The Observers

Democracy International plans to observe the upcoming Constitutional Referendum ― but says its job is not to judge.

By Ahmed Mansour

U.S-based Democracy International has announced that they will field an international election observation mission by sending observers from 10 countries to oversee the constitutional referendum scheduled for next Tuesday and Wednesday. DI will deploy approximately 90 observers to 23 of the nation's 27 governorates to witness the conduct voting and counting, making it the largest international observation mission for this referendum. The DI international team has spent the last month meeting with officials and party leaders as part of their preparation for their process. “Our job is to observe and not to judge, our main purpose is that at the end of the day we witness everything that is going on during the voting and the counting, we will not interfere with the result or the voters in anyway,” the DI announced. The observers will arrive from the United States, Afghanistan, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Mexico, Spain, Tunisia, United Kingdom, and Croatia and come from a variety of backgrounds with different experiences and backgrounds. Following a meeting with the observers scheduled for January 17, DI will release a preliminary statement regarding the findings and in the following weeks plan to issue a comprehensive report containing full assessment of voting procedures that will not interfere with the referendum results even if the findings were that of corruption in the voting polls.   About Democracy International Democracy International provides technical assistance, analytical services, and project implementation for democracy, human rights, governance and conflict mitigation programs worldwide. Since its founding in 2003, DI has worked with civil society organizations, political parties, election management bodies, government agencies, legislatures, justice sector institutions, and others in 70 countries, including some of the world’s most challenging environments. The organization has witnessed elections in Pakistan and Afghanistan and has received permission from Egypt’s Supreme Electoral Commission to observe the parliamentary elections that were scheduled to take place during former President Mohamed Morsi's tenure. This is the first time DI observes elections in Egypt.