Introduction

The European Commission has deployed an EU Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to Ghana for the presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled to take place on 7 December 2008. The Mission is led by Chief Observer Nickolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian Member of the European Parliament.

A core team of seven election experts arrived in Accra on 1 November and 24 long term observers are being deployed in all ten regions of the country to observe key aspects of the run up to election day, election day itself and the tabulation of results. More than 30 short term observers will also join the core team and long term observers for the period immediately prior to and including polling day to observe the voting and counting process.

The mission’s general mandate is to assess elections against international and regional principles on genuine elections. The EU EOM will work independently to fulfill its mandate to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the electoral process and to offer an impartial, balanced and informed analysis of the elections. EU observers will be deployed across the country. This observation work is an important component of the European Union’s policy of promoting human rights and democratisation throughout the world. The EU will remain in country until the completion and finalisation of the electoral process.

The EU EOM will undertake its comprehensive assessment of the election process in accordance with regional and international standards and principles for genuine democratic elections, and operate in accordance with the “Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation,” adopted by a number of international bodies involved in election observation in October 2005 at the United Nations in New York.