Experts discuss solutions for conscious vote

More awareness raising campaigns intended for voters are needed in Moldova, especially villages. The people should not only be urged to go to the polls at a certain date, but also to make a conscious decision. They must be explained what a conscious vote is. Such an opinion was stated by the secretary of the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections Nicolae Panfil in the roundtable meeting “Voter education and monitoring methodologies: good practices and opportunities in EU and EaP countries,” Info-Prim Neo reports. Nicolae Panfil said the voters should know the candidates and their platforms. “It is the candidates’ duty to inform the voters about their campaigns. But civil society can also organize debates that stimulate this conscious vote, even better than the election runners,” said Nicolae Panfil. According to him, the Central Election Commission may employ such a practice so that the district electoral councils hold debates to enable the voters to better know the candidates. Alexei Goretski, representative of a Ukrainian nongovernmental organization, said the Moldovan and Ukrainian observers use many common practices, like the exit polls and parallel vote counts. But there are also differences. For example, the observers in Ukraine cannot be sympathizers of a certain party as they must be neutral. The observers can also be from another settlement. He also said that Ukraine can implement such Moldovan methods as debates organized by NGOs in different settlements, awareness raising campaigns, videos, brochures etc. Tamar Kirvalidze, representative of an NGO that monitors election campaigns in Georgia, said the situation in Moldova and Georgia is similar. He stated that the elderly people in Moldova took an active part in the elections, while the young people were not so active. According to him civil society should take steps and encourage the young persons to vote. The event was attended by experts from Estonia, Latvia, Romania, Ukraine, Georgia, EU member states and countries covered by the Eastern Partnership. The roundtable meeting “Voter education and monitoring methodologies: international exchange of good practices and opportunities in EU and EaP countries” within the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections in partnership with the European Exchange Association (Germany). Activities within the Coalition enjoy financial support from the East Europe Foundation from resources provided by Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and Denmark's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DANIDA).