For instance, voter registration, the unfolding of the election campaign or the resolution of disputes after the voting (i.e. FYROM 1999 and Mozambique 1999) may be crucial to assess the election process properly.

The Code of Conduct for Commissioners also provides for cases where a Commissioner stands for election but is not active in the campaign ("the President, taking into account the particular circumstances. shall decide on whether the envisaged participation in the election campaign is compatible with the performance of the Commissioner's duties".) This is the case for Commissioner De Gucht, responsible for Trade.

Where they decide to stand for election, they "shall inform the President of their intention to participate in an election campaign and the role they expect to play in that campaign.

had just received the preliminary conclusions of the OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission and agreed with its assessment that the presidential elections in Belarus were severely flawed due to arbitrary use of state power, obviously designed to protect the incumbent President, which went far beyond acceptable practice, and other shortcomings. had, over the last few months, repeatedly called on the Belarusian authorities to abide by international standards and Belarus' commitments in the OSCE and the UN to assure a free and fair electoral process, and firmly condemned the serious violations of candidates' campaigning rights, including acts of harassment, detention and violence against candidates and campaign workers. wished to stress clear ...[+++]ly once again that the EU's intention is not to target the Belarusian population, with which it wishes to stay engaged, and that it regrets the policy of self-isolation of the Belarus authorities. will start discussion on restrictive measures against those responsible for these acts, in line with the Council Conclusions of 7 November 2005 and 30 January 2006. had also witnessed, in the course of this election campaign, the emergence of pluralistic forces and the consolidation of a genuine Belarusian opposition as well as a politically active civil society.

Although some progress has been made since the last presidential elections on 5 March 2003, especially regarding the technical preparations, the pre-election campaign and the media coverage of the pre-electoral campaign, the EU regrets that the overall election process did not meet the international standards in a number of key aspects, whereas the Armenian authorities promised substantive improvements after the Presidential elections of 19 February 2003.

Despite the finding of a number of anomalies during the campaign and on election day (misuse of government resources by People's Alliance candidates and unfair access to government media during the election campaign, failure to observe the deadline for the end of campaigning, etc.), which the European Union regrets, the poll has enabled Sri Lanka's citizens to cast their votes in a reasonably acceptable manner.