Parliamentary Elections, 25 June 2005

In response to an invitation from Bulgaria's Foreign Minister, ODIHR deployed an election assessment mission on 16 June to assess the parliamentary elections on 25 June.

Headed by Gerald Mitchell, the mission consisted of 12 election experts from 11 OSCE participating States.

According to the mission's final report: "The parliamentary election on 25 June demonstrated the credibility of the election process in Bulgaria, but some issues of both an administrative and political nature did introduce a measure of uncertainty and decreased confidence in the process, and in some instances represented a departure from best electoral practice. Some unique and unilateral government-led efforts to increase voter turnout were introduced, and in manner that was not fully transparent."