Early parliamentary elections, 9 February 2020

Following an official invitation from the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan, ODIHR has deployed an Election Observation Mission (EOM) for the 9 February early parliamentary elections.

Long-term observation

The ODIHR EOM, headed by Ambassador Peter Tejler, consists of 12 international experts based in Baku. In addition, 30 long-term observers have been requested from OSCE participating States, to be deployed throughout the country from 14 January 2020.

The mission will assess the early parliamentary elections for its compliance with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation. Observers will follow voter registration, candidate registration, campaign activities, the work of the election administration and relevant state bodies, implementation of the legislative framework, the media environment, and the resolution of election-related disputes. As part of the observation, the EOM will conduct a comprehensive monitoring of the media.

Election day

ODIHR will request 350 short-term observers to be deployed prior to the 9 February elections. The short-term observers will be deployed throughout the country in multinational teams of two to monitor the opening of polling stations, the voting, the counting of ballots, and the tabulation of results.

The day after the election, ODIHR, together with its partners, will issue a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions at a press conference. A final report on the observation of the entire electoral process will be issued approximately eight weeks after the end of the observation mission.

Co-operation with Other Partners

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe are planning to deploy observer delegations for the elections.

Previous elections

ODIHR has observed ten elections since 1995, most recently the 2018 early presidential election.