Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

Following an invitation to the OSCE/ODIHR, extended by the Ambassador of the United States of America to the OSCE, to observe the 4 November 2008 general elections, the OSCE/ODIHR deployed a limited election observation mission (LEOM) to the United States of America.

The OSCE/ODIHR conducted a needs assessment mission from 16 to 20 June 2008 in order to assess the conditions and preparations for the elections and to advise on the format and modalities of an election observation mission. The needs assessment mission recommended the deployment of a Limited Election Observation Mission (LEOM).

Long-term observation

The OSCE/ODIHR LEOM, headed by Ambassador Audrey Glover, began work on 10 October. The LEOM has a core team of 13 international experts at the head office in Washington DC, and 47 long-term observers deployed in teams of two around the country. The LEOM observers are drawn from 20 OSCE participating States.

As the US is a participating States of the OSCE, the LEOM will assess the upcoming elections in the context of the OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections, as well as national legislation. The LEOM will focus mainly on federal legislation and its implementation, election reform issues, the election campaign and the media, electronic voting, access of observers, and other issues including voter registration, voter identification, and voting rights.

According to standard practice, an OSCE/ODIHR LEOM does not envisage comprehensive and systematic observation of election day procedures, although members of the OSCE/ODIHR LEOM will visit polling stations around the country on election day. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly will deploy an observation mission to observe election day proceedings.

Previous elections

The OSCE/ODIHR has observed a number of elections in the United States of America. It undertook Election Assessment Missions (EAM) to follow the congressional mid-term elections in 2002, with a focus on the state of Florida, and in 2006. In 2004, the OSCE conducted an Election Observation Mission (EOM) of a targeted nature for the general elections.