OSCE/ODIHR opens observation mission for early parliamentary elections in Bulgaria
SOFIA, 9 September 2014 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today formally opened a limited election observation mission (LEOM) for the 5 October early parliamentary elections in Bulgaria. The mission’s deployment follows an invitation from the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The mission is led by Ambassador Audrey Glover and consists of a core team of 12 experts based in Sofia. In addition, 14 long-term observers were requested from OSCE participating States to be deployed throughout the country in teams of two, from 14 September 2014.
The mission will observe the elections for their compliance with OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections, as well as with domestic legislation. Observers will closely monitor campaign activities, the work of the election administration and relevant governmental bodies, the implementation of a pilot project for machine voting, election-related legislation and its implementation, the media environment and the resolution of election-related disputes.
In the course of its observation, the mission will meet with representatives from state authorities, political parties and candidates, and with representatives from civil society, the media and the international community. While the mission will visit a limited number of polling stations on election day, systematic observation of voting, counting or tabulation of results on election day is not envisaged.
ODIHR will co-operate with an observer delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The day after the elections a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions will be issued at a press conference. ODIHR will issue a final report on the observation of the entire electoral process approximately eight weeks after the end of the observation mission.
For further information please visit //www.osce.org/odihr/elections/bulgaria or contact Egor Tilpunov, Media Analyst of the limited election observation mission, on +359 876 647 542 (mobile) or at [email protected] (email)
or
Thomas Rymer, ODIHR Spokesperson, on + 48 609 522 266 (mobile) or at [email protected] (email)