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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts: In Atlanta, Deborah Hakes 1-404-420-5124
In Beirut, Adolfo Cayuso  +961 711 541 80

The Carter Center launched an international election observation mission to Lebanon last week by deploying six long-term observers to cover all of the country's qadas (districts). The observers represent a diverse team from six countries: Portugal, Belgium, Iraq, the United Kingdom, Albania, and the United States.

Observers will monitor the electoral process leading up to parliamentary elections anticipated on June 7. Their assessment will focus on the administration of the elections, the campaign period, voting and counting procedures, electoral complaints and appeals mechanisms, and other issues related to the overall electoral process in Lebanon.  The Center's evaluation will be made against Lebanese electoral law, the constitution, and the country's international commitments regarding democratic elections. The Carter Center received formal accreditation from Lebanon's Ministry of Interior and Municipalities on March 31.

A Carter Center office was established in Beirut in late-January and is led by Field Office Director Adolfo Cayuso.  Observers will meet with election officials; political party and civil society representatives, including domestic observation groups; members of the international community; and other stakeholders to form an assessment. The Center's long-term observers will be joined by some 40 short-term observers from various nationalities around election day.

"The Carter Center welcomes the opportunity to observe Lebanon's electoral process," said David Carroll, director of the Carter Center's Democracy Program. "We hope that our presence will contribute to a peaceful, transparent, and credible electoral process, and will support Lebanese efforts to promote key reforms for future elections."

The Carter Center conducts its activities in a nonpartisan, professional manner in accordance with applicable law and international standards for election monitoring set forth in the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation, adopted at the United Nations in 2005. The Center will remain in close communication with the Lebanese authorities, all political parties, candidates, civil society organizations, media, and other international and domestic observer missions.

The Center will release periodic public statements on electoral findings, available on its Web site: www.cartercenter.org.

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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 Center has observed over 70 elections in nearly 30 countries. 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.

Read more about the Carter Center's work in Lebanon >>