OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to send observers to monitor elections in Armenia

Following an official invitation to observe the early parliamentary elections scheduled for 9 December 2018, based on the findings and conclusions of the Needs Assessment Mission deployed from 23 to 25 October, and in accordance with its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) deployed an Election Observation Mission (EOM) for these elections.

The ODIHR EOM, headed by Ambassador Urszula Gacek, consists of 13 international experts based in Yerevan.

In addition, 24 long-term observers will be deployed throughout the country from 18 November, according to an official statement on the OSCE website.

The ODIHR EOM will assess these elections for compliance with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation. Observers will closely monitor candidate registration, campaign activities, the work of the election administration and relevant governmental bodies, election-related legislation and its implementation, access of citizen observers, the media environment and the resolution of election-related disputes. As part of the observation, the mission will also monitor the media coverage of the campaign.

ODIHR will request participating States to second 250 short-term observers (STOs) to observe voting, counting, and the tabulation of results. STOs will be deployed 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 elections, ODIHR, together with its parliamentary partners, will issue a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions at a press conference. A final report on the observation of the elections will be issued approximately eight weeks after the end of the electoral process.

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