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15 June 2015 // Chisinau. Promo-LEX Association carried out two special procedures to evaluate the quality of the electoral process and did the parallel vote tabulation in Chisinau, Balti and Comrat municipalities.

The quality of the electoral process in the general local elections of 14 June 2015 was evaluated on the basis of a representative sample, consisting of 600 polling stations, located throughout the Republic of Moldova, out of all 1987 polling stations opened. The selected sample is representative for the whole country with an error margin of maximum 3%.

According to Pavel Postica, the head of the Promo-LEX Observation Mission, the results of the parallel vote tabulation performed by the Association’s observers do not differ significantly from those announced by CEC. “The number of erroneous protocols is smaller, if compared with the previous years, including the Parliamentary elections of 2014 and 2011. This is thanks to the module, on the basis of which CEC operated, because previously they used to send the protocols in writing and no electronic quality checking was performed”, said Pavel Postica.

Parallel vote tabulation and irregularities found in Chisinau municipality

According to the preliminary results of the quick qualitative counting, the votes in Chisinau mun. are divided as follows:

In addition, Promo-LEX observers registered 11 erroneous protocols, of the 306 submitted to CEC.

According to the observers, 131 irregularities were registered in the process of closing the polling stations and votes counting. Thus, the following irregularities were reported: 55 cases when people voted without the application of “Elections 14.06.2015” stamp in the loose leaf of the ID card; two cases of unjustified temporary stopping or suspension of voting in the polling station; seven acts of violence or intimidation of voters or other people; 10 cases of obstructing the free observation of all procedures; 54 cases when only one member of the Electoral Office of the Polling Station presented the ballot papers to all participants in the vote counting process; three cases when the boxes/packages with ballot papers sent to the constituencies were not sealed. See the attachment.

Parallel vote tabulation and irregularities found in Balti municipality

According to the preliminary results of the quick qualitative counting, the votes in Balti mun. are divided as follows:

Promo-LEX observers registered three erroneous protocols, of the 59 submitted to CEC.

According to the observers, 14 irregularities were registered in the process of closing the polling stations and votes counting. Thus, the following irregularities were reported: one case when a person voted without the application of “Elections 14.06.2015” stamp in the loose leaf of the ID card; two cases of unjustified temporary stopping or suspension of voting in the polling station; one act of violence or intimidation of voters or other people; three cases of obstructing the free observation of all procedures; seven cases when only one member of the Electoral Office of the Polling Station presented the ballot papers to all participants in the vote counting process; one case when the boxes/packages with ballot papers sent to the constituencies were not sealed. See the attachment.

Parallel vote tabulation and irregularities found in Comrat mun.

According to the preliminary results of the quick qualitative counting, the votes in Comrat mun. are divided as follows:

Promo-LEX observers have registered neither erroneous protocols, nor irregularities in the process of closing the polling stations and votes calculation. See the attachment.

Promo-LEX Observation Mission declares itself to be neutral and equidistant towards the election candidates; it is not an investigation body and does not assume the express obligation to support the observers’ findings by evidence.

The General Local Elections of 14 (28) June 2015 are monitored by Promo-LEX Association under its Monitoring Democratic Processes Program. The Observation Mission is part of the activities carried out by the civil society under the aegis of the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections.

The Observation Mission of the General Local Elections of 14 (28) June 2015 is supported financially U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Council of Europe and benefits of technical assistance provided by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI). The opinions presented in the press release belong to authors and do not necessarily reflect the donors’ view.

For additional information please contact: Simion Ciochină, Communication Officer of the Observation Mission for the 2015 General Local Elections, Tel: 0 (22) 49 26 84, GSM: (+373) 69 11 96 94, E-mail: [email protected]