MEDIA ADVISORY

ODIHR opens election observation mission in Poland

WARSAW, 10 September 2019 – Following an invitation from the Polish authorities, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened an election observation mission for the 13 October parliamentary elections in Poland.

The limited election observation mission (LEOM) is led by Ambassador Jan Petersen and consists of a core team of ten experts based in Warsaw and 10 long-term observers, who will be deployed throughout the country from 17 September.

The mission will assess whether the election is held in line with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation. Observers will closely monitor fundamental components of the election such as voter registration, candidate registration, campaign activities, the work of the election administration and relevant government bodies, election-related legislation and its implementation, the resolution of election-related disputes, and also media coverage of the campaign.

Numerous meetings with representatives of state authorities, political parties, civil society, the media and the international community form an integral part of the observation.

The ODIHR LEOM will not carry out systematic or comprehensive observation of the voting, counting and tabulation on election day, in accordance with ODIHR’s comprehensive election observation methodology. Mission members will, however, visit a small number of polling stations on election day.

An interim report will be published to update the public and media during the course of the observation. The day after the election, ODIHR’s preliminary findings and conclusions will be presented at a press conference. A final report summing up the observation and making recommendations for improvements will be published approximately two months after the end of the election process.

For further information, please visit https://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/poland/426569 or contact Egor Tilpunov, Media Analyst, at +48 695 655 516 (Warsaw mobile), or at [email protected]

or

Katya Andrusz, ODIHR Spokesperson, at +48 609 522 266 (Warsaw mobile), or at [email protected].

Contacts: