24/01/2024 Election observation
Members of PACE who have participated in election observation missions met this week on the margins of the winter plenary session to discuss ways of improving this aspect of the Assembly’s work – and supported the creation of a permanent informal network to share experience, expertise, methodology and information, as proposed by former PACE President Tiny Kox.
Around 40 members heard from the head of the Committee of Ministers’ rapporteur group on democracy (GR-DEM) Svetlana Geleva about the ten “Reykjavik principles for democracy”, adopted at the recent Council of Europe summit, and were briefed on a reorganisation of tasks relating to elections within the Council of Europe. Election co-operation activities related to “the electoral cycle” – the full range of tools to ensure elections are held in line with democratic standards, going beyond the scrutiny of polling on election day – will now be in the remit of the secretariat of the Assembly.
Topics discussed included the need to maintain resources for this vital work, the importance of pre-electoral missions, the requirement for proper accreditation of observers, ways of observing voting abroad, co-operation with the Venice Commission and its role in setting electoral standards, co-operation with partners, and the need for greater gender equality in election observation.
