§ Mr. Gerald HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what criteria the Government use to assess whether overseas elections are free and fair. [126762]
§ Mr. HainWhen the Government deploy observers to elections overseas, they usually participate as members of international missions. On such missions, UK observers follow the procedures laid down for the larger group. For example the European Union and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe both have codes of conduct which apply to their election observation missions. In both cases, observers are expected to consider a wide range of factors when assessing the validity of an election, including: the degree of freedom of political parties and candidates to organise and express their views; fairness of access to state resources made available for the election; fairness of access to the media; registration of voters without discrimination on the basis of gender, racial or ethnic origin; and the conduct of polling and counting.