The work of electoral bodies during the general local elections of November 2023 was assessed during a round table attended by about 50 representatives of District Electoral Councils (DECs), as well as members of the Central Electoral Commission. The discussions aimed at listing the main issues to be addressed during the post-electoral conference at national level, planned for March 14-15, 2024.

At the beginning of the event, Marius Ciprian Toth, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Chisinau, highlighted the importance of monitoring and evaluating the democratic exercise of this autumn, emphasizing the constant support provided by the Council of Europe in carrying out democratic, transparent and fair electoral processes in the Republic of Moldova.

"The elections in autumn 2023 highlighted certain organizational and regulatory framework shortcomings that require an objective assessment. I hope that this event will be a good platform to exchange views and generate proposals for improving things. I reconfirm the determination of the Council of Europe to continue supporting national authorities in promoting democratic processes in accordance with the good practices and standards of the Council of Europe in the electoral field, especially given the historic decision of the European Council of December 14, 2023, on the start of negotiations on Moldova's accession to the European Union," said Marius Ciprian Toth.

The Chair of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), Angelica Caraman, referred in her welcoming speech to the challenges encountered during the November 2023 elections, but also to the efforts needed in the forthcoming period.

"Our goal is to have an overview of the activity of electoral bodies, what problems they faced and how we can improve their activity in the future. We aim to have professional electoral bodies, capable of carrying out the electoral process fairly, transparently and trusting society. It is equally important to strengthen our team and create synergies in this important exercise", said Angelica Caraman.

For two days, the participants analysed the operational results regarding the organisation and conduct of this year's general local elections, focusing on the legal framework, the difficulties encountered in the process of registration of candidates, the decision-making process at local level, the technical equipment of the CEC headquarters, the assessment of working conditions of DECs representatives, the accessibility of CEC databases,  as well as other problems encountered in supervising and controlling the financing of political parties.

This round table was the opportunity to discussabout good practices put in place during the electoral period, including in terms of solving appeals. The question of improving the transparency and communication between responsible authorities and electoral actors was also addressed.

The round table was organised by the Council of Europe within the Project "Improving electoral practices in the Republic of Moldova".