Participation is important for representative democracy, but imposed turnout requirements do not necessarily improve participation in an effective manner. Moreover, turnout requirements proved to be ineffective and troublesome in some recent cases in post-communist countries. In fact, it may potentially be contribute to electoral malfeasance committed in an effort to have a successful election. Moldova itself was faced with turnout requirement problems and failed elections in the case of the 2005 Election of the Mayor of Chisinau. Furthermore, the turnout requirements also bear the potential for abuse by political forces, by providing them an opportunity to influence the process by calling for boycott.
