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On March 11th, in “Evrika” lyceum from Ribnita, Promo-LEX Association organized an informative seminar “The right to vote and to be elected”. The seminar was attended by 23 students from elder classes. The aim of the seminar was to inform young people from the Transnistrian region about their right to vote and right to be elected.
Elections are one of the most important tools which citizens can utilise in order to influence decision making processes. Unfortunately, many young people in Moldova, including those from the Transnistrian region do not realize the benefits of these opportunities. The causes are diverse: there are ill informed, not motivated to vote or they just don’t believe in the power of their vote.

Thus, during the seminar the youth was informed about the history and evolution of the right to vote, about the procedure of voting and the provisions of the electoral code of Moldova.
During the discussions, the young people tried to identify the reasons which generate the apathy and indifference towards the political and electoral process for the young generation. In this regard, it was mentioned that young people simply lost hope in a prosperous life. They do not believe in promises, nor believe in their own power to change something within the society. Most young people do not believe in the value of their vote, a fact which is proved by an insignificant youth participation during the elections. Besides many other reasons which generate the young peoples’ indifference, it was also noted the lack of democratic traditions and youth participation in decision-making processes and political life.

Thus, the fact that young people are ill informed, the fact that voting sections are not open in Ribnita, the lack of confidence in the electoral candidates, the indifference towards the political processes and lack of confidence in their voting power have been identified as the basic causes that hinder youth participation in elections.

Within the seminar the participants also discussed the possibilities and potential solutions for solving these problems. The young people concluded that continuous and adequate youth information would be the best solution. They want to be informed about the political life of the country and also get involved in various projects, seminars, conferences where would be discussed the current problems of the Republic of Moldova, and in particular the Transnistrian region problems.

Another solution mentioned by the participants was the civic and patriotic education both in school and other extracurricular activities.
In the end, most of the young people said they would go to vote together with their friends or parents and also will try to convince other young people from their community to do the same. For young people from Ribnita this means to go to the special voting section in Rezina, which will be opened for the Transistrian region inhabitants.
This activity was an apolitical one. The aim of the seminar was to promote the right to vote, informing and motivating young people from the transnistrian region to participate in the elections from April, 5th 2009. Their voice must be heard.

This activity was conducted within the Resources and Development Center for Transnistria with financial support of National Endowment for Democracy.

Natalia Gligor
NGO Department, RDTC
Promo-LEX Association