OSCE Mission in Kosovo

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo has been involved with the preparation and execution of elections in Kosovo since 2000. It has organized and supervised municipal elections in 2000 and 2002, and central level elections in 2001 and 2004.

The Mission has also helped create local election institutions, the Central Election Commission (CEC) and the CEC's secretariat, and has been building their capacity to organize elections.

In the November 2007 elections, the Mission was supposed to have an advisory role. However, due to a very short time frame and the complexity of the simultaneous three-level elections - for the Assembly of Kosovo, municipal assemblies and directly elected mayors - the Mission stepped up its role. It assisted with the voter registry, political party registration, out of Kosovo voting, and a counts and results centre.
 

Both international and local observers gave positive technical commentary on the 2007 elections.

Current focus
Since the first elections organized by the Mission in 2000, transition and local management have been regular features of the Mission's electoral operations in Kosovo. In 2000, the CEC was formed and at the same time municipal election commissions were established to support local elections.

In 2003, the CEC Secretariat was formed and, together with the CEC, it assumed considerable responsibilities for the 2004 Kosovo Assembly elections. Their responsibilities included establishing electoral rules, certifying political entities, developing and distributing election materials, running voter information campaigns and accrediting observers.

Since 2008, the executive responsibility for implementing future Kosovo elections has been assumed by the CEC. The Mission's priorities are now to continue supporting the proper functioning of the CEC and its secretariat through capacity building.