X Marks the Spot

A retirement project is to be a Short Term Observer (STO) for overseas elections. At the beginning of this year I completed an online course and waited for an election to come along.

There was nothing until September and then I applied to go to Belarus, Russia, Georgia and Moldova. Not a sausage; I was not selected for any of them. Now the election season has closed until next year when I will try again. The odds, I suspect, are stacked against me. There is a preference for candidates with previous experience, who are younger than me and preferably female. You may be interested in what an STO does on an Election Observation Mission (EOM). The pitch has been rolled by a core team that have been in the country for about three months. They have been joined by a team of Long Term Observers (LTOs) about a month before the election. The LTOs are spread across the country and have arranged accommodation, translators and drivers for the STOs.

Six days before the election the STOs travel to the capital. There are maybe three or four hundred STOs, depending on the size of the country, drawn from about twenty countries. So the UK contributes about twenty STOs. They are briefed on the protocols and procedures that apply for the election; things like inking voters’ fingers before or after they vote. The STOs then are dispersed across the country in pairs. Pairs are always from two different countries, preferably are male/female and a less experienced observer will be paired with one with more experience.

When they arrive in their area they are greeted by a LTO and introduced to their interpreters and drivers. There is a day to reconnoiter and decide which polling stations to visit on election day. Election day is a busy one. STOs arrive at their first polling station a minimum of thirty minutes before it opens. Each station they visit they monitor for at least thirty minutes. When polling closes they remain at the station to observe the boxes being closed and then travel to the counting centre. If there are any irregularities the STOs report these by telephone during the course of the day, as they arise. This enables the head of the EOM to make a preliminary report the day after the election. A full report is published about a month later.

So I haven’t been selected for an EOM and I’m sulking. Every cloud has a sliver lining supposedly, so as I’m not going to Georgia for their presidential election next week I’m having a holiday in France. Today (Friday) I’m meeting Robert in Paris for lunch and taking a train to Lyon in the afternoon.

3 comments

  1. Christopher
    Such an interesting posting. I too have always wanted to do this. In the States preference is given to ex military which makes me think our friend Ned who wants to do it should play his American card. I also wonder if as a newbie it might be easier to go as a LTO and do the administrative work.
    In any case enjoy Lyon. I was there this summer and found it charming.

    1. I played my ex military card – officer in the Irish Guards, soldier in the Honourable Artillery Company.

  2. Even though you were not chosen, I commend you for applying to be a STO as part of an Election Observation Mission. In these times when democracy is under threat from the left and the right, it is important to have the EOM in countries to ensure the legitimacy of an electoral process. Perhaps, you’ll have better luck next year…
    (As an American, with Mr. Trump making noises about how the election will be “rigged” against him–only if he loses, of course–I believe the United States is fertile ground for a permanent EOM!)
    Meanwhile, inspired by your example, I will apply myself even though my application may encounter the same fate as yours.

Comments are closed.