Ten teams of two short-term observers of an Election Observation Mission (EOM) organized by the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO) will be deployed in different areas of the country for Election Day (30 October 2016) to observe the opening of the polling stations, voting process, counting and tabulation of results. EOM is composed of a core team of six experts based in Chisinau.

In a news conference at IPN, Head of Mission Peter Novotny said the EOM will assess the election process in light of compliance with international standards for democratic elections, national legislative framework, and OSCE commitments. It will observe the conduct of election administration bodies, legal framework, with emphasis on gender equity and respect for the rights of people living with disabilities, handling of complaints and appeals by both election administration bodies and courts as well as the overall political environment in which elections will take place.

Besides direct observation and analysis of the legal framework, the observers will meet with relevant stakeholders, including election administration officials, civil society representatives, presidential candidates, political parties, officials of relevant state institutions that play a role in the electoral process, and media representatives, to receive a more comprehensive picture about the electoral process.

The Mission’s Deputy Head Dritan Taulla said ENEMO is an international network of 23 leading non-profit, non-partisan and non-governmental organizations from 18 countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, including three European Union countries. It has a long standing experience in observing elections in countries with democracies in transition in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The Mission to Moldova is the 23rd election observation mission organized so far. This will end at the start of December.

ENEMO was founded in September 2001.