Political analysts propose abolishing minimum voter turnout

Political analysts and experts in elections suggest annulling the minimum turnout of voters. The Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR Mission for Moldova made such a recommendation earlier, in connection with the modification of the electoral legislation, Info-Prim Neo. reports The proposal was discussed at a roundtable meeting held by the Association for Participative Democracy. Currently, the minimum turnout is 1/3 of the voters included in the electoral rolls. Arcadie Barbarosie, the head of the Institute for Public Policy, considers that if the Constitution does not make the voting compulsory, the minimum voter turnout should be zero as there is no instrument for obliging or persuading the people to take part in elections. ADEPT executive director Igor Botan said the cancellation of the turnout is a good solution for Moldova, where the political players resort to boycott. “For this not to happen, the required turnout of voters is decreased to 1/3 or removed. In such a situation, every political payer is forced to promote the participation in elections,” Igor Botan explained. Iurie Ciocan, the secretary of the Central Election Commission, said the abolition of the minimum voter turnout is not a good idea as it grantees the credibility and legality of the election outcome. “Those who boycott have the right to opinion. It is the wish of the people and we should not neglect it. We impose conditions to make the people vote against this idea or against all the candidates,” Ciocan said. The Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova Claus Neukirch said in this connection that the OSCE does not recommend allowing the vote against all the candidates.