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September 17, 2010. Promo-LEX Association has released the Final monitoring report on voting process abroad for the national constitutional referendum on 5 September 2010.

The monitoring of the national constitutional referendum, which took place on September 5, is a project implemented by the Association Promo-LEX in partnership with “Moştenitorii” Association as part of the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections “Coalition 2009”.

A number of 79 national observers monitored the voting process in the constitutional referendum at 40 polling stations in Belgium (Brussels), the Czech Republic (Prague), Greece (Athens, Heraklion, Thessaloniki), France (Paris, Toulouse), Germany (Berlin, Munich, Hamburg), Spain (Madrid, Santander), Portugal (Lisbon, Faro, Portimao), Romania (Bucharest – 2, Galaţi, Timişoara, Cluj, Iaşi), the Russian Federation (Moscow, Domdedovo, Mozhaisk, St. Petersburg), Ukraine (Odessa), Italy (Rome – 2, Mestre – 2, Milan – 2, Padua – 2, Bologna -2, Parma, Turin, Verona, Naples).

This project is implemented with support from the Democracy Support Programme in Moldova, a joint initiative between the European Union and the Council of Europe.
The expressed opinions belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the donor.

Summary

On Election Day the independent observers assigned to the 40 polling stations opened abroad aimed to monitor all the electoral processes taking place at the polling stations as well as to monitor the results of the education and information efforts destined for the voters abroad.

The observers noted a high degree of satisfaction and enthusiasm among the Moldovans who voted at the polling stations opened in the foreign cities where Moldova does not have embassies or consulates. There wasn’t recorded any case of intimidation of the voters or observers by the election officials, who, on the contrary, demonstrated receptivity and a constructive attitude. Some of the members of the Electoral Bureaus of the Polling Stations (EBPS) cooperated with the local authorities from the cities which hosted the polling stations to provide these with transparent ballot boxes and polling booths.

At the same time, the observers noted an unsatisfactory level of competence of the EBPS members, who often had little knowledge about the voting procedures. Furthermore, the monitors revealed cases where some EBPS members had had no specific training at all. In certain cases the EBPS members didn’t even know if their work was voluntary or they were going to be paid for it.

The monitors observed numerous cases where the polling stations were opened to voters later than 07:00, in some cases with delays of half an hour. Of particular concern was also the widespread unauthorized absence of some EBPS members on Election Day, most often these were members delegated by the referendum participants.

Another serious concern is related to the extremely weak, and sometimes even inexistent, education and information campaign destined for the voters abroad. Particularly concerning were the often cases where the voters didn’t know which identity documents to produce to be allowed to vote – 360 voters were unable to vote because they had only an identity card (buletin de identitate) to show. In the same context, there were many complaints from the voters related to the extremely poor information efforts concerning the referendum; in particular, concerning its purpose, its essence, the potential effects, etc.

The monitors express their concern over the often cases of presence of the law enforcement officers at the voting sites. While refraining from direct contact with the voters, the presence of the police officers could nevertheless intimidate some of the Moldovans who stay abroad without authorization.

Considering the findings made and the concerns formulated, the observers developed a set of recommendations for the electoral actors aiming to improve the quality of the electoral process. Among these the most important is the appeal addressed to the election authorities to carry out more extensive education and information efforts for our citizens abroad and provide better training for the EBPS members. The public authorities are encouraged to collaborate with the local law enforcement bodies in order to avoid the presence of their uniformed and armed representatives near the polling stations on voting day.

The referendum participants (and electoral candidates in the future) are recommended to discipline the members they delegate to the EBPS abroad in order to ensure the presence of all the EBPS members on Election Day and their active participation in all the electoral proceedings. Additionally, the campaigners are encouraged to carry out more extensive information activities aimed at familiarizing the voters abroad with the positions they promote.

The report is available here.

Note: For further information contact the Legal Department Promo-LEX, Alexandru Postica, tel. (+373 22) 211-622.