Slovenia parliamentary elections professionally administered, ODIHR final report concludes, while recommending efforts to enhance oversight of campaign and campaign financing

The final report on Slovenia’s 3 June 2018 parliamentary elections issued by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 12 September 2018 concludes that the elections were administered in a professional and efficient manner, with a high level of confidence among stakeholders in the work of the election commissions. It notes that procedures were in place to make polling stations accessible for voters with physical disabilities.

The report also notes that voters had the opportunity to make an informed choice from a variety of political options, that all political parties were able to campaign freely, and that the freedoms of speech, movement and association were respected. However, public interest and participation in the elections remained low, according to the report, and the campaign environment featured disinformation tactics and instances of negative campaigning and hate speech. The report recommends that authorities consider the introduction of an effective mechanism to counter instances of intolerant rhetoric, including xenophobic and inflammatory language, in the campaign period.

According to the report, prior amendments to the legal framework for political and campaign finance addressed several previous ODIHR recommendations. The report recommends that the capacities of the oversight bodies need to be enhanced to ensure effective implementation of the political and campaign finance provisions, and to address concerns over possible illegal foreign financing.

While noting that the deadlines in place for election dispute resolution encourage timely legal remedy, the report highlights a lack of clear and hierarchical structures with regard to complaints before election administration bodies, and recommends that the law be amended to establish clarity regarding election day disputes.

The election administration enforced the legal requirements for gender representation in the candidate lists, but the report notes that no aggregated data were available on the number of female candidates nationally.