FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Deborah Hakes +961 7 058 2708 (In Beirut ) or dhakes@emory.edu
BEIRUT...The Carter Center announced today that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former Yemeni Prime Minister Abdul Karim al-Eryani will lead the Center's international election observation delegation to observe Lebanon's June 7 parliamentary elections. The Carter Center mission will also include more than 50 observers representing more than 20 different nations deployed throughout the country to observe balloting, counting, and tabulation processes.
The leaders will meet with the electoral authorities, political party leaders, representatives of domestic and international election observation delegations, and others, and will monitor the polls on election day, the counting process, and handling of challenges.
The Carter Center launched its election observation mission to Lebanon in early February 2009, and after receiving accreditation from Lebanon's Ministry of the Interior and Municipalities in March, dispatched six long-term observers to monitor the electoral process leading to parliamentary elections in all 26 electoral districts.
The Carter Center election observation mission will remain in Lebanon until the end of July to monitor the post-election environment, including the complaints process as necessary.
The Carter Center election observation mission assesses the electoral process in Lebanon against the relevant legal framework, including Lebanese election laws, the Constitution of Lebanon, and Lebanon's international commitments. The Center's election observation activities are conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation (PDF). The Declaration of Principles was adopted at the United Nations in 2005, and has been endorsed by 33 international election observation groups.
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A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter 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 in developing nations to increase crop production. 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.
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