OSCE's election body sends team of experts for the Swiss federal elections

WARSAW, 15 October 2007 - The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) deployed an election assessment mission to Switzerland today for the 21 October federal elections.

The mission, led by Paul DeGregorio (United States), will include ten election and legal experts from nine OSCE participating States.

The purpose of the mission will be to assess and report on the overall framework for the conduct of elections in Switzerland with regard to OSCE commitments for holding democratic elections. The mission will meet relevant authorities, as well as with candidates, political parties, civil society and the media.

Since the administration of elections is decentralized, it is of particular interest to follow the conduct of elections at the cantonal level, as well as the media coverage and the use of postal voting.

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

This is the first time the OSCE/ODIHR has deployed a mission to assess elections in Switzerland. The deployment follows an invitation from the Swiss government.