WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — A dozen of experts from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have started observing candidate and voter registration as well as media coverage of the electoral process in the United States, the spokesperson for OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Thomas Rymer, told Sputnik.
“At present, there is a core team of 11 election experts, based in Washington DC, who are examining different aspects of the process, including the legal framework, candidate and voter registration, and media coverage, among others,” Rymer said on Friday. “There are also 26 long-term observers who are following the campaign and preparations in different states across the country.”
Rymer explained that the long-term observers will be joined by short-term observers for the November 8 election. The list of short-term observers has yet to be completed, he added.
In the US electoral system, individual states administer elections, including those for federal offices such as president and Congress. Laws in some US states prohibit international observers at polling stations, but others — Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota and South Dakota — allow them.
“One of the things our election observation mission for the 8 November elections looks at is the question of access for and presence of observers, both international and domestic,” Rymer said. “This is based on the rules in place not only in the different states, but often in different counties. The deployment plan for our observers for election day is not yet complete, as we are still making this determination.”
Rymer concluded that OSCE’s assessment of the US elections will first be presented in a preliminary statement at a press conference the day after the elections.
