On Election Day, volunteer observers from the IPED network were once again on the ground at dozens of polling stations across the country and abroad. We thank them for their efforts and feedback from 160 polling stations in more than 30 locations across the country, as well as from polling stations in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Switzerland.
Our volunteers spent 219 hours observing the elections and completed 318 checklists with 4,960 questions. The main conclusions we can draw from the observation are that Election Day proceeded calmly and largely in accordance with the rules. Violations were mostly isolated and related primarily to missing materials, a lack of familiarity with the rules on the part of the members of the precinct commissions, and isolated errors by the commissions. We also received isolated reports for more serious problems, but these were not systematic in their nature. During the counting of results, there were recurring instances of limited visibility, delays, and procedural omissions.
Overall, there were no widespread violations, but the individual incidents highlighted the necessity of better preparation of the election administration and a stronger focus on procedural compliance at all stages of the process. Click this link to see how we reported on our volunteers’ observations on Election Day. We thank them for their efforts on April 19!
