Parliamentary Elections, 6 October 2018

Following an invitation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and based on the findings and conclusions of the ODIHR Needs Assessment Mission undertaken from 4 to 7 June 2018, ODIHR has deployed an Election Assessment Mission (EAM) to the 6 October 2018 parliamentary elections in Latvia.

The ODIHR EAM, headed by Ms. Ulrike Lunacek, began its work in Latvia on 24 September. The EAM includes six international staff, drawn from five OSCE participating States.

The mission will assess the electoral process in terms of its compliance with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation. Observers will, in particular, look into issues such as the legal framework, voter registration, campaign finance, media access and coverage of the campaign, and the participation of national minorities and women.

In line with ODIHR’s methodology, the ODIHR EAM will not carry out systematic or comprehensive observation of the voting, counting, and tabulation on election day. Mission members will, however, visit a small number of polling stations.

A final report will be issued approximately eight weeks after the end of the electoral process.

Previous Elections

ODIHR has previously observed six parliamentary elections in Latvia, most recently in 2014, as well as one referendum.