09/10/2025 Election observation
“With election integrity facing pressure in many countries, the Council for Democratic Elections can combine the Venice Commission's expertise and the Assembly and Congress's experience to address electoral opportunities and vulnerabilities from multiple angles, from standard-setting to monitoring and cooperation, thereby strengthening the fairness and resilience of our electoral systems,” declared PACE representative Pablo Hispán (Spain, EPP/CD), newly elected President of the Council.
Lord Blencathra (United Kingdom, ECPA), also the Chair of the Parliamentary Alliance for Free and Fair Elections, welcomed the Council’s decision inviting the Venice Commission to update its 2011 report on out-of-country voting. “After the recent decision of the Bureau of the Assembly to launch a feasibility test on the observation of out-of-country voting, this new step will help us analyse the current challenges and practices in this evolving field of electoral law, which deserve our full attention: voting rights need to be protected at home and abroad,” he said.
Rian Vogels (Netherlands, ALDE) called for a proactive and inclusive approach following the recent adoption of Damien Cottier’s report, Elections in Times of Crisis, to be debated in the Assembly’s January 2026 part-session. “As the rapporteur puts it: crisis is no longer the exception – and we need to think about resilience across the entire electoral cycle, not just in emergencies”, she said. “Crises place our institutions under severe strain, but they also show us where we must act proactively and creatively to ensure that our democratic processes are resilient, prepared, and secure,” she concluded.
The Council also examined the Assembly’s electoral co-operation programmes, reviewing progress, accomplishments, and potential for future collaboration, and discussed electoral issues at local and regional levels.
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A unique tripartite body of the Council of Europe, the Council for Democratic Elections brings together the legal expertise of the Venice Commission and the political experience of the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. At its 84th meeting on 8 October 2025, the Council elected its new Bureau: Pablo Hispán (PACE) as President, Stewart Dickson, Congress Spokesperson on electoral matters, and Srdjan Darmanović, a member of the Venice Commission, as Vice-Presidents.
