United States of America, General Elections, 3 November 2020: Needs Assessment Mission Report

Following an invitation from the United States Mission to the OSCE to observe the 3 November 2020 general elections and in accordance with its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) undertook a Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) from 29 May to 5 June. The NAM included Alexander Shlyk, Head of the ODIHR Election Department, Ana Rusu, ODIHR Senior Election Adviser, Hamadziripi Munyikwa, ODIHR Election Adviser, and Radivoje Grujić, ODIHR Election Adviser. The ODIHR NAM was joined by Stephanie Koltchanov, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Elections Officer. The purpose of the mission was to assess the pre-election environment and the preparations for the elections. Based on this assessment, the NAM recommends whether to deploy an ODIHR election-related activity for the forthcoming elections and, if so, what type of activity best meets the identified needs. Due to the global health emergency and consecutive introduction of restrictions on cross-border travel throughout the OSCE region, the NAM was conducted remotely, using the means of information and communication technologies. This approach was chosen due to the current extraordinary situation and in view of the need to ensure sufficient time for the preparation of the possible deployment of an election-related activity for the 3 November general elections. Meetings were held with officials from federal and state institutions, as well as representatives of political parties and civil society.