The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened an election observation mission for the 26 October parliamentary elections in Georgia, following an official invitation from the national authorities.

The mission is headed by Eoghan Murphy and consists of a core team of 12 international experts based in Tbilisi and 30 long-term observers, who will be deployed throughout the country from 19 September. ODIHR will request 350 short-term observers, to arrive several days before election day.

The mission will assess the conduct of the elections for its compliance with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation.

Observers will closely monitor all key aspects of the elections, including developments before and after election day. Specific areas of focus include the implementation of the legal framework, the conduct of the campaign both offline and online, as well as the work of the election administration at all levels, the resolution of election disputes, and media coverage. They will also assess the implementation of previous ODIHR election recommendations.

Meetings with representatives of state authorities, and political parties, civil society, the media and the international community form an integral part of the observation.

On election day, the ODIHR mission will join efforts with the delegations of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to observe the opening of polling stations, voting, the counting of ballots and the tabulation of results.

The day after the elections, the international observation mission’s preliminary findings will be presented at a press conference. A final report with an assessment of the entire election process and containing recommendations will be published some months after the process.