Over twenty young people from various educational institutions across the country actively participated in a three-day Electoral School. The event aimed at informing young people ahead of the forthcoming 5 November 2023 General Local Elections. Aged from 18 till 25, most of them will vote for the first-time. They discussed in particular the importance of youth participation in elections, of defending democracy and equal rights for all. They also identified the most innovative ways to promote the youth agenda in elections and participated in a mock election.

Mr. Falk LANGE, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Chisinau, mentioned at the openings that the Council of Europe always has on its agenda the promotion of youth interests in all of the 46 member states, including Moldova. Likewise, he drew the participants’ attention to opportunity of familiarizing with a special tool for the participation of young people in electoral processes - Vote outside the box, which would be used by the Council of Europe trainers at the event.

Guided by the trainers from the Council of Europe and the Centre for Continuous Electoral Training, the participants learnt and exchanged experiences on how to best use social media platforms, to gather information about electoral candidates, to ensure inclusive youth participation and promote youth priorities in the campaign, as well as to fight against misuse of administrative resources.

The Electoral School for Young People was organised in the framework of the Council of Europe Project Improving Electoral Practice in the Republic of Moldova, Phase III, in partnership with the Centre for Continuous Electoral Training.