Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. 'Uzbekistan, Parliamentary Election, 21 December 2014: Final Report'. Warszawa: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. 2014.

Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. Uzbekistan, Parliamentary Election, 21 December 2014: Final Report. Warszawa: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. 2014.

• There was no central voter register and eligible voters were included in voter lists according to their place of permanent or temporary residence. The quality of voter lists was not questioned by electoral stakeholders, although the absence of a unified voter register prevented any crosschecks for potential multiple registration (1).
• "Overall, the campaign was tepid and characterized by the lack of substantive and genuine debates among candidates, although campaign activities slightly increased closer to election day. The four political parties that took part in the elections were created to each represent one of the four main segments of Uzbek society. As such, they were complementary rather than competitive" (2).
• The constitution was amended in 2014 to mandate that the Prime Minister must be nominated from the dominant political party, which in this case would the Liberal Democrats. This is a measure to prevent powerful individuals from become more important than political parties (3).
• 6 Senators are indirectly elected from each of the viloyat, Toshkent Shahr, and Qoraqolpog'iston Respublikasi, for a total of 84 seats. The remaining 16 senators are appointed by the President (4).
• All elections to the Qonunchilik Palatasi are single-member majoritarian within electoral district. Little is known about gerrymandering or other forms of manipulation within this system (4).
• Voter turnout must exceed 33% for the elections to be considered valid.
• Sources available for all laws relevant to the elections of both houses of the Oliy Majlis (4).
• A new ban has been introduced as of 2014 prohibiting the publishing of public opinion polls, election forecasts, or any non-anecdotal study of the elections outside of official inquiry (6).
• Mahalla generally have a large amount of influence on the boundaries of electoral districts, often urging authorities to make exceptions to size constraints on electoral districts -- which are normally between 200 and 3,000 -- for the sake of community integrity (7).
• "The Markaziy Saylov Komissiyasi [MSK] managed the technical preparations for the elections competently and met all legal deadlines. The MSK took active measures to increase the level of transparency in its work and to inform the public about the elections, including through its website, a press centre (established specifically for these elections), billboards, video clips and text messages, as well as events targeting political party representatives, mahalla leadership, youth and women" (7).
• Training sessions for electoral or voting station staff were often inadequate to cover the full range of responsibilities, especially in regard to dispute resolution. This system, however, was largely untested (8).
• The right to stand as a candidate is granted to citizens over 25 years of age who have the right to vote and have permanently resided in the country for at least five years before election day. Active military or security personnel, and professional clergy of religious organizations cannot stand as candidates. To participate in the elections, candidates also need to be proposed by political parties (10).
• A political party can nominate candidates provided that it is registered by the Ministry of Justice at least four months prior to the announcement of the elections and has collected 40,000 supporting signatures. The percentage of signatures from one territorial unit should not exceed eight per cent of the total number of collected signatures.
• The four political parties that took part in the elections were created, as stated by the parties themselves, to represent one of the four main segments of Uzbek society – broadly categorized along the following:, business and farming (O'zLibDem), ‘intelligentsia’ ('Adolat' SDP), socially vulnerable (XDP), and those favouring traditional values ('Milliy Tiklanish' DP).
• "The campaign’s focus was mainly on issues of social protection and economic development, as well as the need for stability, unity, security, and gradual political and economic reforms. Issues pertaining to women and national minorities were not explicitly addressed. Candidates freely used national minority languages in their campaigns. Campaign activities of political parties and candidates were well resourced and organized" (12).
• "In line with the legal framework, election-related expenses of contestants are covered by the state. The amount of state funding allocated to a political party depends on the number of candidates and was significantly increased for these elections. Private contributions could also to be sent to the MSK for equal distribution through the political parties among all of their candidates" (12).
• The main sources of political information are Russia-based television stations. The media landscape is dominated by the state-owned Milliy Teleradiokompaniy (MTRK), the only broadcaster with nationwide coverage, and state-owned newspapers, which have low readership (13).
• Reports of censorship and barriers to registration of media outlets are consistent with the OSCE Report on the 2015 Presidential election. Please see that document for further detail.
• The MSK allocated a significant amount of free airtime and space in state-owned media outlets, dividing it equally among contesting political parties. A total of 18 hours of free-of-charge political advertising was broadcast on state-owned television stations during the monitored period (14).
• Free airtime included weekly discussion programmes on particular topics with representatives of political parties broadcast on O'zbekiston, the first channel of the MTRK. During the monitored discussion programmes, equal time slots dedicated to parties’ programmes were followed by discussion, which was at times used by party representatives to challenge their opponents’ positions (14).
• "For these elections, the MSK accredited international observers from the OSCE, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Shanghai Co-operation Organization, the Organization of Islamic Conference, the World Association of Election Management Bodies, as well as foreign election commissions and officials. In total, some 60 representatives of international organizations and some 270 observers from foreign delegations were accredited (16).
• This is in addition to the party observers from each political party registered to maintain good and fair practice in regional polling stations in conjunction with volunteers and mahalla staff.
• Proxy voting is still common at voting stations, despite its official illegality under national and international law. Proxy votes were denied when OSCE staff were present, but the behavior continued after they left due to pressure from the local populace (17).
• The recommendations of the OSCE mission are included from page 18 to page 20.