URGENT call for election observers in Bulgaria

Deadline: 18 October 2011
Open to: All interested Danish and Bulgarian applicants, preferably students or people with experience in journalism, law, political science or sociology.
Costs: All costs for local participants including travel and meal during the day will be coveredFor international participants the fee is 150 EU

The Support Initiative for Liberty and Democracy (SILBA) is a Danish NGO, which works to support democracy efforts in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. They will be deploying a mission of electoral observers to monitor the Bulgarian national and local elections to take place on October 23rd. They will be working together with the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee to carry out the mission. The NGO  is looking to gather a group of 10-20 observers from Bulgaria that will accompany the Danish participants.

They intend to make teams of election observers consisting of both Danish and Bulgarian observers and it would therefore be ideal if one of the local observers in each team speaks English well enough to translate for the Danish participants. At the moment around 20 Danish participants are expected.

Each team will visit a number of polling stations during the day. For each polling station they will observe the proceedings according to a checklist.

When: October 21-23

Eligibility

  • Anyone interested in participating, preferably a student or someone with a background in journalism, law, political science or sociology;
  • Must speak both Bulgarian and English;
  • The local participants do not need to have experience of election observation. They will be provided with any training they need.

Costs

SILBA will cover all costs for for local participants including travel and meal during the day.

Why apply: Participating as an election observer provides invaluable experience in understanding the workings of the electoral system in Bulgaria, as well as its problems. You will have an opportunity to exchange know-how with the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee and SILBA, an organization with a strong background in monitoring elections and receive training in election monitoring.

How to apply

Interested applicants should send a CV with a short introduction about yourself and why you would like to participate to svetla.baeva@gmail.com. Please apply latest by Tuesday, October 18. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to send inquiries to above mentioned email address.

The Official Webpage (Swedish only)

Leave a Reply