OSCE/ODIHR opens mission to assess federal elections in Switzerland

BERN, 10 October 2011 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened an election assessment mission for the federal elections to be held in Switzerland on 23 October.

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

The mission is led by Peter Eicher and consists of eight international election experts from seven OSCE participating States. The mission will be based in Bern but will visit several Swiss cantons.

The experts will assess and report on the overall framework for the conduct of the elections. They will focus on the implementation of internet voting for out-of-country voters, campaign financing, non-citizen voting rights, and cantonal variations in electoral practices.

As part of the assessment process, the mission will meet with relevant federal and cantonal authorities, 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.