General Elections
Following an invitation from the Government of Guatemala, the European Union (EU) established an Election Observation Mission (EOM) to observe the General Elections (Presidential, Legislative and Municipal) held in Guatemala in 2007, the sixth elections since the return of democracy in 1985. Its mandate was to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the electoral process in accordance with international standards for democratic elections.
EU EOM conduct a comprehensive, independent, factual, an impartial observation of the pre-election, election day and post-election phasis. They present publically to the country authorities a Preliminary Statement after the initial announcent of results and a final comprehensive report at the termination of the electoral process. Often the largest international observation mission, EU EOM are made off a comprehensive team of observers and supporting staff and entail a Core Team (CT), Long Term Observers (LTO) and Short Term Observers(STO) deployed all over the country, including in remote areas. Mr. Wolfgang Kreissl-Dörfler, Chief of Mission and member of the European Parliament headed the Mission. The Mission deployed 111 observers in total, from 23 member states of the European Union over the two rounds of the elections, and in all of the country’s 22 Departments.
The EU EOM is independent from the European Commission Delegation to Guatemala and EU member states. The mission is neutral and independent in its findings.
