MOSCOW, 26 October 2011 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today formally opened its election observation mission to monitor the upcoming 4 December State Duma elections in the Russian Federation.

ODIHR was invited by the Russian Federation’s Central Election Commission to observe the election.

The election observation mission is headed by Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini and consists of 14 international experts based in Moscow and 40 long-term observers to be deployed throughout the country. In addition, ODIHR has requested 160 short-term observers to monitor election-day proceedings and the counting process.

Observers will assess these elections for compliance with principles for democratic electoral processes, including the commitments agreed to by all the OSCE participating States, as well as national legislation. The mission will analyse the legislative framework and its implementation, and will follow campaign activities, media coverage, the work of the election administration and relevant government bodies, as well as the resolution of election disputes.

Short-term observers arriving for election day will be deployed in teams of two throughout the country to monitor the opening of polling stations, voting, the counting of ballots, and the tabulation of results at all levels.

For election day observation, the ODIHR election observation mission will join efforts with the delegation of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and other parliamentary delegations. The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office has appointed Petros Efthymiou, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, as Special Co-ordinator to lead the short-term OSCE observer mission.

A statement of preliminary findings and conclusions will be issued on the day after the elections.

ODIHR will issue a final report about two months after the end of the electoral process.

For PDF attachments or links to sources of further information, please visit: http://www.osce.org/odihr/84368