ELECTIONS MAIN ISSUES Democratic Standards Over the years, a large number of commitments have been adopted that serve to safeguard the free expression of the will of the people through periodic and genuine elections. Within the OSCE, in addition to the 1990 Copenhagen Document, which provided the most important elements of the election observation framework, later documents expanded ODIHR’s mandate and included a range of further election-related commitments. The OSCE’s political commitments supplement a body of legally binding election-related obligations and good electoral practice. All existing obligations, commitments and good practice serve as clear and objective benchmarks for the assessment of electoral processes. Essentially, the existing international reference documents and commitments underscore that genuine elections should be viewed as public political competitions between distinct alternatives, taking place in an environment providing equal opportunities for the various competitors. Elections are a process rather than a one-day event and are thus looked at in their entirety, analyzing aspects beyond election day procedures, such as the ability of voters to make informed choices between alternatives, the transparency and integrity of campaign finance, the availability of timely and effective legal redress, and the compliance of results tabulation with requirements for accuracy, honesty and transparency. Implementation of Commitments Election observation itself should not be seen as the main objective of co-operation with the OSCE participating States in the field of elections. Observation only serves to provide the basis for such co-operation in the form of objective findings and constructive recommendations for necessary changes. Therefore, the ultimate goals of election observation are the improvements that states introduce to election legislation and practice as a result of observers’ work and post-electoral engagement. In the course of its observation activities, ODIHR continues to note varied degrees of implementation of OSCE commitments and other standards for democratic elections. ODIHR reports on both commendable practices, aimed at strengthening and guaranteeing citizen’s election-related rights, and 12 ODIHR Annual Report 2014 practices that have the potential of impacting negatively or infringing on such rights. The positive developments that the ODIHR continues to note include: • Strengthened legal frameworks; • Greater engagement and inclusive dialogue; • Enhanced attention to the issue of women’s participation; and • Increased awareness of the importance of campaign finance. A number of areas, however, continue to require further attention and would benefit from greater attention and action by OSCE participating States, including: • • • • Limitations on the right to be elected; Lack of a free campaign environment; Inequitable access to media; Lack of confidence in the impartiality and independence of election administration bodies; and • Inadequate complaints and appeals procedures. Recognizing the significance of dialogue on the results of election observation, OSCE participating States have agreed to follow up on ODIHR’s findings and recommendations. It is therefore a commitment and the responsibility of OSCE participating States to consider the conclusions provided and to engage with ODIHR in discussions on how the suggested improvements could be reflected in legislation and practice. It is encouraging that, in recent years, the awareness and acceptance of a concept of follow-up among the OSCE participating States has grown. A number of states have taken welcome initiatives to hold inclusive and comprehensive electoral review events and invited ODIHR for consultations on planned reforms or on specific electoral issues. Positively, the practice of voluntary reporting by the OSCE participating States to the Human Dimension Committee on the implementation of ODIHR’s recommendations has also continued, furthering the implementation of OSCE commitments and promoting post-electoral engagement.