Promo-LEX Observation Mission for the parliamentary elections of February 24, 2019: Opening of the polling stations

February 24, 2019
Time: 9:00

Promo-LEX Observation Mission for the parliamentary elections finds,

Lack of voter turnout visualization

National constituency. 7.00 – 8.10. Lack of voter turnout information on the official webpage of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC). We remind you that on 11.02.2019, the CEC, through an official press release, announced the start of the process.

Restricted access or obstruction of free observation process in the polling station – 4 cases.

PS 9/19, Balti. The observer was not offered the necessary information on the development of the voting process. The EBPS president brutally told the observer that s/he had no time to show the list of materials. After several requests made in the period of time between 7: 00 and 7: 35, the secretary of the EBPS provided the requested information.
PS 49/11 Russia, Moscow
PS 50/63 Portugal – Setubal

The ballot boxes have not been sealed according to legal procedures / missing/ damaged or missing seals on ballot boxes – 47 cases.

PS 25/21 Chisinau, Botanica. The stationary ballot boxes were sealed with 3 seals at the initiative of the BEPS president, commenting that there were no sufficient seals.
PS 25/19 Chisinau, Center. Stationary ballot boxes were secured with 2 seals each. The EBPS president argued that he does not have the required number of seals.
PS 24/28 Chisinau, Botanica. Stationary ballot boxes were secured with 3 seals each. The EBPS president argued that there were no sufficient seals.
PS 9/6 Balti. The stationary ballot box was secured with 3 seals. The EBPS president argued that there were no sufficient seals.
PS 23/3 Chisinau, Botanica. Stationary ballot boxes were secured with 2 seals each. The presidents of EBPS argued that 2 seals are sufficient for the ballot box.
PS 30/9 Chisinau, Ciocana. Only 2 seals were used diagonally. The president of EBPS motivated this decision by the absence of a sufficient number of seals.
PS 22/5 Ialoveni. Only 2 seals on the ballot box.
PS 35/10 Causeni, Chircaiesti. EBPS members do not know how to properly seal the ballot boxes, both mobile and stationary ballot boxes are secured with two seals.
PS 35/13 Causeni, Firladeni. Ballot boxes were secured at 7:07, i.e. after the opening of the PS, while several voters were present at the polling station.
PS 21/30 Criuleni, Magdicesti Sud. One seal is missing on the stationary ballot box. The EBPS president informed that he had not received enough seals.
PS 21/14 Criuleni, Cosnita Vest. Three ballot boxes were secured with only 2 or 3 seals. The EBPS president did not provide any reason for this.
PS 31/7 Chisinau, Ciocana. There were only 4 seals provided for the PS and 2 ballot boxes. Thus, each ballot box was secured with two seals.
PS 40/36 Cimislia, Mihailovca. Both ballot boxes have been secured with only two seals.
PS 40/7 Cimislia, Cimislia. In the process of the ballot boxes securing, a seal was broken, which was subsequently placed inside the ballot box.
PS 42/37 Cantemir, Zirnesti. Absence of a sufficient number of seals on ballot boxes. There were only two seals.
PS 32/8 Chisinau, Bubuieci. The ballot boxes were secured with only 2 seals. Only 5 seals and 2 ballots were received by the PS.
PS 40/11 Cimislia, Dimitrovca. The ballot boxes have only two seals. The EBPS president informed that he received only two seals.
PS 42/52 Cantemir. Rosu. The ballot box was sealed with only two seals. The President justified it by receiving only two seals.
PS 12/1 Singerei, Singerei. At 6:30, the ballot box was secured with only 2 seals. The reason invoked by EBPS president was the lack of seals.
PS 26/2 Chisinau, Buiucani. The ballot boxes were secured with only two seals. The EBPS president motivated it by the fact that 2 seals are sufficient for the ballot box.
PS 10/26 Balti, Grigoresti. The ballot box was secured with only 2 seals.
PS 28/2 Chisinau, Riscani. Only 3 seals were applied to the ballot box. The president said that they did not receive a sufficient number of seals.
PS 27/7 Chisinau, Buiucani. The mobile ballot box was not sealed. The president explained that it is not necessary at the moment and it would be sealed at 15:00.
PS 40/36 Cimislia, Mihailovca. Both stationary ballot boxes have only two seals. Nobody reacted.
PS 32/17 Chisinau, Ciorescu. The ballot boxes were secured with only one seal. There are 3 ballot boxes – 2 stationary and one mobile.
PS 40/11 Cimislia, Dimitrovca. Stationary ballot boxes have only two seals.
PS 39/32 Sarata Galbena, Ialpug. The stationary ballot boxes are secured with only two seals each.
PS 23/10 Chisinau, Botanica. Stationary ballot boxes were secured with 2 seals each. The EBPS president argued that 2 seals are sufficient for a ballot box.
PS 3/24 Edinet, Buzdugeni. The stationary ballot box was secured with 3 seals. The decision on the number of seals applied was taken by the secretary of the PS.
PS 24/26 Chisinau, Botanica. Stationary ballot boxes were secured with 2 seals each. The EBPS president argued that 2 seals are sufficient for a ballot box.
PS 19/4 Ivancea, Berezlogi. Of the 4 seals made available, the EBPS president made the decision to use them as follows: two – “for the stationary ballot box”, 1 – “as a reserve one, in case the box is filled in order to be resealed”, 1- “was used for the mobile ballot box that had left the PS.”
PS 19/12 Ivancea, Vorotet / Andreevca. The ballot box is secured with only 3 seals. The EBPS president said he only received 3 for the polling station, one was used for the mobile ballot box.
Update 8:13 – The fourth seal was mounted and a confusion was created between the seals for the mobile ballot box and the stationary one.
PS 31/4 Chisinau, Ciocana. Only three seals were applied on the ballot boxes.
PS 36/24 Stefan-Voda, Olanesti. EBPS members initially sealed the lid of the box, then the seal was torn and the box was sealed according to the procedure with an additional seal.
PS 19/4 Ivancea, Piatra Jeloboc. The ballot box has only 3 seals. The situation has remained unchanged until now.
PS 31/10 Chisinau, Ciocana. Only 4 seals have been applied on 3 ballot boxes.
PS 21/35 Criuleni, Porumbeni. There are 3 stationary ballot boxes. Two are sealed with 2 seals. The ballot box situated in front of the voting booth has only three seals. The president of the EBPS said there were sufficient seals, but they will be used to seal the sacks.
PS 37/7 Razeni, Cainari. The ballot box was not sealed according to the existing procedures, only 2 seals were applied.
PS 47/005 Transnistria, Balti. The President of the EBPS sealed the lid of the ballot box, after which a record was made, by which the seals were removed and declared invalid.
PS 49/11 – Russia – Moscow;
PS 50/79 – Spain – Santander;
PS 50/47 – Italy – Treviso;
PS 50/50 -Italia – Udine;
PS 50/17 – France – Marseille;
PS 50/35 – Italy – Padova;
PS 50/73 – Romania – Bacau;

