Democracy control by the OSCE: Belarus expert observes Swiss elections

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Two experts from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) are closely monitoring the elections on Sunday. The specialists come from Greece, Spain and Belarus. The OSCE announced this on its website. Elissavet Karagiannidou from Greece, Enira Bronitskaya from Belarus and Adrià Rodríguez-Pérez from Spain started their mission in Switzerland on October 9.

The mission ends on October 26. The group of experts wants to visit a number of election offices next Sunday. The elections would be assessed in view of OSCE obligations, other international obligations and standards for democratic elections and national law.

Election financing in focus

The foreign experts focus on the transparency rules for the financing of political parties and campaigns. For the first time, there are national requirements for national elections. Political actors must disclose campaign budgets of more than 50,000 francs and the origin of donations and grants of more than 15,000 francs.

So far, only budgets of 50,000 francs or more are known for the National Council elections. Only after the elections do the State Councils have to ensure transparency and only if they are successful. The experts also want to monitor the elections via the internet – there are attempts to do so in Basel-Stadt, St. Gallen and Thurgau – and the participation of people with disabilities in the elections.

About two months after the elections, the three experts want to deliver a report on the 2023 federal elections. The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights sent the three-person team at the invitation of Switzerland, the OSCE said. (SDA)

Source:Blick