OSCE/ODIHR opens mission to assess parliamentary elections in Poland

WARSAW, 27 September 2011 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened an election assessment mission for the parliamentary elections to be held in Poland on 9 October.

The mission's deployment follows an invitation from the government of Poland. As a participating State of the OSCE, Poland has committed itself to invite ODIHR to observe its elections.

The mission is led by Julian Peel Yates and consists of six international election experts from six OSCE participating States. The mission will be based in Warsaw but will visit other areas of Poland.

The experts will assess and report on the overall framework for the conduct of the elections. They will focus on the legal framework, implementation of the new unified Election Code (including of the gender quota), political party and campaign financing, as well as the regulation of the media.

As part of the assessment process, the experts will meet with relevant governmental authorities, election administration, candidates, political parties, the judiciary, civil society and the media.

In accordance with ODIHR’s methodology for assessment missions, the experts will not carry out systematic or comprehensive observation of the voting, counting, or tabulation on election day, but plan to visit a limited number of polling stations to follow election day procedures.

A final report will be issued about two months after the completion of the election process.