OSCE/ODIHR Launches Election Observation Mission
On September 12, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights opened an election observation mission for the upcoming Parliamentary elections in Georgia, according to the official press release found on the OSCE’s website.
The OSCE/ODIHR mission comes amid Russia’s repeated attacks against the U.S. and the OSCE/ODIHR, accusing them of colluding to “interfere” in Georgia’s upcoming Parliamentary elections against the ruling Georgian Dream.
Eoghan Murphy is the head of the observation mission, which consists of 12 international experts based in Tbilisi and 30 long-term observers, who are to be deployed throughout Georgia from 19 September. The release says the mission will also request 350 short-term observers, who are to arrive several days before October 26.
“The mission will assess the conduct of the elections for its compliance with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation,” the release reads.
The ODIHR’s “observers will closely monitor all key aspects of the elections, including developments before and after election day. Specific areas of focus include the implementation of the legal framework, the conduct of the campaign both offline and online, as well as the work of the election administration at all levels, the resolution of election disputes, and media coverage. They will also assess the implementation of previous ODIHR election recommendations.”
On October 26, the election day, the mission will join efforts with the delegations of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to observe the opening of polling stations, voting, the counting of ballots and the tabulation of results.
The preliminary findings will be presented to public the day after the elections, and it will take several months for the final report including the assessment of the entire election process and the recommendations to be published.
The OSCE/ODIHR believes that “meetings with representatives of state authorities, and political parties, civil society, the media and the international community form an integral part of the observation.”
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