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OAS Electoral Observation Mission Begins Deployment for Presidential Elections in Colombia

  May 15, 2018

The Electoral Observation Mission of the Organization of American States (EOM/OAS) to the May 27 presidential elections in Colombia began its deployment today with the arrival in Bogotá of specialists in electoral organization and technology, to be followed in the coming days by the rest of the members of the Mission.

The Mission, made up of 78 experts and observers, will be headed by Kevin Casas, former Vice President of Costa Rica and former OAS Secretary for Political Affairs. The Mission will carry out a substantive analysis in various areas, including electoral organization and technology, campaign finance, and electoral justice.

Regional coordinators and observers will deploy to the various departments of the country and the capital district to observe the preparations for the process. On the day of the election, they will visit voting centers from opening to the vote count and transmission.

During its stay in the country, the Mission will meet with electoral authorities as well as government figures, candidates, political parties, civil society representatives, academics, and members of the international community to hear different perspectives on the development of the electoral process.

This will be the 17th Mission deployed by the OAS to Colombia. The Mission´s deployment is possible thanks to the financial contributions of Germany, Argentina, Bolivia, South Korea, Spain, the United States, Italy, Norway and Switzerland.

Reference: E-029/18