Lack of the necessary materials in the polling station. At least one of the following materials is missing: electoral rolls, ballot papers, round stamps with the number of electoral bureau, stamps marked “Voted”, “Canceled”, special stamp “Elections 24.02.2 019″, seals for ballot boxes – 1 case.

PS 29/30 Chisinau, Riscani. At 07:05 there were no stamp pads. 20 minutes later, at 7:25 a EBPS member brought the pads.

Unjustified group voting (2 and more people in the voting booths) – 2 cases.

PS 40/33 Cimislia. Ivanovca. Two people entered the voting booth without any justification. The president of the EBPS made no comment.
PS 40/21 Cimislia. Batir. Two people entered the voting booth, having no legitimate reason. The EBPS president did not comment.

Unjustified presence of unauthorized persons within the polling station – 1 case.

PS 50/25 – Italy – Bologna

The ballot papers not distributed to EBPS members are not securely kept in the polling station – 1 case.

PS 50/33 Italy – Modena

Electoral campaigning or adverse campaigning in the polling station to influence the voters’ choice – 2 cases

PS 32/28 Chisinau, Stauceni. At the entrance to the PS and inside the PS, leaflets were distributed by the PDM representative.
PS 3/45, Edinet, Sofrincani. 3 voters entered the polling station wearing scarves of the Political Party of Sor. Approaching the ballot box, they hid the scarves.

