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 == Preliminary rapport from OSCE == 

 The preliminary rapport from OSCE: LIMITED ELECTION OBSERVATION MISSION - United States of America – General Elections, 6 November 201. 

 It is mostly general positive things like: ""The 6 November general elections took place in a pluralistic environment and were administered in a professional manner."" and ""The election campaigns were vibrant and highly competitive."" and ""Overall, media is pluralistic and diverse and provided voters with a wide range of information and  
 views on candidates, issues, and electoral platforms."" and ""The overall field of candidates provided voters with a wide degree of choice"" 

 But also comments on voter eligbility: ""US citizens who are at least 18 years old on election day and residents of a state were eligible to vote. Some 4.1 million citizens that are residents of US territories were not eligible to vote, while some 600,000 citizens that are residents of the District of Columbia were eligible to vote only for the president. An estimated 5.9 million citizens were disenfranchised due to a criminal conviction, including some 2.6 million citizens who have served their sentences. This is at odds with the principle of universal suffrage and the commitment to ensure proportionality in the restriction of  
 voting rights as enshrined in paragraphs 7.3 and 24 of the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document."" 

 And alsom comments on voter registration: ""Voter registration is implemented at state level through an active system. A number of states launched initiatives to improve the accuracy of their voter lists. Civil society was active in encouraging citizens to register, as well as checking the accuracy of voter registers. Nevertheless an estimated 50 million eligible citizens were not registered to vote, bringing into question the effectiveness of existing measures to ensure that all persons entitled to vote are able to exercise that right."" 

 Read the whole rapport to learn more. Some may be useful in the article    "