Political background. The Republic of Moldova is a parliamentary republic, but the President of the state is elected by universal suffrage. Although the powers of the President are limited, electoral competition for this position has a high potential to mobilize the electorate. Among the national public authorities, the President of the state enjoys the highest trust, surpassing the Parliament and the Government. 

The pre-election period was characterized by internal political stability, the Presidency, the Parliament and the Government being represented by persons appointed by the same party, the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS). 

The relationship between power and opposition is complicated, the actions of the parties being more divergent than convergent, both in the Parliament and outside it. The party system in Moldova is competitive. The 2024 presidential election seems to be treated by contenders as an opportunity to prepare for the parliamentary elections of 2025. The risks of electoral corruption remain a threat to the state. 

The geopolitical agenda will most likely surpass topics of domestic policy during the campaign, especially in the context of simultaneous organization of the constitutional referendum regarding the European integration of Moldova. The referendum on European integration will take place in a society divided on geopolitical vector issues, where the prevailing public opinion is, however, favorable to the idea of joining the EU. 

Legal framework. The election of 20 October 2024 is held on the basis of the Electoral Code that came into force on 1 January 2023. However, more than 20 articles of the Code were amended in the period of one year before the election. Even if it does not affect in a legal sense the principle of stability of electoral law, we believe that confidence in elections can be undermined by multiple changes, with a lack of decision-making transparency and in the absence of a broad political consensus on important matters. 

Changes with the greatest impact for the election of 20 October 2024 were the regulation of the possibility of holding presidential election simultaneously with the republican referendum and the implementation of postal voting. 

Related legislation was also amended, in particular, the Contravention Code. Those amendments mostly introduced new fines or increased existing ones for various violations of electoral procedures. 

In 2024, the Constitutional Court twice declared provisions of the Electoral Code unconstitutional, the ones on limiting the right to be elected and on the media coverage of elections. 

Electoral bodies. The organization of the election was carried out in accordance with the actions planned in the calendar program approved by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC). At the same time, at the beginning of the election period, the CEC did not have an approved calendar plan of activities for the implementation of postal voting. 

Unlike the period of organization for the 2023 general local elections, since the beginning of the election period for the ballots of 20 October 2024, the CEC operates in full composition, and its staff is not affected by lack of officials. 

The CEC did not approve all the regulations and instructions relevant to the organization and conduct of the ballots of 20 October 2024 before the beginning of the election period. The coverage of the public consultation process on the CEC’s specialized webpage is not complete. 

The campaign for certification of potential electoral officials organized by the Center for Continuous Electoral Training (CICDE) was broad and seems to have ensured a sufficient number of future members of electoral bodies. 

State Register of Voters. The CEC periodically ensures transparency of data regarding the number of voters in the State Register of Voters (SRV). 

Looking at the dynamics of data in the Register, we find that compared to the previous presidential election, at a distance of four years, there are 14,726 more voters in the SRV. Against the background of negative natural increase for more than two decades, the increase in the number of voters is a process that raises questions about the quality of data in the SRV. The Promo-LEX OM believes that for a plenary provision of information on the situation, respectively in order to prevent possible attempts to misinform society about the quality of voter lists, the CEC, together with the Public Services Agency (PSA), must explain in detail the cause of the respective dynamics. 

Potential electoral competitors. Given the intention shown by at least 17 potential candidates to register, this could be the most competitive presidential election. As for the referendum campaign, we are also seeing a plurality of options shown by competitors. In addition, in the context of the constitutional referendum, the number of information campaigns on the advantages of joining the EU has significantly increased. 

According to the Promo-LEX OM, promotion activities with electoral implications in the context of the presidential election have been observed in the case of at least eight potential candidates, and in five subjects such activities concerned the referendum. 

Use of administrative resources. Between 8 July and 18 August 2024, the Government of Moldova conducted the information campaign “Europe for You”. The Promo-LEX OM found that this campaign had been planned and promoted from public money after the announcement of the election date, being implemented also during the election period, which can be interpreted as having the purpose of attracting political capital in support of the referendum. In this context, Promo-LEX reiterates the recommendation that such practices should be banned even outside the election period. 

Activities with the potential to corrupt voters. The Promo-LEX OM found two projects with potential for electoral corruption, coordinated by Ilan Shor, which, through their impact, can affect voters’ freedom to form their opinion in the election. One of them is the initiative to pay allowances of 2,000 MDL through the Russian bank Promsvyazbank to pensioners from certain regions of the country. The other project, GagauziyaLand, was opened on 18 August, with the promise that the entrance and all attractions for children and adults would be free. 

Observation of the financing of electoral activities. This Promo-LEX OM will again observe the financing of the electoral competitors’ activities. The methodology involves identifying and estimating campaign expenses and comparing them with the information reported to the CEC. The competitors’ electoral campaign will be monitored separately from that of the participants in the referendum. An important objective is also to monitor the activity of the CEC as a body of supervision and control. In the case of the CEC, the approval of amendments to the regulatory framework after the adoption of the calendar program created certain collisions of provisions. 

Hate speech. The CEC and the Audiovisual Council (AC) continued the development of the internal regulatory and methodological framework for the regulation and monitoring of hate speech in elections. In this respect, the CEC approved the particularities of media coverage of the election of 20 October 2024, and the Council, in June 2024, amended and approved the methodology for monitoring electoral audiovisual programs. 

Given the recorded trends, but also the data on cases of hate speech and/or incitement to discrimination documented by the police in the electoral campaign in autumn 2023, the monitoring of hate speech remains a necessity in order to analyze and assess the degree of use of this type of speech and its sanctioning.