OSCE/ODIHR opens mission to observe parliamentary elections in Serbia

BELGRADE, 4 April 2012 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened a limited election observation mission for the parliamentary elections to be held in Serbia on 6 May.

The mission's deployment follows an invitation from the Serbian authorities.

The mission is led by Corien Jonker and consists of 10 international experts based in Belgrade and 12 long-term observers to be deployed throughout the country.

Observers will assess these elections for compliance with principles for democratic electoral processes, including the commitments agreed to by all the OSCE participating States, as well as national legislation. The mission will analyse the legislative framework and its implementation, and will follow campaign activities, media coverage, and the work of the election administration and relevant government bodies, participation of national minorities, and resolution of election disputes.

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

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. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe are planning to deploy observer delegations for these elections.

A statement of preliminary findings and conclusions will be issued on the day after the elections.

ODIHR will issue a final report about two months after the end of the electoral process.