OSCE/ODIHR final report on Slovenia’s presidential election recommends further efforts to ensure participation of persons with disabilities, strengthen campaign finance provisions
The final report on Slovenia’s 22 October presidential election issued by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 20 December 2017 recommends strengthening campaign finance regulations and increasing collaboration between the election administration, other relevant institutions and civil society to make all polling stations accessible for persons with disabilities.
The report notes commendable efforts by election administration to accommodate voters with disabilities. However, despite this and the advanced legal framework, societal barriers, such as insufficient understanding of specific needs of persons with disabilities during the whole electoral process and a lack of political will to fully facilitate their rights, still hinder equal participation.
In assessing the political party and campaign finance regulations, the report welcomes that amended legislation increased the transparency of political finance. However, it also notes a lack of campaign finance supervision and auditing during the campaign period. The report therefore recommends greater regulation of auditing and sanctioning requirements.
The legal provisions on participation of persons with disabilities and political party and campaign finance regulations were the two aspects of the electoral process analyzed by the ODIHR expert team deployed for the election.