Parliamentary Elections, 25 November 2007

Following an invitation from the Croatian authorities, the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights deployed a Limited Election Observation Mission (LEOM) to Croatia to observe the parliamentary elections on 25 November 2007.

Voters went to the polls to elect the Parliament through proportional representation from 11 multi-member constituencies.

The LEOM and the OSCE Mission to Croatia operate separately under their specific mandates.

Long-term observation

The LEOM, headed by Vadim Zhdanovich of the Russian Federation, consisted of 10 international staff based in Zagreb and 10 long-term observers deployed across the country.

The mission assessed the electoral process in terms of its compliance with OSCE commitments for democratic elections, other international standards, and national legislation. It focused on the election campaign, the legislative framework and its implementation, the media situation, the work of election administration and relevant government bodies, and the resolution of election-related disputes.

In view of the ODIHR's past findings, the presence of short-term observers was not considered necessary. The LEOM did not intend to carry out systematic or comprehensive observation of the voting, counting, and tabulation on election day, but observers visited several polling stations across the country to follow procedures.

The ODIHR will issue a final report approximately two months after the completion of the election process.