Organized transportation of voters (buses, minibuses or other transport units that normally would not be around the PS) – 6 cases

PS 48/025 Transnistria, Varnita. Approximately at 7.30, several people were brought to the PS. 5 buses and several personal cars were parked at a distance of 100 m from the PS.
PS 48/002 Transnistria, Chisinau. Approx. 40 people were brought to the PS to vote. The transport unit was not identified.
PS 47/007 Transnistria, Hirtop. About 50 people were brought to the PS. There was a bus and a minibus.
PS 48/008 Transnistria, Anenii Noi. At 08.10, approx. 60 people were brought to the PS by a bus, which was parked near the PS.
PS 47/020 Transnistria, Ghindesti. There were identified 4 buses that brought to the PS approx. 200 people (residing in Ribnita / Rezina).
PS 49/14 Russia – Saint Petersburg – The PSRM observer – Tudor Ursu – organized centralized transportation for students residing outside St. Petersburg to be transported to the PS. Tudor Ursu waited for them and accompanied them to the door of the polling station. The incident occurred at 7:50 local time.

Unjustified cessation of voting in the polling station – 1 case

PS 19/50 Ivancea, Susleni. Unjustified cessation of voting in the polling station occurred due to two power cuts in the period between 8:00 and 8:06.

Deficiencies in the operation of the SIAS Elections System (suspension of operation, situations when SIAS Elections System indicates that the citizen has already voted, and s/he claims not to) – 10 cases.

PS 40/32 Cimislia. Iserlia. At 7:03, voters could not vote for 10-15 minutes because of the technical problems of the SIAS Elections System.
PS 31/27 Chisinau, Riscani. Lack of Internet connection for 40 minutes between 07:28 – 08:08.
PS 37/36 Razeni, Pohoi. SIAS Elections System indicated that a voter had voted and the person said he did not. The voter left immediately, the situation developed quickly so that the EBPS president did not manage to clarify anything.
PS 38/31 Hancesti, Miresti. Before the polling station was opened, it was detected that there was no Internet connection. Moldtelecom was called, and in 15 minutes, it was fixed. At the opening of the polling station, the Internet connection was good, the PS opened at 7:10
PS 38/29 Hincesti, Mereseni. Personal data of a voter (date of birth) in the SIAS Elections did not coincide with the data on the lists held by EBPS members. The incident was resolved, data from the voter’s ID card and those on the list were taken into account.
PS 49/13 Russia – Saint Petersburg. Operation deficiencies of SIAS Elections System in the PS of St. Petersburg, only at 9:04, it began working
PS 49/11 Russia, Moscow
PS 49/23 – Turkey, Istanbul
PS 50/04 – Czech Republic – Prague
PS 50/11 – France – Paris

Deficiencies in electoral lists (address discrepancies, deceased voters on the list, signatures instead of other people) – 5 cases.

PS 9/21 Balti. The voter’s name is present in the State Electoral Register but it is not on the electoral list. It was added in the supplementary list.
PS 9/21 Balti. Voters – husband and wife. The husband’s name was on the list, while that of his wife was not. The voter was included in the supplementary list.
PS 9/21 Balti. The voter was not identified in SIAS Elections System. The voter is domiciled within the precinct of the single member constituency, he was enrolled in the supplementary list and voted only in the national constituency.
PS 9/21 Balti. The voter was not identified in the SIAS Elections System. The EBPS president explained that the Public Services Agency did not transmit the relevant information and the database was not updated. The voter was enrolled in the supplementary list.
PS 19/50 Ivancea, Susleni. A voter residing in Susleni is not on the electoral lists of the polling station in that settlement, but in Criuleni. The EBPS president said he would be allowed to vote unless he had a confirmatory certificate.

Photographing ballot papers, other violations of secret voting – 2 cases.

PS 13/54, Rezina, Pohoarna. At 7:50, a voter photographed the ballot, but the observers requested to delete the picture in the phone. The situation was resolved in 2 min.
PS 50/09 – Switzerland – Geneva.

Interrupted filming of voting and counting procedures, other incidents related to the filming of voting procedures – 8 cases.

