The government, in collaboration and coordination with the CEC, needs to lead on informing the public about threats to the electoral process and efforts to protect the integrity of the elections. Government agencies and the CEC should ensure that efforts to combat false information do not unintentionally impinge upon the rights of Moldovans to contest the presidential elections, to advocate for or against constitutional referendum or to make informed choices. Such recommendations were formulated by representatives of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), which concluded its Pre-Election Assessment Mission conducted in advance of the October 20 presidential election and the constitutional referendum in Moldova.
In a news conference at IPN, NDI Regional Director for Eurasia Eva Busza said that there are still important and practical steps that can be taken to further improve the integrity of the presidential election and the constitutional referendum. The delegation recommended a number of priority actions.
“Social media platforms should dedicate greater resources to Moldova to identify false information and patterns of inauthentic behavior, including allocating more resources for analyzing Romanian and Russian content, and proactively ensure that they are not accepting advertisements from sanctioned individuals or their proxies,” stated Eva Busza.
According to her, presidential candidates and political parties should reject illegal foreign funding and fully comply with all campaign finance regulations in a timely manner. All stakeholders, including the government, should communicate about issues related to the constitutional referendum in a way that does not undermine the rights of women and minority groups. The relevant authorities should increase their efforts to protect CEC officials and staff, candidates and party activists, members of civil society, in particular citizen observers, and journalists from threats, intimidation and violence, both in person and online,” said the NDI Regional Director for Eurasia.
Another recommendation is for political parties, civil society and citizens to engage proactively in the exercising of their democratic rights and foster a wide-reaching national conversation around the constitutional referendum on European integration.
The Pre-Election Assessment Mission to Moldova was conducted from September 2 to 6, 2024. The delegation was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
NDI is a non-profit, non-partisan, non-governmental organization that works in partnership around the world to strengthen and safeguard democratic institutions, processes, norms and values to secure a better quality of life for all. NDI envisions a world where democracy and freedom prevail, with dignity for all. NDI has observed approximately 200 elections in every region in the world, including Moldova’s 2019 parliamentary elections and 2020 presidential election. The Institute has carried out programs in Moldova since 2003.
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