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19 November 2017
8:00 p.m.

In the evening of 19 November 2017, Promo-LEX Association Observation Mission for the local referendum on the dismissal of Chișinău Mayor and the local elections in 10 settlements throughout the country published the most recent data on the conduct of these democratic processes.

The Association’s findings were made on the basis of the information communicated, from 3.00 pm to 8.00 pm, by observers form the polling stations (PS) who were accredited by electoral bodies.

Restricted access or preventing the free observation process at the polling station – 2 new cases
PS 65, Botanica, Chișinău. The Deputy Chairwoman of the Electoral Office of the Polling Station (EOPS) restricted the free movement of Promo-LEX observer in the room.

PS 260, Cricova, Chișinău. The Promo-LEX observer was intimidated by voters. After the EOPS chairperson intervened and called the police, the said persons left the premises.

Ballot boxes were not sealed according to the legal procedures – 4 new cases
PS 206, Râșcani, Chișinău. Two stationary ballot boxes were sealed with only 2 seals each. The chairperson claimed that there were no more seals.

PS 242, Râșcani, Chișinău. There were three ballot boxes in the PS, of which two stationary ballot boxes were sealed with 2 seals each. The EOPS chairperson explained that the seals were missing, as he had not received more.

PS 233, Râșcani, Chișinău. There were three ballot boxes in the PS, of which two stationary ballot boxes were sealed with 2 seals each. The mobile ballot box was sealed with one seal only. The PS chairperson explained that the seals were missing, as he had not received more.

PS 90, Buiucani, Chișinău. One ballot box was found to have only two seals. The PS chairperson however did not do anything in this regard.

Unauthorized persons inside or within 50m from the polling station – 4 cases
PS 186, Ciocana, Chișinău. Two persons entered the PS, and had discussed for a while among themselves before voting. After being warned by EOPS members, they voted and left the PS. However, one of those persons returned in a while, videotaped for a couple of seconds the inside of the PS and, after being repeatedly warned by the PS chairperson, left the PS.

PS 205, Râșcani, Chișinău. Driving courses are being held in the same building, where the PS is located, and unauthorised persons pass through the PS.

PS 100, Buiucani, Chișinău. A police officer had stayed at the entry in the PS until 3.00 pm. He did not hinder the access to anyone. Nonetheless, no one told him anything.

PS 270, Sângera, Chișinău. Representatives from the central party organisations of two election candidates were in the vicinity of the EOPS at 6.00 pm. They had stayed around the PS for about 30 minutes. They had discussed with voters during this period of time. The EOPS chairperson reacted and warned them.

Electioneering or black PR within the perimeter and/or near the polling station to influence the voters – 3 new cases
PS 105, Buiucani, Chișinău. A person entered the PS and started yelling ‘Down with Chirtoacă’, then he voted, but kept on yelling. The EOPS chairperson warned him, called the police and the respective person left the PS.

PS 248, Râșcani, Chișinău. A voter, while inserting the ballot paper in the stationary box, yelled hate statements against the mayor targeted by the question subject to referendum, and left the polling station afterwards.

PS 220, Râșcani, Chișinău. An observer from a referendum participant, upon a voter’s request, told the latter where to apply the ‘voted’ stamp – ‘for Mayor’s dismissal’. As a result, the EOPS chairperson drew up a protocol on this case, and the said observer was later excluded from the PS.

Organised transportation of voters – 1 case
PS 269, Sângera, Chișinău. Organised transportation of voters was found. A black Skoda Superb car, license plate GAS 257, repeatedly transported persons to EOPS.

Deficient operation of ‘Elections’ SAIS – 3 cases
PS 101, Buiucani, Chișinău. A voter asked the ‘Elections’ SAIS operator to help him find his name in the voter lists. However, he did not find himself in the hard copy lists. The EOPS chairperson referred the voter to the PS at 30 Ion Pelivan street, Vocational School No 9.

PS 190. Ciocana, Chișinău. The voter’s residence in the ID card loose leaf had expired in 2009. In ‘Elections’ SAIS, however, the voter was found as belonging to the said PS. The voter acknowledged that he had changed the place of residence. He was not allowed to vote and left.

