Election observers will return to Gib for abortion referendum

Election observers from the UK will be back in Gibraltar to observe and report on next month’s referendum.
Representatives from UK-based election observation group Democracy Volunteers travelled to Gibraltar last October to observe and report on the general election.
They returned a “glowing report” highlighting the efforts of Returning Officer Paul Martinez and suggesting only small logistical issues to work on.
And now, representatives will return and observe proceedings as thousands of Gibraltarians head to the polls to cast their vote in the referendum on abortion.
A representative told the Chronicle: “We will be bringing five people to Gibraltar for the referendum including one polling expert and one media expert.”
“The meetings we hope to hold with media institutions, the electoral services stakeholders and campaigns will be similar to our last observation, though we hope that with a different team of experts we will be able to gain an even better understanding of how Gibraltar’s elections run.”
“Other factors of interest to us include the changes to logistical preparations for a referendum compared to an election, observing any changes made inside polling stations since our last visit and how the political atmosphere is developing.”
Mr Martinez welcomed the decision of the observation group to return to Gibraltar and observe polling day proceedings.
He highlighted the “glowing” report returned by the group following the general election and said polling staff were always willing to learn best practices.