The meaning of "elect"
In the sentence below, does the verb "elect" simply mean "decide"? It does not mean "choose someone" or have any relation to the municipal elections just mentioned before.

Also is the subject "it", "The three-member judiciary panel"?

The three-member judiciary panel found that Mr. Wilders, the leader of the Party for Freedom, had violated Dutch law for remarks he made on March 19, 2014, around the time of municipal elections in The Hague, but it elected not to convict him of inciting hatred and rejected the prosecutors request to fine him 5,000 euros, or about $5,300.

Question

The meaning of "elect"
In the sentence below, does the verb "elect" simply mean "decide"? It does not mean "choose someone" or have any relation to the municipal elections just mentioned before.

Also is the subject "it", "The three-member judiciary panel"?

The three-member judiciary panel found that Mr. Wilders, the leader of the Party for Freedom, had violated Dutch law for remarks he made on March 19, 2014, around the time of municipal elections in The Hague, but it elected not to convict him of inciting hatred and rejected the prosecutors request to fine him 5,000 euros, or about $5,300.

Answer

Exactly. It refers to the panel. "Elected" *does* mean "decided", but with a subtle emphasis that there was a deliberation process involved. It wasn't just "yes" or "no", but they carefully considered all of the evidence and the gravity of the violation, and in the end, came to that conclusion.