Executive officials still demonstrated an obviously discriminatory approach to the opposition parties during the formation of the District Election Commissions (DECs). The introduction of a requirement to consider the candidates’ professional and personal qualities did not contribute to greater political pluralism. The process of formation of the DECs took place in an atmosphere of greater transparency as compared to the previous local elections of 2014, but in general the new practices and the results of the formation of the DECs did not differ from previous election campaigns.