A WEB

organizing and conducting elections, in correspondence to the international standards from the electoral field, but also according to the circumstances  and goals of the parliamentary majority. 

Taking into account the need to improve some electoral procedures, the elimination of the existing loopholes and contradictions from the regulations and being aware of the international commitments that  the Republic of Moldova has assumed in relations with the development partners and the imminence of  the need to harmonize the electoral legislation with the European Union acquis, intervened the need to  carry out a complex electoral reform, based on a strategic approach. 

In the fall of 2021, after the confirmation of the new composition of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of the Republic of Moldova, the implementation of the electoral reform was established as a basic  priority. In this regards, was established a working group to review the Electoral Code and the related  legal framework, by drafting “Lege ferenda” (the draft Law). In this way the group had to address the  shortcomings mentioned by the Constitutional Court in its addresses (on the disputes consideration during  all types of elections, amendment of the voting mechanism outside the country, establishing in the law of  the provisions related to the corruption of voters, sanctions for the involvement of religious cults in  electoral campaigns, amending the legislation on the liability of broadcasters during electoral campaigns,  establishing control and prompt sanctioning mechanisms in order to prevent and combat hate speech among the electoral competitors, etc.), to take into account the conclusions from the post-election review  events, the opinions of international partners (Venice Commission, OSCE/ODIHR), the conclusions and  recommendations of national and international election observation missions, to fulfill the commitments  undertaken towards foreign partners, in accordance with international standards and good practices in the  electoral matter. 

Development partners of the CEC, the Council of Europe and the OSCE/ODIHR, welcomed the electoral  reform initiative and reconfirmed their support in sustaining and promoting participatory democracy in  our country. 

Accordingly, on the Global Elections Day, marked on February 3, 2022, Central Electoral Commission  decided to launch the activity on reforming the electoral legislation, by organizing a video conference.  During the event the Commission presented the "Concept on amending the electoral legislation" – conceptual vision for amending the electoral legislation, as well as the main aspects regarding the priority  areas of intervention. At the same time, the Commission reminded the participants that it established a working group within the institution, which, together with civil society organizations, worked on  improving the electoral legislation. 

According to the priorities established by the working group, until the finalization of a draft decision, it  was proposed to organize broad discussions and consultations with various entities and relevant actors, in  order to examine the vision on the need to review the electoral legal framework, the amendment proposals,  but also to take over the good practices in the electoral matter. The debates started on February 9, 2022, 

with the presentation of the draft decision "On the submission of proposals to amend the Electoral Code  and related legislation"1. 

The first public consultation meeting was  organized on March 18, 2022, after receiving  several proposals to amend the Electoral Code and  related legislation. In total, until April 7, 2022,  were held 7 thematic workshops, organized in  partnership with the Promo-LEX Association. It  should be noted that during the meetings,  approximately 540 people participated  cumulatively, representing all categories of  electoral subjects: political parties, central and  local public administration authorities, civil society, electoral experts, development partners, and international organizations, voters from the country  and from the diaspora. 

During the workshops, the interested parties submitted 482 proposals, which mainly concerned: the status  of electoral bodies, the establishment of polling stations abroad, the revision of the procedures on the  organization of voting day, the nomination and registration of candidates and the conduct of the electoral  campaign, the financing of political parties and electoral campaigns, judicial procedures in the  organization and conduct of elections, revision of electoral procedures, aspects on the conduct of electoral  campaigning, but also the initiation and conduct of referenda. Their comprehensive summary can be found  on the official website of the CEC, in the "Regulatory framework" section. 

The public consultation process also included work sessions and separate consultation meetings with representatives of Moldovan state institutions, Courts, electoral authorities from abroad (Romania, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia, Turkey, Lithuania, Croatia), international organizations (OSCE/ODIHR, Council Europe, European Union) and NGOs.

In a public summary event, organized on 25 May 2022, CEC Members presented their vision for amending the Electoral Code and the related electoral legal framework, taking into account the received proposals. These referred in particular to the establishment and activity of electoral bodies, with a focus on granting permanent status to the lower electoral bodies and clarifying CEC mandate and composition, the establishment of additional mechanisms on the exercise of the right to vote, the nomination and registration of candidates, the management of the Voters’ Lists, transparency of the electoral campaign financing and strengthening the control duties of CEC on political financing, the digitization of the electoral process and the optimization of the mechanisms for the resolution of electoral disputes.

The event was attended by approx. 100 people - representatives of the central public administration,  Members of the Parliament, magistrates, and local and foreign experts in electoral matters, representatives  of political parties and the diaspora, development partners, civil society organizations and Media. During  this event, a round of questions and answers was also conducted, where the CEC came up with  clarifications and explanations on the proposed amendments. 

The project to amend the Electoral Code and some normative acts was approved during  the CEC meeting on June 14, 2022 and was  submitted to the Government of the  Republic of Moldova and the Parliament for  

examination of the opportunity to amend the  above-mentioned acts. The draft laws were  

registered in Parliament on July 13, 2022,  and were subsequently submitted to public  consultations on the parliamentary and extra-parliamentary platform for a period of approximately four  months. 

At the request of the Speaker of the Parliament, the draft law for the adoption of the Electoral Code was  sent for approval to the European Commission for Democracy by Law of the Council of Europe (Venice  Commission) and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the OSCE (OSCE/ODIHR).  On September 15-16, experts from the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR came to Chisinau, on  an information and documentation visit for the preparation of the joint opinion on the electoral reform  from the Republic of Moldova. During the visit, the delegation had several meetings with representatives 

of the CEC, but also of some other relevant institutions, involved or targeted by the electoral reform  process. 

