Ubayd Baqoyev, Chairman of the Bukhara precinct election committee, carrying a mobile ballot box during the 27 December parliamentary elections in Uzbekistan. (OSCE/Alex Yurin) A 7 s a fundamental building block of democratic institutions, elections are a primary focus for ODIHR. The Office is explicitly mandated to assist the OSCE’s 56 participating States in conducting democratic elections in line with their OSCE commitments, most of which are contained in the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document. This is achieved mainly through the observation or assessment of elections across the OSCE region but also, crucially, through targeted technical-assistance projects and important follow-up work with individual states to promote the implementation of recommendations contained in reports by ODIHR observation mission. In addition, ODIHR is active in other areas related to elections, carrying out reviews of electoral legislation, publishing guidelines and handbooks on a variety of election-related issues, and providing training for election observers. A comprehensive methodology comprising a longterm approach lies at the core of the ODIHR’s election work, based on the fact that an in-depth assessment of an election process must examine not only election day but also the circumstances that exist in a state before and after the vote. This thorough approach means that crucial elements of the election process, such as the legal framework, the work of the election administration, the conduct of the election campaign, access for contestants to the media and the adjudication of election-related complaints, are systematically scrutinized. ODIHR’s election observation activities cover an extensive geographical area, and the Office has made efforts to follow electoral developments in a broader range ODIHR Annual Report 2009 Elections