PS 23/8 Chisinau, Botanica. The video recording camera malfunctioned at 7:15.
PS 36/8 Stefan Voda, Carahasani. In the period between 7:00 and 7:05 the camera did not work, at the time of the report, it was fixed.
PS 15/59, Calarasi, Sipoteni. At 7:20, it was found that the video camera was turned to the direction of the voting booths.
PS 15/15, Calarasi, Bahmut. At 32, the shooting process was interrupted. One of the EBPS members reported this, and until 7.47, it had not been fixed. It was assumed that the reason for the interruption is low temperature in the room. The president is looking for further solutions for troubleshooting.
PS 10/26 Balti, Grigoresti. At 7:10, after the opening of the PS, the video camera was uninstalled without any explanations on the need. At 8:15, another camera was brought and re-installed.
PS 14/52 Telenesti, Vssieni. In the period between 07:00 and 07:20, for 20 minutes, the camera did not work.
PS 21/39 Criuleni, Zicana. The camera pauses from time to time. The EBPS president explains that this is because of the law temperature. From the opening of the PS, it worked well for 30 minutes, after at 7:40, it started to interrupt for a few minutes, and then work, and so on continuously.
PS 12/35 Singerei, Chirileni. The video camera did not work for about 20 minutes (7: 00-7: 20) for technical reasons. Subsequently, it was re-started, being announced that it will work for about 3 hours (until 10:00) throughout the electoral process, because there are no batteries for it. It is not clear what will be after 10:00.

Damaged ballot papers or other incidents involving their non – conforming use – 6 cases.

PS 25/29, Chisinau, Center. A voter tore the ballot because he did not find his favorite candidate in the ballot for the single member constituency. According to his statements, he was not informed about the voting procedure. The EBPS president called the police, and the ballot paper was canceled.
PS 26/26 Chisinau, Center. At 7:36, a voter tore the ballot paper and introduced it to the ballot box. The President called the police and reported the incident.
PS 10/38 Balti, Octeabriscoe. At 7:47, a voter received the ballot papers, entered the voting booth and stamped them. Subsequently, he went out of the PS putting the ballot papers into his pocket. The EBPS president or other members did not react in any way to this case.
PS 26/28, Chisinau, Center. At 7:48, a voter left the PS with ballot papers. Immediately, he returned and threw the ballots into the ballot box. He claimed to have forgotten to place the ballots in the ballot box.
PS 27/22, Chisinau, Buiucani. At 7:73, a voter attempted to take the ballot for the national constituency out of the PS. An observer noticed it and called the president. As a result, the ballot paper was returned to the president and canceled.
PS 10/38, Balti, Octeabriscoe. A voter came to the PS with some sheets of paper. Taking the ballot papers from the EBPS members, he exchanged the ballot papers in the voting booth with the pieces of paper he brought. He placed the pieces of paper brought by him into the ballot box, and the original ballot papers took with him, leaving the polling station. The EBPS president or other members did not react in any way to this case.

Other -10 cases.

PS 28/11 Chisinau, Riscani. At 6:53, it was found that there was no mobile ballot box in the PS, which was also confirmed by the EBPS president. The reason given was that the CEC did not offer a mobile ballot box, because there were no requests for voting at the place of domicile.
PS 35/4 Causeni, Causeni. There was no electricity for 20 minutes and it is very cold in the polling station.
PS 10/38 Balti, Octeabriscoe. At 07:05, the observers noted that an EBPS member is under alcoholic intoxication. As a result, they announced the president, who excluded the drunk member from the list of EBPS members, no replacement was made.
PS 33/18 Chisinau, Bacioi. At 07:01, the laptop was not connected. Only at 8.50, it was installed.
PS 13/4, Rezina, Rezina. From 8:10, the electricity is periodically disconnected. They are working to fix the electricity. At the same time, a computer does not work.
PS 13/10, Rezina, Soldanesti. At 08:39, several voters from the other PS tried to vote at PS 13/10 because there was no queue here. As a result, the voters made a row.
PS 50/25 Italy, Bologna
PS 50/42 Italy, Rome
PS 50/78 Spain, Barcelona
PS 50/79 Spain, Santander

This press release is drafted within the 2019 Parliamentary Election Observation Mission, carried out by the Promo-LEX Association with the financial support of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Democracy, Transparency and Responsibility Program; the British Embassy in Chisinau through the project for Strengthening Democratic Accountability in Moldova; Soros-Moldova Foundation through the projects Strengthening the Platform for the Development of Activism and Education of Human Rights in the Republic of Moldova and Monitoring Electoral Rolls and Litigation in the 2018 Parliamentary Elections; the Council of Europe through the Support for the Monitoring of the 2018 Parliamentary Elections project.

The responsibility for the opinions expressed in this report lies with the Promo-LEX Association and does not necessarily reflect the position of the donors. The content of this document may be subject to editorial revisions.

For more details, please contact:
Inga Stegarescu, Communications Officer of the Promo-LEX Observation Mission for the parliamentary election of February 24, 2019;
GSM: 069269684, e-mail: [email protected]