_map_of_Griqualand_West_1885.svg
#OTD in 1873, the first election was held to the Legislative Council of the new British colony of Griqualand West - today part of Northern Cape. Four of the Council's eight members were elected, just one of whom was a "person of colour". Griqualand West would be annexed by the Cape Colony in 1880.
#OTD in 1824, the United States of America began its presidential election. Renowned general Andrew Jackson won the most electoral votes but fell short of a majority, and a subsequent contingent election in the House of Representatives gave the presidency to John Quincy Adams, son of John Adams.
OTD in 2000, Sri Lanka held parliamentary elections. In the midst of the country's civil war against the Tamil Tigers, the incumbent People's Alliance Government was re-elected during a violent campaign marred by accusations of voter fraud. However, the party fell narrowly short of a majority.
NEW: The 2020 Syrian legislative election was a controlled exercise by the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad, which had governed Syria for 60 years. However, it provided an insight into the state of the regime and the country after 9 years of civil war. historyofelections.substack.com/p/episode-4-...
After a brief delay (I got married!), the next episode will see us step into the ba'ath...
The latest episode is now out! In 1940, Costa Rica held elections for its president and legislature amid a transitional period in the country's history that laid the path to civil war.
Listen/read here or wherever you get your podcasts: historyofelections.substack.com/p/episode-3-...
The latest episode is now out! In 1940, Costa Rica held elections for its president and legislature amid a transitional period in the country's history that laid the path to civil war.
Listen/read here or wherever you get your podcasts: historyofelections.substack.com/p/episode-3-...
Scholz will be Germany's shortest-serving Chancellor since Kurt Georg Keisinger in the 1960s.
(For more information on Keisinger's electoral defeat, see this History of Elections podcast I recorded recently! #ShamelessPlug historyofelections.substack.com/p/episode-1-...)
The latest episode is out! In 1989, Taiwan held its last 'supplementary election' to the Republic of China's legislature amid a period of democratisation and growing Taiwanese political identity.
Listen here, or wherever you get your podcasts: historyofelections.substack.com/p/episode-2-...
The latest episode is out! In 1989, Taiwan held its last 'supplementary election' to the Republic of China's legislature amid a period of democratisation and growing Taiwanese political identity.
Listen here, or wherever you get your podcasts: historyofelections.substack.com/p/episode-2-...