Development: On 4 May a local watchdog, the Instituto Para el Desarrollo y la Democracia (IPADE), issued a report on Nicaragua's electoral process ahead of the 6 November general elections.

Significance: The report is the first by the watchdog for this voting cycle and was damming.

Key points:

• The report criticised the partiality of the supreme electoral court (TSE) which is headed by Roberto Rivas, a close ally of President Daniel Ortega.

• The Ipade also raised concerns about access to cédulas (national identity cards) which are necessary to vote.  Voting itself is not mandatory. According to the Ipade, of the 80 municipalities which it had sent observers to, only 18 (22.5%) had delegations set up to issue the cédulas.

• This adds to existing controversy regarding the CSE's decision in August last to increase the price of cédulas by 600% to C$300 (US$13). This is in a country where 44.7% and 9.7% of the population were described as living in poverty and extreme poverty in 2009 (on US$1.60/day and US$0.64/day respectively). In its annual human rights report released last month, the US State Department cited local civil society groups as warning that the move disguised an attempt by the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) to manipulate voter lists and that "government and political party resources were used to purchase large numbers of cedulas [sic] for party members".

• A December 2010 poll released by M&R Consultores claimed that more than 460,000 citizens (12% of the eligible population), lacked cédulas and that 70% of these people were either members of opposition parties or independents.

• Aside from ongoing concerns about Ortega's refusal to allow international and respected local watchdogs to oversee the November vote, Ipade also highlighted as a problem Ortega's April decree changing the electoral boundaries in a clear move to benefit his FSLN.