ElectionGuide
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Puerto Rico (Jun 25, 2009)
Governor Luis FORTUNO has endorsed a bill to hold a referendum on Puerto Rico’s relationship with the United States. Proposed in the U.S. Congress by non-voting Representative Pedro PIERLUISI, the Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009 would authorize two referenda on the island. The first would ask voters whether they want to change Puerto Rico’s status as a U.S. territory. If a majority voted in the affirmative, voters then would choose among independence, U.S. statehood, or independence and "special association" with the United States. If most voters opposed changing the island’s status, there would be regular, subsequent referenda on the same question.

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Italy (Jun 23, 2009)
Italy will keep its hybrid electoral system after a referendum last failed to achieve quorum. Referendum questions in Italy may not pass unless more than 50 percent of voters go to the polls. According to official results, turnout was 23 percent. Had the three questions passed, the parties winning pluralities of votes each would be awarded 55 percent of seats in both the Chamber of Deputies and Senate, and candidates for the Chamber would be prohibited from standing in multiple constituencies. Under the current electoral system, the pre-election coalition of parties winning a plurality of votes is guaranteed 55 percent of seats in the respective chamber.

Haiti (Jun 21, 2009)
One person was killed and several were injured during runoff elections for Haiti’s Senate last weekend. The incidents occurred in the southwest of the country, where partisans of two candidates confronted each other in the streets. In the capital, police prepared to use tear gas on students who were demonstrating inside a medical school but may have left the building. Echoing April’s first-round elections, turnout was relatively low despite tensions among factions.

Sudan (Jun 21, 2009)
Parties to Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement are meeting in Khartoum to determine procedures for a 2011 referendum on Southern Sudan’s independence. At issue are who should staff the Referendum Commission, where in Sudan it should be headquartered, and who should be eligible to vote. Members of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, widely regarded as representing Southern Sudan, also discussed the location of the boundary between North and South and implementing parallel banking systems for both regions under the common Bank of Sudan.

Colombia (Jun 19, 2009)
A bicameral committee of legislators delayed a bill authorizing a referendum on presidential term limits, reducing the likelihood that President Alvaro URIBE will be able to seek a third term in 2010. The Senate and House have passed different versions, and the committee, which is charged with reconciling them, will reconvene with the rest of Congress on July 20. Lawmakers are concerned that the process by which signatures were collected will not survive judicial scrutiny. By law, the judiciary must approve any question that goes before voters.