During the meeting of October 21, the Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR adopted the Joint Opinion  on the draft of the new Electoral Code of the Republic of Moldova. The meeting was attended by  representatives of the CEC, the Parliament and the Ministry of Justice. The opinion takes note of the  efforts to improve the electoral legislation and to improve the electoral procedures from our country,  considering the extensive public consultation process and the high level of implementation of the  recommendations previously made by the ODIHR and the Council for Democratic Elections, which refer  in particular to: clarifying the procedure for the organization of elections from abroad, strengthening the  capacities to regulate the financing of political parties and electoral campaigns, registration of candidates  for elective positions, elections administration system, procedure for submitting and consideration of complaints, as well as other aspects. Immediately after the publication of the joint opinion, the Parliament  of the Republic of Moldova ensured its translation into Romanian and placed it on the website of the  Parliament, launching a new round of public consultations with interested stakeholders. 

On the occasion of the 25 years of permanent activity of the Central Electoral Commission, an  international conference was organized on November 22, 2022 with the participation of representatives  of 20 electoral authorities, of international organizations (OSCE/ODIHR, A-WEB, IFES, ENEMO and  the Council of Europe) and civil society. The event was a good opportunity to exchange experience on the role of electoral management authorities and other national and international subjects in the  implementation of electoral reforms, analyzing the challenges, learned lessons and best practices.

During the event, the Chairperson of the Central Electoral Commission, Angelica Caraman, mentioned  that "Each election is an experience and each time we notice certain shortcomings, but also improvements  that can be made to this process. The improvements are necessary both for the subjects called to apply the  established rules, but also for the final beneficiaries - the voters, who, as a result, will gain more confidence  in the electoral processes and will be more motivated to participate in elections. In the process of  examination and consultation with experts, we took into account the interests of all electoral subjects, to  ensure that: any candidate, any political party has the same rights and obligations, the same chances to  run in elections and be elected in fair conditions, any citizen of the Republic of Moldova, wherever he/she is, to be able to exercise his/her constitutional right to choose the candidate or party he/she wants. We are  convinced that the existing draft of the Electoral Code will mark the beginning of a more democratic, freer  and fairer electoral processes."

On 8 December, 2022, the Parliament adopted the Electoral Code of the Republic of Moldova, in a new  reading, and the Law for the amendment of some related normative acts (the Law on the status of the local  elected official, the Law on the procedure for electing the President of the country, the Law on local public  administration, the Law on political parties, the Law on public office and the status of civil servants, the  Contravention Code, the Audiovisual Media Services Code, the Criminal Code, the Labor Code, the Law  on Assets and Personal Interest Declaration). 

The main amendments refer to regulating a new procedure for the establishment of CEC by extending the  number of institutions that shall nominate members (besides the Parliament and the President, was added  the Government, the Superior Council of Magistracy and civil society organizations), the number of  members was reduced from 9 to 7, all of them work on permanent basis, with an individual mandate,  extended to 6 years; granting permanent status to the second-level district electoral councils by  establishing the permanent position of Chair of the council; the establishment of regulations on the  organization of regional elections (in the autonomous territorial unit of Gagauzia) and on the status of the  central electoral body responsible for their organization; was fixed the date for the organization of General  Local Elections, at the same time, under certain conditions, in some constituencies, the elections,  regardless of their type, can be held during two days, by the decision of the CEC; the main directions for  the automation of the electoral process were defined, by regulating the State Automated Information  System "Elections"; were completed the grounds for the opening polling stations from abroad; were  maintained and developed the rules for ensuring the compliance with the principle of gender equality in  the electoral process, was included the exhaustive list of institutions with which the CEC collaborates  during the electoral period, indicating their attributions during the electoral period; the minimum age to  run for mayor position was lowered from 25 to 23; was specified the list of people who have to suspend  from their activity at the beginning of the electoral campaign, in order to exclude the possibility of using  administrative resources; were simplified the conditions to run in the elections, including for the  independent candidate, in particular by reducing the number of signatures to support the candidates and  was granted the possibility to supporting several candidates in the elections by a single voter. 

Also, was specified the procedure for printing the ballot papers, so at the request of the electoral bodies  they can be printed in another language than Romanian, in order to facilitate the participation of national  minorities in the polls; clearer principles have been established on the financing of the activity of initiative  groups and electoral campaigns, the financial reporting of parties shall be carried out only online and the  general ceiling of cash donations to political parties has been reduced; pre-electoral advertising was  regulated and electoral competitors were prohibited from organizing contests, concerts and acts of charity  during the electoral campaign; the procedures for submitting and consideration of appeals were clarified  and detailed, and new sanctions were introduced, to be applied gradually and proportionally to the  committed infringements; the regulations on election observation and media coverage were improved;  were solved the practical deficiencies related to the changes made in the voters’ lists after their verification  and extending the possibility of different subjects to have access to the information from the voters’ lists; the competence to confirm the legality of local elections and to validate the mandates of local elected  officials, was delegated from the Courts to the District Electoral Councils; reducing the minimum number  of signatures required to initiate a referendum, etc. 

The new provisions entered into force on January 1, 2023. During the following period, the Central  Electoral Commission will undertake a range of activities to ensure the implementation of the new  provisions: adjustment of the internal regulatory framework (amendment and elaboration of approx. 50  regulations and instructions), organization of the training for electoral subjects and voters information  campaign, the adjustment of the informational systems owned by the CEC to the new rules, the  organization of the activity of the 35 District Electoral Councils with permanent status.