Early Parliamentary Elections, 8 February 2020

In anticipation of an invitation to observe the 8 February 2020 early parliamentary elections, and in accordance with its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) undertook a Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) to Ireland from 22 to 24 January. The NAM included Ana Rusu, ODIHR Senior Election Adviser, and Tamara Sartania, ODIHR Election Adviser.

The purpose of the mission was to assess the pre-election environment and the preparations for the upcoming parliamentary 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. Meetings were held with officials from state institutions as well as with representatives of political parties, the media and civil society. A list of meetings is included as an annex to this report.