For the past decade in many countries in Europe and its close neighborhood we have observed different types of processes which can be named as “de-democratization”. The aim of the article is to analyze the state of elections as the crucial democratic institution which fairness and competitiveness have a substantial impact on the political regime. While Turkey as a “role model” for our analysis remains a main focus of the article, three European countries were selected for a comparison based on their relative similarity to Turkey – Hungary, Macedonia (FYROM) and Serbia. The following questions are posed: Are elections in these countries free, fair and competitive? Can some types of electoral malpractice and irregularities be identified? How does the state of elections in terms of their fairness and competitiveness influence the political regime? The main hypothesis is that in the analyzed countries elections competitiveness limited by incumbents can become a factor deciding about the change within the political regime in the long run (loss of democratic quality) and also change the regime (to a less democratic one).

The adoption of smart card technology in various parts of Africa has reduced electoral malpractices, resulting in election credibility and acceptability. However, its use in Nigeria’s electoral process is believed to have downsides. The paper investigates how adopting smart card technology reduced electoral malpractices during the 2019 presidential election, making it more transparent, credible, and reliable than the traditional technique. It uncovers the flaws of the technology in Nigeria, including card reader malfunction, delays in accreditation and voting, the inability of the INEC staff to operate the technology efficiently during voting, and election postponement, among others. It is therefore recommended that the INEC improve public awareness of the use of the technology and train its staff.