OSCE/ODIHR Commentaries on the Draft Law on the Croatian State Election Commission

The Croatian Parliament (Sabor) is considering a State Election Commission Bill (“Draft Law”). The Draft Law would provide for the establishment and operation of a permanent State Election Commission (SEC), and also transfer to it certain functions related to the Voter List. International as well as national observers of Croatian elections have recommended the formation of a permanent electoral administration. The OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission Report for the 2003 Parliamentary elections made a similar recommendation, by stating “…permanent election administration functions should be established.” To follow up on this issue, the OSCE/ODIHR, together with the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe participated in the roundtable on election legislation reform organized by the OSCE Mission with participation of the representatives of the governmental and parliamentary bodies, academics, and the civic society in Zagreb in November 2004. This meeting concluded that the adoption of a law on the State Election Commission would be one of the priorities.