ODIHR opens limited election observation mission in Bulgaria

SOFIA, 2 March 2021 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened a limited election observation mission (LEOM) for the 4 April parliamentary elections, following an invitation from the country’s authorities.

The mission is led by Corien Jonker and consists of a core team of 11 experts based in Sofia and 12 long-term observers, who will be deployed throughout the country from 10 March.

The mission will assess whether the elections are held in line with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation. Observers will closely monitor fundamental aspects of the elections such as voter registration, campaign activities, the work of the election administration and relevant government bodies, election-related legislation and its implementation, and the resolution of election-related disputes. The mission will also monitor media coverage of the campaign.

Meetings with representatives of relevant authorities and political parties, civil society, the media and the international community form an integral part of the observation.

While the mission will visit a limited number of polling stations on election day, there will not be any systematic observation of voting, counting or tabulation of the results. On election day itself, ODIHR LEOM will join efforts with delegations from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

An interim report will be published to update the public and media during the course of the observation. The day after the elections, a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions will be issued at a press conference, and ODIHR will publish a final report summing up the observation and making recommendations for improvements approximately two months after the end of the election process.

For further information, please visit www.osce.org/odihr/elections/bulgaria.

You can also contact Egor Tilpunov, Media Analyst: egor.tilpunov@odihr.bg; +359 878 695 416

or

Katya Andrusz, ODIHR Spokesperson: +48 609 522 266 (Warsaw mobile), or katya.andrusz@odihr.pl.