The Centre for Continuous Electoral Training organised the international scientific conference ‘Quality of democracy, electoral security, youth participation – interferences, challenges, solutions’

The aim of the conference was to debate the interplay between democracy, electoral security and youth participation, to highlight the challenges they pose to the quality of democracy, and to identify and propose solutions for decision-makers to improve the democratic process as a whole.

During the three sessions, researchers, electoral experts, representatives of electoral management bodies and civil society presented their work and research.

In the first session, the quality of democracy and electoral security were discussed, covering topics such as:

·         The importance of ensuring human security for strengthening the electoral system of the Republic of Moldova;

·         Modernisation of the electoral system of the Republic of Moldova in the context of increasing political pressure on decision-makers;

·         Elections as a mechanism for citizen participation in strengthening national sovereignty: the case of the Republic of Moldova;

·         Analysis of the electoral behaviour of the Moldovan diaspora in the context of maintaining their ties with their country of origin and/or of their return;

·         International organisations and their involvement in ensuring the security of the electoral process.

The panelists of the second session ‘Youth Participation and the Quality of Democracy’ discussed topics related to the statistics of youth participation in elections, bringing examples from other countries.

In the last session, ‘Election Security in the Context of Current Challenges’, the participants discussed:

·         Hate speech and its risks for the security of electoral contenders;

·         Securing the elections – a focus for law enforcement on election day;

·         Ensuring public order and security of citizens during elections;

·         Vote from anywhere: transforming the voting experience in St. Louis County, Missouri, USA;

·         Electoral security: domestic issues and European best practices.

This is the second conference with international participation organised by the Centre for Continuous Electoral Training. The conference agenda in English and Romanian can be found below. The conference papers will be published in the electoral analysis, theory and research magazine Electoral Digest which can be found here.