Parliamentary Elections, 26 February 2016

In anticipation of an invitation to observe the 26 February 2016 parliamentary elections, and in accordance with its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) undertook a Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) to Ireland from 25 to 27 January. 1 The NAM included Steven Martin, OSCE/ODIHR Senior Adviser on New Voting Technologies, and Oleksii Lychkovakh, OSCE/ODIHR Election Adviser.

The purpose of the mission was to assess the pre-election environment and the preparations for the parliamentary elections. Based on this assessment, the NAM recommends whether to deploy an OSCE/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, the media and civil society.