DEMOCRACTIC ELECTIONS UNDER THREAT

A group of 110 OSCE parliamentarians will monitor the mid-term elections in the U.S.
Daniel Stewart - 
Some 110 members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) from more than 30 countries will travel to the United States to monitor the mid-term elections scheduled for November 8.


U.S. President Joe Biden at an abortion rights rally ahead of the midterm elections. - Jordan Tovin/SOPA Images via ZUM / DPA© Provided by News 360

"Supported by some 30 staff members, the delegation of parliamentarians is the largest ever deployed. It will work closely with the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Mission, which consists of 40 long-term observers deployed throughout the country and 17 Washington-based experts," the organization said in a statement.

In this sense, the special coordinator of the OSCE short-term observation mission, Margareta Cederfelt, stressed that this initiative demonstrates its "strong commitment to help increase transparency and build confidence in the U.S. electoral system".

For his part, the head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly mission, the Spaniard Pere Joan Pons, emphasized that the OSCE parliamentarians are "sensitive to issues of fairness and ensuring a level playing field for candidates".

"At the same time, as observers, we are impartial and assess elections solely on the basis of their adherence to a set of democratic standards that the United States and all OSCE countries have agreed to," he recalled.

Thus, the OSCE mission will be responsible for monitoring the campaign environment: the legal framework, election administration, new voting technologies, redistricting issues, election day procedures and media coverage.

These elections are of vital importance for the Democratic Party as they will condition its representation in the legislature. U.S. President Joe Biden stated on Sunday that this is not a referendum for his re-election, but a choice between "two very different visions for the country".

Currently, the Democrats have very slim majorities in both houses, while in the House of Representatives they have an advantage of only 10 seats over the Republicans, in the Senate they are equal with the conservative party, although they are favored by the casting vote of Kamala Harris as Speaker of the Upper House.