Moldova, Parliamentary Elections, 24 February 2019: Needs Assessment Mission Report

In anticipation of an official invitation to observe the 24 February 2019 parliamentary elections and in accordance with its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) undertook a Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) from 18 to 22 June. The NAM included Steven Martin, ODIHR Senior Adviser on New Voting Technologies, and Oleksii Lychkovakh, ODIHR Election Adviser. The ODIHR NAM was joined by Loïc Poulain, Presidential Adviser, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

The purpose of the mission was to assess the pre-election environment and preparations for the parliamentary elections. Based on this assessment, the NAM should recommend whether to deploy an ODIHR election-related activity for the forthcoming elections, and if so, what type of activity best meets the identified needs. Meetings were held with officials from state institutions and representatives of political parties, media, civil society and the international community. A list of meetings is annexed to this report.