PS 227, Râșcani, Chișinău. When operators where checking the IDs in the ‘Elections’ SAIS, one voter was found to be voting at another PS at that very moment. The operator called CEC and was told that a technical error has occurred. Thus the voter was allowed to vote.

Errors in the lists of voters – 5 new cases
PS 99, Buiucani, Chișinău. One voter found the name of his son, who had died in Russia several years ago, in the lists of voters.

PS 110, Buiucani, Chișinău. One voter noticed that an unknown person has been listed at his apartment’s address.

PS 101, Buiucani, Chișinău. A voter asked the ‘Elections’ SAIS operator to help him find his name in the voter lists. However, he didn’t find himself in the hard copy lists. The EOPS chairperson referred the voter to the PS at 30 Ion Pelivan street, Vocational School No 9.

PS 191, Ciocana, Chișinău. A voter found the name of his deceased mother in the voter lists. He brought the death certificate to confirm it, but did not leave the copy. Thus the person has not been excluded from the list.

PS 139, Centru, Chișinău. A voter did not find himself in the main lists of voters. The previous owners were registered at his place of residence. He was allowed to vote on the additional voter list

Taking pictures of the ballot papers – 4 new cases
PS 105, Buiucani, Chișinău. A voter took a picture of his ballot paper. The EOPS members told him that it was forbidden. However, the photo was not deleted and the voter left.

PS 86, Buiucani, Chișinău. A voter took a picture of his ballot paper after voting. The photo was not deleted at the request of EOPS chairperson.

PS 33, Botanica, Chișinău. A voter took a picture of his ballot paper. The EOPS chairperson took measures and called the police officer. At the request of the latter the photo was deleted. The voter managed to vote, after all.

PS 231, Râșcani, Chișinău. A voter took a picture of his ballot paper. He deleted the photo at the request of EOPS chairperson.

Voters’ failure to understand the content of the question subjected to referendum – 6 new cases
PS 248, Râșcani, Chișinău. After taking the ballot paper for applying the ‘voted’ stamp, a voter used the cellphone to call to an unknown person asking where to apply the stamp. Despite the fact that the EOPS members noticed it, nothing was done in this regard.

PS 160, Ciocana, Chișinău. A voter took the ballot paper, read the question and tore it apart, motivating that it was unclear. An observer explained him how to vote. The EOPS chairperson warned the observer. The latter started screaming and calmed down only after repeated claims. The voter was given another ballot paper and voted.

PS 163, Ciocana, Chișinău. After taking the ballot paper a voter asked what ‘pro’ and ‘against’ meant. The commission members did not react. Nevertheless, the EOPS chairperson approached that voter, took his ballot paper and placed it blank in the ballot box. The voter left without voting.

PS 220, Râșcani, Chișinău. A voter was noticed to apply the ‘voted’ stamp on both ballot paper’s options, stating that he did not understand the question. This voter tore the ballot paper and wanted to leave. The chairperson gave him another ballot paper and documented the situation in a protocol. Finally, that person voted.

PS 80, Buiucani, Chișinău. After voting and placing the ballot paper in the ballot box a voter left the polling station. Short after that, that person returned and asked for another ballot paper, because he misunderstood the question and thus failed to vote correctly. The PS chairperson refused to give him another one. No complaints were submitted. The Promo-LEX observer mentions that throughout the day, several other voters from the same polling station had problems with understanding the question in the ballot paper.

PS 203, Râșcani, Chișinău. A voter had questions about the text content in the ballot paper. He did not understand the meaning of the word ‘to revoke’. He asked the EOPS members for explanations. Since no one answered him, the voter tore the ballot paper and put it in the ballot box, halfway outside. After that another voter explained him the meaning of that term. As a result, he asked for another ballot paper. The EOPS chairperson decided to give him another one and the torn ballot paper was canceled.

Involvement of EOPS members in the electoral process – 1 case
PS 260, Cricova, Chișinău. The secretary found out that one of the EOPS members had among ballot papers one that had a sign where to vote (in the ‘pro’ section). According to those present, the lady was allegedly related to a certain participant. The EOPS chairperson pulled out that ballot paper and canceled it. 

