Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights - Elections

Following an invitation from the Dutch government, the OSCE/ODIHR deployed an election assessment mission to the Netherlands for the 22 November elections to the lower chamber (Tweede Kamer) of Parliament. The mission, led by Julian Peel Yates (United Kingdom) included 8 election and legal experts.

The purpose of the mission was to assess and report on the overall framework for the conduct of elections in the Netherlands with regard to OSCE commitments for holding democratic elections. The mission met with relevant governmental authorities, in particular with the Electoral Council, as well as with candidates, political parties, civil society and the media. Electronic voting systems as used in the Netherlands were also of interest.

The OSCE/ODIHR did not carry out a systematic or comprehensive observation of the voting, counting and tabulation on election day, but the team of experts did visit a few polling stations across the country to follow procedures on election day.

This was the first time the OSCE/ODIHR deployed a mission to asssess elections in the Netherlands.

Members of the Election Assessment Mission

Head of Mission: Julian Peel Yates (United Kingdom)
Election Expert: Paul De Gregorio (USA)
Legal Expert: Inna Shyrokova (Ukraine)
Election Expert: Marcus Brand (Austria)
Election Expert: Kamen Ivanov (Bulgaria)
Election Expert: Irena Hadziabdic (Croatia)
Election/E-voting Expert: Douglas Jones (USA)
Election/E-voting Expert: Tarvi Martens (Estonia)
ODIHR Senior Election Adviser: Vadim Zhdanovich (Russian Federation)