Federal Assembly Elections, 22 October 2023

Following an official invitation to observe the 22 October 2023 Federal Assembly elections and in accordance with its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) undertook a Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) to Switzerland from 11 to 13 July. The NAM comprised Ana Rusu, ODIHR Senior Election Adviser, and Goran Petrov, ODIHR Election Adviser.

The purpose of the mission was to assess the pre-election environment and the preparations for the Federal Assembly elections. Based on this assessment, the NAM should recommend whether to deploy an ODIHR election-related activity for the forthcoming elections and, if so, what type of activity best meets the identified needs. Meetings were held with officials from federal and cantonal institutions, the election administration, as well as representatives of political parties, media, civil society and the international community. A list of meetings is annexed to this report.