News and press releases

WARSAW, 16 October 2023 – Poland’s parliamentary elections were characterized by record high voter participation with a wide choice of political options and candidates able to campaign freely, but the campaign was tarnished by notable overlap between the ruling party’s messages and government information campaigns. Together with distorted and openly partisan coverage by the public broadcaster, this provided a clear advantage to the ruling party, undermining the democratic separation of state and party, international observers said in a statement today.

The 2023 parliamentary elections in Turkmenistan took place in an environment that lacked genuine competitiveness and pluralism, and while the constitution guarantees fundamental freedoms, they remain very restricted. Media is tightly controlled by the state, with limited access to the Internet

As part of its ongoing efforts to develop and refine its election observation methodology, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) launched a new handbook on observing election administration on 3 October 2023, during the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference. Election

The May 2023 local elections in Albania were generally well-administered, competitive and held with the participation of the key political forces, but the process was characterized by continued polarization between the main political parties and deep division within the opposition. Contestants

Türkiye’s 2023 general elections offered voters a choice between genuine political alternatives and voter participation was high, but the incumbent president and the ruling parties enjoyed an unjustified advantage, including through biased media coverage. The continued restrictions on fundamental

Improving the practices of election management bodies (EMBs) in the Western Balkans region was the main topic of a conference held in Sarajevo on 26 and 27 September 2023. The event was organized as part of the ODIHR project “ Support to Electoral Reforms in the Western Balkans ”, in co-operation

SKOPJE/WARSAW/COPENHAGEN, 7 September 2023- The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Pia Kauma and the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Matteo Mecacci, condemn the Russian Federation’s holding of so-called “elections” in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories.