Mid-term Congressional Elections, 6 November 2018
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Mission at a glance
- Head of Mission: Tana de Zulueta
- 13 core team experts from 10 participating States, based in Washington D.C.
- 36 long-term observers to be deployed throughout the country
Mission schedule
3 October: Opening press conference
8 October: Arrival of long-term observers
9 October: Briefing of long-term observers
10 October: Deployment of long-term observers
6 November: Election day
7 November: Press conference on preliminary findings and conclusions
11 November: Departure of long-term observers
14 November: Departure of the core team
Following an invitation to observe the 6 November 2018 mid-term congressional elections in the United States of America, based on the findings and conclusions of the Needs Assessment Mission deployed from 21 to 25 May 2018, and in accordance with its mandate, ODIHR has deployed a Limited Election Observation Mission (LEOM) to observe these elections.
Long-term observation
The ODIHR LEOM, headed by Tana de Zulueta, consists of 13 international experts based in Washington D.C. In addition, 36 long-term observers will be deployed throughout the country from 10 October.
The ODIHR LEOM will assess these elections for their compliance with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation. Observers will closely follow voter and candidate registration, campaign activities, the work of the election administration and relevant government bodies, election-related legislation and its implementation, the media environment, and the resolution of election-related disputes. As part of the observation, the mission will also analyse and assess the media coverage of the campaign.
Election day
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 day after the elections, ODIHR will issue a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions at a press conference. A final report on the observation of the entire electoral process will be issued approximately eight weeks after the end of the electoral process.
International Election Observation Mission press conference, Washington D.C., 7 November 2018
Co-operation with Other Partners
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is planning to deploy an observer delegation for these elections.
Previous elections
ODIHR has observed seven elections in United States, most recently the 2016 general elections.