Project Summary:

The second phase of the “Enhancing democracy in Moldova through inclusive and transparent elections” (EDMITE II) Project sets the overall goal of achieving an enhanced integrity, transparency and inclusiveness of the electoral process in Moldova by ensuring a more independent and credible electoral administration and better informed and pro-active citizens.

Electoral support and capacity development are part of UNDP’s democratic governance assistance worldwide, through which UNDP helps nations build democratic frameworks to improve representation, accountability, and transparency for the benefit of citizens.

UNDP has a long-standing partnership with the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) and the Center for Continuous Electoral Training (CCET) aiming at advancing the democratic electoral processes in Moldova by consolidating the transparency and efficiency of elections’ management, modernization of electoral IT solutions and enhancing the inclusiveness and participation of voters. This partnership, which spans over 10 years, resulted in the establishment of strong professional institutions, development of a modern State Automated Information System “Elections” (SAISE) and the implementation of effective long-term civic and voter education instruments.

With the continuous UNDP assistance, the CEC demonstrated a high capacity of carrying out transparent, safe and “well-administered” elections (as attested by OSCE/ODIHR Observation Missions) throughout challenging electoral cycles, particularly the 2020 Presidential Elections and 2021 Parliamentary Elections, organized in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and 2023 General Local Elections.

Objectives:

• Enhance the inclusiveness of the electoral process by increasing the functional and technical capacities of the State Automated Information System “Elections” (SAISE);
• Enhance the democratic participation of citizens by setting up and implementing the voters’ information and civic education programmes;
• Strengthen the capacity for effective and coherent oversight and monitoring on political party and electoral campaign financing;
• Improve the legal and regulatory framework to respond to the elections observations missions recommendations;
• Knowledge gaps are identified, and communication tools are designed to continuously reach a broad spectrum of society through different channels;

• Citizens are more aware of important electoral dynamics and are better able to engage and lead public discussion;

• Increased public awareness about the need of inclusive electoral processes.

Expected results:

• State Automated Information System “Elections” (SAISE) further advanced;
• Civic education and voter information systems strengthened;
• Capacity for effective and coherent oversight and monitoring on political party financing and election campaign strengthened;
• Legal and regulatory framework improved to respond to the election observation missions’ recommendations;

• Development and implementation of the electoral education university curriculum and promote debates around electoral processes within the academia;

• Conducting awareness raising campaigns on the importance of political and electoral participation of women on all levels of government for the entire society and disseminate information materials and create opportunities for women to engage in local politics;
• Support the cooperation between selected LPAs and local CSOs in developing a human rights-based approach to budgeting and consultation processes at the local level with a focus on the role of LPAs in ensuring inclusiveness of democratic processes.

Accomplishments:

