Parliamentary Elections 4, October 2014

Mission at a glance

• Head of Mission: Nikolai Lubomirov Vulchanov (Bulgaria)
• Core team  of six experts from six participating States, based in Riga

Mission schedule

16 September: Opening of the mission
4 October: Election day
8 October: Closing of the mission

Following an official invitation to observe the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for 4 October 2014, based on the findings and conclusions of the Needs Assessment Mission deployed from 10 to 12 June 2014, and in accordance with its mandate, the OSCE/ODIHR has deployed an Election Assessment Mission (EAM) for these elections. The EAM is planning to commence its activities in Riga on 16 September 2014.

The mission, headed by Nikolai Lubomirov Vulchanov, began work on 16 September. The EAM includes six international staff, drawn from six OSCE participating States.

The mission will assess these elections for compliance with OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections, as well as national legislation. Observers will, in particular, look into issues such as the legal framework, political party and campaign finance, as well as media coverage of the campaign.

In line with ODIHR’s methodology for assessment missions, the mission will not carry out systematic or comprehensive observation of the voting, counting and tabulation on election day. Mission members will, however, visit a small number of polling stations to follow election day procedures.

The mission will remain in the Republic of Latvia until 8 October and will issue a final report approximately eight weeks after the end of the electoral process.

Previous Elections

The OSCE/ODIHR has previously observed five parliamentary elections in the Republic of Latvia, most recently early parliamentary elections in 2011.