On July 8, 2010 Association for Participatory Democracy ADEPT organized a Round Table where presented the findings of the Study "Voting from abroad: international practices and recommendations for the Republic of Moldova", produced within the project "Promoting compliance with international standards and OSCE commitments for democratic elections", funded by the OSCE Mission to Moldova.

The study developed by ADEPT experts states the basic principles underlying the right to vote abroad and presents the international experience of external voting (legal, procedural and administrative, voting procedures etc.). It was also briefly examined how Moldovans voted abroad in the five election cycles after the declaration of independence of Moldova. The authors found that voter turnout in external voting has increased considerably in the last election, including due to the increase in polling stations abroad, and support the opening of supplementary polling stations abroad outside the diplomatic missions. Although this method has some drawbacks, currently it is the most appropriate to ensure greater security and transparency of the voting outside the diplomatic missions abroad.

The study findings indicate that a successful implementation of this method of external voting requires certain conditions to be fulfilled, in addition to human, technical and financial resources:

• the existence of an apolitical, independent, efficient and incorruptible administrative system;
• clear legal provisions for conducting the electoral process;
• the existence of a political and social consensus concerning the need to introduce new methods of external voting, which can be ensured by carrying out large public debates;
• preliminary testing and evaluation of the introduced method of vote.

The study provides recommendations to streamline the process of organizing elections abroad in supplementary polling stations. Among them may be listed: focusing on preliminary voter registration and simplifying the procedure of voter registration, setting a limit of registered voters for opening a supplementary polling station, developing of clear instructions to ensure safety and transparency of the electoral process, training of electoral officials, cooperation with Diaspora organizations etc.

The representatives of Parliament, Central Electoral Commission, international institutions, political parties, NGOs and mass-media participated at the round table.