Election Day Management BRIDGE Workshop for the members and staff of the Central Election Commission of Moldova

On 27-29 June 2023, the Council of Europe (CoE) in collaboration with the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of the Republic of Moldova organized a three-day BRIDGE Workshops on Election Day management. The workshop was part of the CoE Project “Improving electoral practice in the Republic of Moldova, Phase III” and was organized in support of the upcoming general local elections, scheduled to be conducted in October-November 2023.

The event brought together key election officials from Moldova: the CEC members (including the CEC Chairperson and Secretary), leadership and staff of the CEC secretariat, head and staff of the Centre for Continuous Electoral Training of Moldova, Chairperson and Secretary of the Central Electoral Council of the autonomous region of Gagauzia. In total, the workshop was attended by 27 participants (10 male and 17 female).

The workshop was facilitated by two BRIDGE accrediting level facilitators from Moldova Pavel Cabacenco and Renata Levovski and contained simulations, brainstorming sessions, and practical/testing exercises.

On the first day of the workshop participants analyzed election day issues reflected in the reports of the international and citizen observers, and discussed what actions the election commission may take to prevent/avoid/resolve existing issues. The second day of the workshop was focused on the development of the soft skills of the senior election officials through the simulation of the pre-election day period and election day. The simulation was adapted to Moldovan realities iEXCEL activity integrated into the BRIDGE workshop. The iEXCEL is a scenario-based electoral leadership curriculum, produced by IFES, that develops the skills needed to strengthen institutional independence, deliver elections within the context of a crisis, resist manipulation of elections by political actors and foster institutional resilience and capacity. On the third day of the workshop participants experienced voting at inaccessible polling station and discussed possible post-election day issues. 

The methodology and technics applied by facilitators allowed the audience to learn vast volumes of material, accumulate immense information, and gain a lot of practical experience in a small period of time. The content of the module allowed participants to detect the gaps in their daily work and in the process of preparation for the upcoming local elections, review and update existing Situation Mitigation Plan.

The workshop was highly appreciated by all participants. Many of them mentioned that it was very useful as it was a kind of election day rehearsal for them. The workshop also helped to consolidate and strengthen the CEC team, which is crucial for successful election day conduct.