Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

TBILISI, 22 August 2012 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened an election observation mission for the parliamentary elections to be held in Georgia on 1 October.

The mission's deployment follows an invitation from the Georgian Foreign Ministry.

The mission is led by Nikolai Vulchanov and consists of 15 international experts based in Tbilisi and 28 long-term observers to be deployed throughout the country. In addition, ODIHR will request 350 short-term observers to monitor election-day proceedings and the counting process.

Observers will assess these elections for compliance with principles for democratic electoral processes, including the commitments agreed to by all the OSCE participating States, as well as with national legislation. Observers will monitor campaign activities, media coverage, the legislative framework and its implementation, the work of the election administration and relevant government bodies, and the resolution of election disputes.

As part of the observation process, the mission will meet with relevant authorities, candidates, political parties, the judiciary, civil society and the media.

Short-term observers arriving for election day will be deployed in teams of two throughout the country to monitor the opening of polling stations, voting, the counting of ballots and the tabulation of results.

For election-day observation, the ODIHR election observation mission will also join efforts with a delegation from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and other parliamentary delegations.

A statement of preliminary findings and conclusions will be issued on the day after the elections.

ODIHR will issue a final report about two months after the end of the electoral process.

For further information contact:

Egor Tilpunov, Media Analyst, ODIHR Election Observation Mission, (+995) 577 329 307, egor.tilpunov@odihr.ge