Electioneering activities – 3 cases
Around 4:40 p.m. in the apartment block from the 7/2 Aerodromului Street two persons were knocking on residents’ doors, introducing themselves as CEC employees and ‘officially’ inviting people to participate in the referendum. When asked to present a CEC authorisation, one of the young people presented a CEC accreditation issued in the name Zefirov Victor and did not allow taking pictures of it. His other two ‘colleagues’ were outside the apartment block No 7 from the same street.

Around 4:30 p.m. in the apartment block at 46/5 Gh. Madan Street, Chișinău, two persons were knocking on residents’ doors, electioneering and inviting them to vote, saying they were the members an NGO. These neither specified the name of the NGO they were representing, nor introduced themselves, intending just to call the people to vote. They were Russian speakers and were speaking in this language only.

PS 97, Buiucani, Chișinău. An incoming call was registered at the section’s phone number at 6:36 p.m. The section chairperson who answered it was invited to participate in the referendum.

Other incidents
PS 84, Buiucani, Chișinău. The members of the PS stared to apply the  ‘Cancelled’ stamp on approximately 1/3 of the unused ballot papers.

PS 144, Center, Chișinău. An observer from the part of a participant took pictures of the lists of voters. The EOPS chairperson warned him, yet he did not delete the picture from the device.

PS 217, Râșcani, Chișinău. A voter took a ballot paper from the EOPS members’ table not waiting for any member to hand it to him personally.

PS 232, Râșcani, Chișinău. In the day preceding the election a woman submitted 5 requests on mobile ballot box voting. Since the requests belonged to different persons, the chairperson refused to register them and wrote an explanation, stating that the woman did not present any ID and did not want to answer the question about the relations with those persons. In the day of referendum the woman came early in the morning and claimed to see how many requests related to the mobile ballot box were registered. The chairperson replied that no request was registered so far. In the evening this woman came together with a man and insisted on receiving information on the reasons why the voting requests were not registered. The chairperson explained the reason. The woman insulted the chairperson and left the PS; the man stayed for about 10 minutes longer and talked to one of the participants’ observer. 

Promo-LEX Election Observation Mission

of the new local elections of 19 November 2017 found:

Unauthorized persons inside or within 50m from the polling station – 1 case
PS 6/9,  Berlinți village, Briceni. Two unknown persons were present at the PS between 2:15 and 3:00 p.m. During that entire period the persons were talking to the observer from one of the election candidates. The EOPS chairperson, despite being notified by the Promo-LEX observer, did not take any measures. Other EOPS members later asked the said persons to leave the PS.

Errors in the lists of voters – 1 case
PS 6/10, Caracușenii Noi village, Briceni. 3 deceased persons (2 of whom had died in Ukraine) are included in the main lists of voters. The EOPS members and the administration, however, do not have their death certificates. One person had died in the past 14 days.

Unjustified group voting (2 or more persons were in the voting booth) – 1 case
PS 6/9, Berlinți village, Briceni. 2 cases of group voting with spouses were found. In one case the wife applied the ‘voted’ stamp on the ballot paper, claiming that her husband was drunk.

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Promo-LEX Observation Mission for the local referendum on the dismissal of Chișinău General Mayor is conducted during 4 October – 20 November 2017. The referendum is monitored by five long-term observers, one medium-term observer and one regional coordinator, who are monitoring the electoral process in Chișinău constituency during 4 October – 20 November 2017. On the election day, Promo-LEX delegated a short-term observer in each polling station. The observers involved in the monitoring process signed the Code of Conduct of the Promo-LEX Independent National Observer, assuming the commitment to act efficiently, in good faith and in a non-partisan manner. The activity of all the observers is coordinated by the central team of the Association.

The activity of Promo-LEX Observation Mission is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The opinions set out in the public reports of Promo-LEX are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the donors’ view.

Contacts:
Emil Gaitur, Promo-LEX Press Officer – tel.: +37369172642; email: [email protected]
Aenia Chirilov, Promo-LEX Press Officer – tel.: +37360168314; email: [email protected]