OSCE/ODIHR to assess elections in Germany and Portugal

WARSAW, 14 September 2009 - The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened election assessment missions for the parliamentary elections to be held in Germany and in Portugal on 27 September.

The deployment of the two missions follows invitations from the respective national authorities.

The mission to Germany is led by Ambassador Gerard Stoudmann (Switzerland) and consists of a total of 15 experts and support staff from 13 OSCE participating States.

The mission to Portugal is led by Jean-Pierre Kingsley (Canada) and comprises 13 experts and support staff from 12 participating States.

The missions will assess and report on the overall framework for the conduct of the elections in both countries. The experts will analyse the legal framework for the election, the political campaign, the work of the election administration at central and regional levels, as well as the complaints and appeals process. As part of the assessment process, the experts will meet with relevant governmental authorities, candidates, political parties, the judiciary, civil society and the media.

The assessment missions will also each analyse the role of major public and private broadcast networks in the campaign.

ODIHR will not carry out systematic or comprehensive observation of the voting, counting, or tabulation on election day in either country, but the experts plan to visit polling stations to follow procedures.

ODIHR will issue the final reports on both elections about two months after the completion of the election process.