The Central Electoral Commission held, today, the first meeting of the inter-institutional working group for the development of the concept and action plan regarding the digitalization of the electoral process and the piloting of electronic voting as an alternative voting method.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Chairperson of the Central Electoral Commission, Angelica Caraman, noted that this working group, created by the CEC Decision at the end of December, has a difficult mission, but an extremely important and ambitious one. The current situation will be evaluated, then a concept and action plan will be developed regarding the digitalization of the electoral process and the piloting of electronic voting through the digital signature.
"The need to test and implement alternative voting methods in the Republic of Moldova has been discussed for several years, and the given topic became more vocal in the last national elections, which is also a necessity dictated by the evolution of the pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus. The training of experts from several public authorities in this activity demonstrates the determination of the state in the modernization of public services, by digitalizing and making processes accessible to all citizens", said the Chairperson of the CEC.
The members of the group coordinated the action plan and established three directions for evaluating the current state of digitalization of electoral processes, but also the vision of the actors involved in this process on the development of this concept.
The inter-institutional group is formed by representatives of the Central Electoral Commission, the Information and Security Service, the Ministry of Justice and those responsible for digitalization in the Republic of Moldova: the vice-prime minister for digitalization, the Public Institution "Electronic Governance Agency", the Public Institution "Public Services Agency" and The Public Institution "Information Technology and Cyber Security Service", as well as the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections.
One of the objectives assumed by the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Moldova, according to the institution's Strategic Plan for the years 2020-2023, is the development of the "Internet Voting" system.