Adopted
by the meeting of the General Assembly, 27 November, 1998,
Vilnius, Lithuania and amended according to the resolutions
of the General Assembly, 16 June 2000, Warsaw, 28 September
2002, Moscow, 25 October 2003 London, and 1 Septembert 2006,
Jurmala.
Preamble
This
Charter establishes an organization to be known as the Association
of the European Election Officials (ACEEEO), hereinafter
referred to as the Association.
On behalf of the chief electoral officials of Europe, the
undersigned are convinced that the historic mission of democracy
includes:
Providing
political liberty and a favourable environment for fair
political, economic and social development;
Fostering free, fair and transparent elections and universal
and secret suffrage as the most appropriate means to establish
and consolidate representative democracy;
Recognizing the importance of election bodies to function
on an impartial basis; and
Recognizing
that the exchange of information on electoral proceedings,
free and unhindered access to such proceedings, and methods
of consultation and recommendations, between the institutions
and persons in charge of carrying out the elections constitutes
essential elements to achieving the effective consolidation
of democratic institutions through electoral processes.
The
undersigned are fully aware of the need for a formalized
Association of European Election Officials.
Mission
The
mission of the Association is to provide a non-partisan
forum, independent of national governments, for the exchange
of information among election officials and experts throughout
Europe to discuss and act upon ways to promote open and
transparent elections with the objective of supporting good
governance and democracy.