US elections largely meet electoral reform targets and highlight continuing challenges

WASHINGTON, D.C., 8 November 2006 - The electoral environment in the United States is characterized by a high level of transparency and professionalism of election officials. The electoral reforms, initiated by the 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) appear to have been fully or largely implemented in most States. However, the introduction of new electronic voting systems has sparked nationwide debate regarding their reliability and voter confidence in the process.

Those are the main preliminary conclusions of an Election Assessment Mission, deployed by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) to follow the 7 November mid-term congressional elections at the invitation of the U.S. authorities.

"The overall election administration, including the processing of voters on election day, seemed professional and efficiently organized in most polling stations we visited," said Giovanni Kessler, who headed the mission.

"However, the swift introduction of Direct Recording Equipment (DREs), at times without a voter verifiable audit paper trail, appeared to negatively impact on voter confidence. This remains a challenge for the future."

Commenting on the campaign, Kessler raised his concern that a large number of political advertisements consisted of personalized attacks on opponents.

The OSCE/ODIHR assessment mission focused on the administration of the process, in particular on specific issues related to the 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) including new voting technologies, voter registration, and absentee and provisional balloting...

The full statement is available on this page under "Documents".