General Elections, 14 May 2023, and Presidential Election, Second Round, 28 May 2023

Following an invitation from the authorities of Türkiye and in accordance with its mandate, ODIHR has deployed an Election Observation Mission (EOM) to the 14 May 2023 general elections.

Long-term Observation

The ODIHR EOM, headed by Ambassador Jan Petersen, consists of 14 international experts based in Ankara. In addition, 28 long-term observers will be deployed throughout the country from 7 April.

The mission will assess the elections for their compliance with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards, as well as with national legislation.

Observers will closely follow fundamental components of the elections such as:

• voter registration
• candidate registration
• campaign activities and financing
• the work of the election administration and relevant state institutions
• election-related legislation and its implementation
• the resolution of election-related disputes

The ODIHR EOM will also conduct qualitative and quantitative monitoring of media coverage of the election campaign. The ODIHR EOM will also conduct a limited qualitative and quantitative observation of election campaigns on social networks.

Election day

ODIHR will request the secondment of 350 short-term observers from OSCE participating States to follow the election day proceedings. The short-term observers will be deployed throughout the country in multinational teams of two, which will monitor:

• the opening of polling stations
• the voting
• the counting of ballots
• the tabulation of results at all levels.

Co-operation with other partners

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe intend to deploy observer delegations for these elections.

The day after the elections, ODIHR, together with its parliamentary partners, 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 two-three months after the end of the election process.

Previous Elections

ODIHR has previously deployed seven election-related activities in Türkiye since 2002, and most recently for the 2018 early presidential and parliamentary elections.