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June 3, 2018

Time: 14:30

The Promo-LEX Observation Mission of the new local election finds,

Unjustified group voting (2 and more persons in voting booths) – 2 cases
PS 281 Bacioi. Two voters voted simultaneously in the same voting booth. Nobody intervened.
PS 249 Riscani. Two people voted together in the same voting booth. The reason of such voting was the husband’s health problems, which is why the wife’s help was needed.

Unjustified presence of unauthorized persons in the polling station or within 50 meters of the polling station – 6 cases
PS 231 Riscani. A representative of an election contender, who communicated with a party observer, spent about 5-7 minutes within the PS.
PS205 Riscani. A representative of an election contender, one of the party’s central stuff, accompanied by 2 more persons, was in the polling station for 5 minutes, talked to the president of the EBPS and then went to another polling station.
PS 140 Center. A representative of an election contender, one of the party’s central stuff, spent 5 minutes in the PS, during which he discussed with the EBPS members, asking who was the observer from his party.
PS 17 Botanica. A representative of a competitor arrived in the PS and inquired about the election process, after which he left saying he would return. According to the president of the EBPS, it is a representative of one of the party’s leadership.
PS 220 Riscani. Two representatives of an election contender were standing at the entrance to the polling station for more than 20 minutes, discussing with voters.
PS 51 Botanica. An election contender passed by the PS (about 10 meters from the entrance) and greeted voters standing nearby, then left. 

Rumors, attempts or even facts of material or monetary rewards, offered to voters within and / or near the polling station to determine voters’ choice – 1 case
PS 57 Botanica. The Promo-LEX observer heard EBPS members, saying that they heard from a group of voters (living at the same address) that they came to vote for a competitor being paid for it.

Organized transportation of voters (buses, minibuses or other transport units that would normally not be in the vicinity of the PS) – 2 cases
PS 303 Tohatin. A vehicle with registration numbers CIP 414, (it was also noticed in the first round of elections) carried drunkvoters from the village of Cheltuitori to the polling station. The car was twice noticed, it transported 6 people.
PS 57 Botanica. The observer reported the presence of a minibus, presumably Volkswagen, nearby the PS and a group of voters were getting into it. 

Technical deficiencies in the functioning of SIAS Elections System (suspension of operation, situations when SIAS Elections indicates that the voter voted, and he claims he did not vote) – 1 case
PS 262 Durlesti. SIAS elections has not operated for five minutes on one of the computers and 20 minutes on the other computer. A queue of voters has formed. The voters were dissatisfied with the necessity to wait.

Faults in the voters’ lists (address discrepancies, deceased voters, signatures in place of other people) – 12 cases
PS 17 Botanica. A voter has found that deceased people are on the list. The president said it was not their fault but that of the passport office.
PS 70 Botanica. A voter identified a foreign person registered at his home address. As the voter claims, he purchased the dwelling in 2006, the year in which the former owner was excluded from that address.
PS 153 Center. A voter could not find his name on the voters’ lists and in the SIAS system. He was allowed to vote, being included in the supplementary lists.
PS 302 Stauceni. A voter was not included in the basic voters’ lists, while according to the data from his identity card, he is listed in this PS. He mentioned that in the first round of May 20, 2018, his name was present in the SIAS Elections system and on the voters’ lists. The President of the EBPS allowed him to vote by being included in the supplementary lists.
PS 152 Center. A voter identified a foreign person registered at his address.
PS 278 Vatra. Two voters are registered in the SIAS Elections System in another PS, while according to the basic voters’ lists, they belong to this PS.  After checking their identity cards, the president of the EBPS allowed them to vote.
PS 9 Botanica. A voter was not found in the voters’ lists, even if in the previous years, he was there. He was asked to write an application, but he declined the proposal, saying he would call the CEC personally and resolve the problem.
PS 9 Botanica. A couple found out that a deceased person was registered at their address. EBPS members said that it did not depend on them and proposed to write an appeal. They refused and left, but later, they returned and said they had clarified the situation and were convinced that the situation would not be repeated thereafter.
PS 110 Buiucani. A voter was not found in the basic voters’ lists and was included in the supplementary lists.
PS 3 Botanica. A voter identified a foreign person registered at his home address. He mentioned that he had previously been to the Public Services Agency and solved the problem. It should be mentioned that the person is not living there for over 12 years.
PS 54 Botanica. According to SIAS Elections system, a voter was assigned to another polling station. However, following the verification of the address in the ID card, it was found he belonged to the PS 54. As a result, the voter was included in the supplementary voters’ lists.
PS 302 Stauceni. A voter found in the basic voters’ lists a foreign person registered at his / her home address.

Taking pictures of ballots – 4 cases
PS 230 Riscani. A voter photographed the ballot. At the request of the president of the PS, the picture was deleted.
PS 81 Buiucani. A voter photographed the ballot. At the request of PS members, the voter refused to delete the picture. The police were summoned, but the voter refused to delete the picture anyway and wrote an objection on the ground that he did not agree with the fact that he was not allowed to photograph the ballot.
PS 70 Botanica. A voter photographed the ballot. At the request of the EBPS members, the voter deleted the picture.
PS 213 Riscani. A voter photographed the ballot after applying the “Voted” stamp. Subsequently, at the request of the EBPS members, the picture was deleted.

Voting with deficiencies at the presentation of identity documents – 4 cases
PS 54 Botanica. A voter presented a copy of the supplementary sheet of his ID card, claiming he had lost the original sheet. The president of the EBPS allowed him to vote.
PS 217 Riscani. A voter voiced his dissatisfaction with the application of the stamp on the supplementary sheet of his identity card. After voting, he refused to leave the polling station and the police had to intervene.
PS 149 Center. A voter had his ID card damaged (there was a hole in it). The president of the EBPS did not allow him to vote, therefore, the voter filed an appeal.
PS 82 Buiucani. A voter had his name introduced into the SIAS Elections, after which the EBPS members found he did not have the supplementary sheet of the ID. He was not allowed to vote and the EBPS president said he would draft a report stating the incident.

Online campaigning with the promotion of both candidates for the mayoralty – at least 6 news portals

Others
PS 98 Buiucani. A woman came to vote with her 29-year-old daughter, showing signs of mental disability. After exercising her right to vote, the woman insisted on giving her daughter a ballot, too. She had a document of “a person with a special status”. Her name was not found in the basic voters’ lists. EBPS members called the CEC and they were told the woman was not allowed to vote.
PS 248 Riscani. A voter has requested another ballot, claiming that he has wrongly filled out the one previously given to him. The president of the PS refused. The voter wanted to tear the ballot, but the PS president did not allow him to do it, taking the ballot personally and putting it in the ballot box. The voter filed an appeal.
PS 4 Botanica. An unidentified person called the police to the PS without any reason. The police arrived and, after finding that everything was OK within the PS, contacted the president of the EBPS to clarify whether anything had happened. The president confirmed that everything was OK in the PS.

Promo-LEX Observation Mission of the new local elections on 20 May (3 June) 2018 monitors the second round of elections in the Chisinau constituency through 5 long-term observers (LTOs). On the day of elections, Promo-LEX delegated a short-term observer (STO) to each polling station in the constituency. Observers involved in the monitoring process signed the Promo-LEX Independent National Observatory’s Code of Conduct, undertaking to act in a bold, non-partisan mode. The activity of all the observers is coordinated by the central team of the association.

The activity of the Promo-LEX OM is supported financially by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The opinions expressed in the Promo-LEX public reports belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funders.

For further information, please contact:
Axenia Chirilov, Communication Officer of Promo-LEX Association GSM: 060 16 83 14
E-mail: [email protected]