OSCE/ODIHR begins assessment of early parliamentary elections in Slovenia

LJUBLJANA, 23 November 2011 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened an election assessment mission for the early parliamentary elections to be held in Slovenia on 4 December.

ODIHR was invited by the Slovenian authorities to observe the elections, in line with the country’s commitments as a participating State of the OSCE.

The mission is led by Ambassador Audrey Glover and consists of six international election experts from six OSCE participating States. The mission will be based in Ljubljana but its members will visit areas outside the capital to assess the campaign and electoral preparations at the local level.

The experts will assess and report on the overall framework for the conduct of the elections. The mission will, in particular, assess the implementation of regulations on party funding and campaign finance, the effectiveness of the complaints and appeals process, as well as access to the media by parliamentary and non-parliamentary political parties.

As part of the assessment process, the mission will meet relevant authorities, candidates, political parties, the judiciary, civil society and the media.

In accordance with ODIHR’s methodology for assessment missions, the experts will not carry out systematic or comprehensive observation of the voting, counting, or tabulation on election day, but plan to visit a limited number of polling stations to follow election day procedures.

A final report will be issued about two months after the completion of the election process.