Polling in second round of Moldova's local elections slightly improved, but serious shortcomings remain

CHISINAU, 18 June 2007 - Election Day procedures during yesterday's second round of local elections in Moldova showed marginal procedural improvements over the first round on 3 June, concluded an international election observation mission deployed by the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.

However, key problems identified during the pre-electoral period persisted, particularly media bias and intimidation of candidates.

"Despite the fact that we highlighted these shortcomings in our statement on the first round, the relevant authorities failed to take remedial action prior to the second round," said Ambassador Dieter Boden, who headed the ODIHR Election Observation Mission.

"There continues to be a clear need to rectify these matters."

The head of the Congress delegation, Mrs. Susan Bolam, added: "We remain concerned that the standard of administration of the polling stations varied considerably: some were well run but many were not. It is essential that the appropriate action be taken to improve the knowledge of election procedures by polling station staff."

To read more about the mission's findings, please see the complete statement, which is available on the right under "Documents".