• Legal and regulatory framework improved as a result of mapping and implementation of 133 recommendations of the election observation missions’ recommendations that enhanced the state's ability to counter vote-buying, illicit finance, and "astroturfing";
• Adjustment of the CEC’s secondary legislation to the 2023 provisions of the Electoral Code, including public consultations, training sessions for the CEC staff, strengthening capacities of magistrates on electoral dispute resolution, and information campaign across the country to explain the Electoral Code amendments ahead of November 2023 General Local Elections;
• Enhanced institutional capacity for effective electoral governance by equipping over 100 election officials, magistrates, and political finance officers with practical knowledge of new regulatory frameworks and administrative procedures contributing to improved compliance and integrity in electoral processes;
• The project improved capacities of the CEC with trainings and clarification guide pertaining to the electoral legal framework on contraventions (misdemeanor procedures) and electoral complaints processes;
• Strengthened the Central Electoral Commission’s (CEC) institutional capacity for transparent and accountable political finance oversight through supporting the development of the new Political Finance Department and the development of a digital Financial Control Module. These interventions enabled the scale-up of financial monitoring functions and improved compliance among political parties with financial reporting obligations. As a result, the CEC processed a record 840 financial reports in 2023, with compliance rates increasing from 50% in 2019 to 80% in 2023, and achieving near-universal adoption of online reporting for the 2024 and 2025 elections;
• An ongoing dialogue is supported between the CEC, national and international partners on electoral issues through the consultative mechanism – Election Partners’ Platform meetings held at least two times per year;
• Three post-electoral surveys were conducted and published: after 2020 Presidential Elections, 2021 Early Parliamentary Elections and after the Local General Elections 2023;
• Automation of electoral processes enhanced by the procurement of 240 scanners for passports and ID cards and their use in-country and abroad during 2020 Presidential Elections and 2021 Parliamentary Elections;
• Transformation Roadmap developed and endorsed by the CEC;
• Comprehensive SAISE Audit carried out and Upgraded the State Automated Information System “Elections” (SAISE) into a fully integrated, secure regional model for digital election management, introducing innovations like the E-Day module and Electronic Subscription Lists;
• Information about the location and availability of the polling stations abroad became more accessible due to the online application (diaspora.cec.md) accessed by 86,700 voters abroad during the 2020 Presidential Elections and over 100,000 voters abroad during the 2021 Parliamentary Elections;
• Accessible Voting: Mainstreamed disability rights by conducting audits of polling station accessibility and developing tools like a "ramp widget" for institutional websites;
• Enhanced voter confidence and access to information during the COVID-19 pandemic by ensuring safe voting conditions and implementing a nationwide awareness campaign. As a result, 96% of voters expressed satisfaction with the management of voting during the pandemic, and 92% reported feeling safe while casting their ballots. Complementing these efforts, the “Vote Responsibly! Vote Safely!” campaign disseminated online, audio-visual, and printed content to approximately 1.2 million people during the 2020 Presidential Elections and 1 million people during the 2021 Parliamentary Elections, significantly improving public awareness of health and safety measures in the electoral process;
• Women’s Empowerment: Launched the “WHY ME?” mentorship program, training over 50 newly elected women mayors and reaching 1,575 participants through seminars on gender-sensitive governance;
• Information campaigns targeting young people and women have been developed and implemented, contributing in over 40% of elected public officials being women, while the 2024 presidential elections and the national consultative referendum saw an increase of over 50% in youth voter turnout compared to previous elections;
• Women and young people from political parties have been constantly trained and motivated to inform and to involve in democratic processes the youth and women who represent social-vulnerable groups;
• Social-media campaigns encouraged women's participation in decision-making processes;
• Strengthened transparency and public trust in the electoral process by providing real-time, gender-sensitive visualization of voter turnout and preliminary election results through an accessible web interface and the Infographics Module. These tools enabled timely and accurate information sharing during the 2020 Presidential and 2021 Parliamentary Elections, reaching over 2.2 million views and 420,000 unique users in 2021 alone. This significantly enhanced public access to electoral data and improved the integrity of the process by making information easily understandable and widely available;
• Strengthened civic engagement and informed participation by implementing data-driven awareness campaigns that reached over 1.6 million Moldovans, including vulnerable groups and the diaspora;
• The project succeeded in developing and approving with the Ministry of Education and Research the curriculum on electoral education in universities (selected universities in Chișinău, Comrat, Cahul, and Bălți);
• Successfully institutionalized electoral education by creating and piloting an optional school curriculum, with 1,000 textbooks delivered and 55 teachers trained across 22 schools;
• The knowledge of 34,032 children and 260 teachers was improved due to the civic education bus campaign “Arci’s Journey to Elections”, conducted in 301 schools from 236 localities between 2020-2023;
• The project supported the up-scale and institutionalization of the innovative learning approach - Intellectual Game “What? Where When?” in electoral field.  A total of 9 editions had been organized, bringing together over 1300 participants from around 140 educational institutions over the country;
• The project strengthened the capacities of the CEC with the development of the Crisis Tool Book that includes practical steps and recommendations for risk management, crisis management and crisis communication most relevant for the CEC;
• In 2022, a total number of 1206 polling stations representing public buildings were completely evaluated on accessibility for people with different disabilities;
• Ensured sign language interpretation for CEC briefings and live press briefings during the 2023 General Local Elections, 2024 Referendum and Presidential Elections to enhance information accessibility and inclusivity.