Experts Compare Approaches of Several Missions to Election Monitoring

Comparison of different monitoring missions’ approaches was published in the magazine “Citizen. Elections. Power”. As an example presented work of OSCE and CIS observer teams on the early presidential elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The authors of the academic material are Advisor of the IPA CIS Secretary General Sergey Karavaev and Deputy Head of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat – Director of the International Institute for Monitoring the Democracy Development, Parliamentarianism and Suffrage Protection of Citizens of IPA CIS Member Nations (IPA CIS IIMDD) Ivan Mushket.

The authors compare the statements of the monitoring missions of the OSCE ODIHR and the CIS assessing the organization and conduction of the elections held on 20 November 2022.

The experts highlight differences in the approaches of observers. In particular, European colleagues accept the use of anonymous sources, while Commonwealth observers use only factual material supported by evidence. The CIS Statement is devoted mostly to the compliance of the Kazakhstan national legislation and its application practice to international obligations. The ODIHR links the assessment of the electoral process to the general political situation in Kazakhstan, thus politicizing the monitoring.