A voter preparing to cast her ballot during the Romanian presidential election, Bucharest, 22 November. (OSCE/Goran Petrov) Ballot papers for blind voters at a polling station during Albania’s parliamentary elections, Elbasan, 28 June. (OSCE/Roberto Berna) 12 access to certain media sources or are granted access in a manner that is inequitable. 55 Administration of elections: Parties and candidates in some cases lack confidence in the impartiality of election administration and are sometimes treated in a biased manner. Moreover, election commissions are not always truly independent or free from government influence. Transparency, impartiality, efficiency and accountability are key features that any election administration mechanism must meet to gain and retain confidence in the election process, among both voters and those contesting the vote. 55 Counting and tabulation procedures: There are often insufficient safeguards in place for counting and tabulation to discount the possibility of electoral malfeasance. This leads to the observation of dubious or, at times, openly fraudulent behaviour during the counting of votes and the tabulation of results. For there to be proper confidence in an election, OSCE commitments require the honest counting of votes and public reporting of election results to ensure transparency and confidence. 55 Complaints and appeals systems: Procedures and relevant bodies for the handling of election-related complaints are not always sufficiently developed to allow citizens adequate legal redress. A key element of the rule of law is that disputes can be channelled through appropriately designated and Elections independent courts of law that can provide effective remedy. The timing of dispute adjudication is also crucial — decisions should be made quickly enough to have an impact on the election process. Such a right to redress should be available to citizens and to those standing for office, and at all stages of the process — from the moment of registration, through the course of the campaign, during the counting of votes and to the determination of election results. Support for Field Operations ODIHR will also continue to provide support, including through Election Expert Support Missions, to OSCE field operations (within their respective mandates), which follow electoral events (referenda, local elections and by-elections) and report on such events through their standard channels when full-scale EOMs are not deployed. ODIHR recognizes that OSCE field operations can have a longer-term role to play in the area of election-related technical assistance. Targeted technical assistance programmes delivered by OSCE field missions, if designed to effectively address previous ODIHR recommendations, can offer an important complement to ODIHR’s efforts. Follow-up to Observation Missions ODIHR stands ready to assist participating States in implementing the recommendations made in its ODIHR Annual Report 2009