Presidential Election and Constitutional Referendum, 20 October 2024, and the Second Round of Presidential Election, 3 November 2024

Following an invitation to observe the presidential election and constitutional referendum in Moldova scheduled for 20 October 2024, and in accordance with its mandate, ODIHR has deployed an Election Observation Mission (EOM).

1. Post-election press conference live stream: Election Observation Mission
Monday, 21 October 2024 at 15:00 local time (GMT+3), Chișinău

2. Post-election press conference live stream: Election Observation Mission Second Round of the Presidential Election
Monday, 4 November 2024 at 15:00 local time (GMT+2), Chișinău

Long-term Observation

The mission is led by Urszula Gacek and consists of a core team of 11 experts based in Chişinău. In addition, 26 long-term observers will be deployed throughout the country from 20 September.

The mission will assess the election and referendum for their compliance with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards, as well as with national legislation.

Observers will closely follow fundamental components of the electoral process such as:

• voter registration
• candidate registration
• campaign activities and financing
• the work of the election administration and relevant state institutions
• election-related legislation and its implementation
• the resolution of election-related disputes

The ODIHR EOM will conduct qualitative and quantitative monitoring of media coverage of the election campaign as well as a limited observation of election campaigns on social networks.

Election Day

ODIHR requested 200 short-term observers from OSCE participating States to be deployed immediately prior to the 20 October presidential election and referendum, and prior to the 3 November second round of the presidential election. The short-term observers will be deployed throughout the country in multinational teams of two, which will monitor:

• the opening of polling stations
• the voting
• the counting of ballots
• the tabulation of results at all levels.

Co-operation with other partners

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament intend to deploy observer delegations.

The day after the elections, ODIHR, together with its international partners, will issue a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions at a press conference. A final report on the observation of the entire electoral process will be issued some months after the end of the election process.

Previous Elections

ODIHR has previously observed 17 elections in Moldova, most recently the 2023 local elections.