Portugal, Early Parliamentary Elections, 10 March 2024

Following an official invitation to observe the 10 March 2024 early parliamentary elections in Portugal, and in accordance with its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) undertook a Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) from 9 to 12 January. The NAM included Ana Rusu, ODIHR Senior Election Adviser, and Martina Barker-Ciganikova, ODIHR Election Adviser.

The purpose of the mission was to assess the pre-election environment and preparations for the early parliamentary elections. Based on this assessment, the NAM should recommend whether to deploy an ODIHR election-related activity for the forthcoming elections and, if so, what type of activity best meets the identified needs. Meetings were held with officials from state institutions as well as with representatives of political parties, media, civil society and diplomatic community. A list of meetings is annexed to this report.