Carter Center Announces International Delegation for Egypt's Presidential Election

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Atlanta, Deborah Hakes +1 404 420 5124; in Cairo beginning May 19, +2 010 128 32236 or dhakes@emory.edu 

(عربي)

The Carter Center has received accreditation as an organization from Egypt's Supreme Presidential Election Commission and will deploy 22 international election witnesses from 14 countries for the presidential election scheduled May 23-24, 2012. They will be joined by a larger delegation of 80 witnesses from over 35 nations that will travel to Egypt several days before the election, led by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

While deployed, Carter Center delegates will witness the activities of the election administration, election campaigning, voting, counting and tabulation processes, and other issues related to the overall electoral process in Egypt. They also will meet with election officials, political party and civil society representatives, members of the international community, and other stakeholders.

Due to the late accreditation of witnesses for this historic election, as well as a lack of clarity on witnessing organizations' ability to speak publicly, this election witnessing mission is, unfortunately, limited in scope. 

The Carter Center's election mission is conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation and Code of Conduct that was commemorated at the United Nations in 2005 and has been endorsed by 40 election observation groups. The Center assesses the electoral process based on Egypt's national legal framework and its obligations for democratic elections contained in regional and international agreements.

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The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide. A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, the Center has helped to improve life for people in more than 70 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; improving mental health care; and teaching farmers to increase crop production. Visit www.cartercenter.org to learn more about The Carter Center.