Election experts from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) presented final reports on France's 2022 presidential and parliamentary elections in Paris from 5 to 7 June 2023.
The experts discussed the report's key findings and recommendations with government officials, representatives of the National Assembly, the National Commission for Control of Electoral Accounts and Political Finance, the media regulatory body and the Constitutional Council.
Discussions focused on consolidation of electoral legislation, enhancement of transparency of campaign finance, decriminalization of defamation, balanced campaign coverage by the media, including online, alternative voting methods and the need to ensure standardized training of poll workers.
"The follow-up visit to France opened a frank discussion on how to address ODIHR recommendations with effective and workable solutions, by harmonising well-established and trusted local democratic traditions with international standards and commitments for the conduct of elections," said Ambassador Urszula Gacek, Head of the ODIHR Election Assessment Mission for the 2022 parliamentary elections.
ODIHR election observation activities also assess the country's efforts to implement previous recommendations through changes in legislation, procedures and practices. For France, the ODIHR mission evaluated the follow-up to recommendations on the 2017 presidential election and concluded that two recommendations (7 and 9) were fully implemented, one recommendation (1) was mostly implemented and six recommendations remain to be addressed.
ODIHR discussed with authorities potential avenues for future co-operation. The ODIHR assistance offered includes expert discussions, thematic workshops and legal reviews related to potential changes to the electoral legislation.
In the 1999 OSCE Istanbul Document, all OSCE participating States committed themselves to "follow up promptly the ODIHR's election assessment and recommendations".
