Early Parliamentary Elections, 21 October 2007
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Mission at a glance
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Head of Mission: Julian Peel Yates
- 12 election experts from 10 OSCE states
Mission schedule
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October 9: Mission opens
- October 21: Election day
In response to an invitation from Poland's Foreign Ministry, ODIHR deployed an election assessment mission for the 21 October pre-term elections to both houses of parliament.
Led by Julian Peel Yates of the United Kingdom, the mission consisted of 12 election experts from 10 OSCE participating States. In addition to experts based in Warsaw, the mission deployed to Lodz, Poznan, Wroclaw, Opole, Katowice, Krakow, Gdansk, Lublin, Torun and Bialystok. The mission also contained a media-monitoring component.
According to the mission's final report: "The 21 October elections were called as a consequence of the end of the governing coalition between Law and Justice (PiS), Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland (Samoobrona) and the League of Polish Families (LPR) and the self-dissolution of the Sejm. They demonstrated a democratic and pluralistic electoral process, founded on a high level of public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the electoral administration. The registration of candidates and party lists was inclusive, offering voters a wide and genuine choice. Turnout was reported at 53.88 per cent."
Election Assessment Team
Julian Peel Yates (United Kingdom): Head of Mission
Claudia Vollmer (Germany): Election Expert
Alastair Rabagliati (United Kingdom): Political Analyst
Lolita Cigane (Latvia): Political Analyst
Inna Shyrokova (Ukraine): Legal Analyst
Richard Bainter (United States): Legal Analyst
Ivan Godarsky (Slovakia): Media Analyst
Rumen Maleev (Bulgaria): Election Analyst
Goran Petrov (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia): Election Analyst
Lusine Badalyan (Armenia): Election Analyst
Nicola Schmidt (Germany): ODIHR Election Adviser
Mats Lindberg (Finland): ODIHR Election Adviser