Parliamentary Elections, 2 October 2010

Following an invitation from Latvia's Permanent Mission to the OSCE and the recommendation of a needs assessment mission conducted on 14-16 July 2010, ODIHR deployed a limited election observation mission on 6 September to observe the parliamentary elections on 2 October.

Headed by Nikolai Vulchanov of Bulgaria, the mission consisted of nine experts based in Riga and four long-term observers who were deployed on 12 September to two regional locations.

According to the mission's final report: "The parliamentary elections generally met OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections, as well as domestic legislation. Voters had an opportunity to make a choice among a field of candidates presenting different political alternatives. Election stakeholders expressed confidence in the overall process.

"The key election-related laws are generally conducive to the conduct of democratic elections. Most of them had been amended since the 2006 elections, in some cases addressing previous OSCE/ODIHR recommendations. However, room to further enhance compliance with OSCE commitments remains, including with regard to candidacy rights."