Parliamentary Elections, 10 and 17 June 2012

Following an official invitation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of France, and based on the findings and conclusions of the OSCE/ODIHR Needs Assessment Mission conducted from 10 to 11 May, the OSCE/ODIHR has deployed an Election Assessment Mission (EAM) to the 10 and 17 June 2012 parliamentary elections.

Mission Activities

The mission, headed by Ms. Tana de Zulueta, began work on 31 May. The EAM includes nine international staff, drawn from eight OSCE participating States.

The mission will assess the electoral process in terms of its compliance with OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections, as well as national legislation. Observers will, in particular, assess political finance regulations and their implementation, regulation of the media, and the use of new voting technologies.

In line with ODIHR’s methodology for assessment missions, the mission will not carry out systematic or comprehensive observation of the voting, counting and tabulation on election day. Mission members will, however, visit a small number of polling stations across the country to follow election day procedures.

The mission, which will remain in France until 20 June, will issue a report approximately two months after the completion of the election process.

Previous elections

The OSCE/ODIHR has observed presidential elections in France in 2002 and 2007.