Mr François Friederich, Head of the Division of Electoral assistance of the Council of Europe, will present best practices on domestic observation of elections at an international conference on “Transparency in Elections” organised by the NGO Oy ve Ötesi (Vote and Beyond) on 9 May, in Istanbul, Turkey.

The event will focus on the monitoring by civil society of misuse of state resources, campaign finance and media coverage of elections, as well as on observation of election procedures during Election Day. Three Council of Europe experts will present international and European standards in the above mentioned areas, thus contributing to enhance the monitoring capacities of the members of Oy ve Ötesi, as well as potential short-term observers to the parliamentary elections of 7 June.

The Conference will also provide an opportunity to launch a public debate on the role of domestic election observation in Turkey where currently only proxies of political parties can register as observers.

Oy ve Ötesi is the first-ever civic election monitoring organisation in Turkey. It has a documented monitoring experience from the past three elections in the country and more than 40,000 active volunteers.