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]

7.00 pm, 14 June 2015 // Chisinau

Until 7:00 pm, over 1400 Promo-LEX observers recorded a number of worrying cases of electoral process violation. Such as the following: sabotaging the voting process, buying votes, intimidating voters, etc. Promo-LEX observers did not finish their work with the closing of polling stations, they continued to monitor the vote counting process.

A summary on the quality of the electoral process and some statistics on the conduct of the General Local Elections (at the national level and in  Chisinau, Balti and Comrat municipalities.

Polling Stations (PSs) Infrastructure on the Elections Day

– Four PSs (PS 18 and 56, Floresti d.; PS 40, Zaicana v., Criuleni d.; PS 52, Onesti v., Hancesti d.) do not have safe boxes;

– PSs 167 and 168, Chisinau mun. had not have Internet connection for 1 hour 30 minutes;

– PS 33, Iscalau v., Falesti d., due to a power outage the polling station remained without electricity between 1:00 pm and 2:09 pm. Nevertheless, both the voting process and recording in the State Registry of Voters (SRV) continued;

– PS 17, Ciulucani v., Telenesti d., did not have electricity between 4:15 pm and 5.20 pm Both the voting process and recording in the SRV continued.

– In five PSs (PSs 13, 16, 47, Floresti d.; PS 18, Sarbesti v., Floresti d.; PS 52, Onesti v., Hancesti d., PS 8, Causeni d.) the voting booths are located too close to each other, which does not guarantee secret voting;

– In seven PSs (PSs 16, 42, 31, 29, 48, Floresti d.; PS 18, Sarbesti v., Floresti d.) the mobile ballot boxes are sealed only on one side;

– PSs 1 and 17, Rezina d., the standing ballot box is sealed only with two seals;

– PS 8, Carnatenii Noi v., Causeni d., the mobile ballot box did not have the seals applied fully. At the request of the Promo-LEX observer, the seals were strengthened.

Taking the Ballot Paper out of the Polling Station

– PSs 7 and 42, Balti mun., some voters tried to take the ballot papers out of the PS, but they were stopped; the police prepared a protocol on this case.

Electioneering on the Voting Day

Promo-LEX observers found six cases of electioneering:

• PS 52, Pepeni v., Sangerei d., an election contestant for the position of mayor suggested to a person to vote for him;
• PS 2, Cocieri v.,  Dubăsari d., the director of the Republican Rehabilitation Center for War Invalids is electioneering for an election contestant;
• PS 44, Saptebani v., Rascani d., an election candidate running for the mayor’s office had engaged for one hour in electioneering activities in the vicinity of the PS;

– PS 7, Balti mun., after two persons received ballot papers, one of them shouted out loud the need to vote for a certain election contestant;

– PS 16, Causeni d., an election candidate running for the position of councilor was engaged in electioneering activities;

– PS 42, Balti mun., an election contestant running for the position of municipal councilor had spent 40 minutes at the PS door to talk to people coming to vote.

Location Electoral Advertising in Close Proximity to PS

– Electoral advertising at a lower distance than 100m from the PS was found in PS 34, Causeni d. and PS 35, Anenii Noi d.

Voting on the Basis of Inappropriate Documents

• PS 255, Chisinau mun. and PS 24, Hancesti d., several cases of voting without the loose leaf of the ID card were found.
• PS 24 Hancesti, three persons voted without the loose leaf. Subsequently, two persons came back to have the “Voted” stamp applied in the loose leafs of their ID cards, and for the third person it was decided to have the stamp applied when the PS members would travel with the mobile ballot box.

Entry of Several Persons in the Voting Booths

– PS 40, Chisinau mun., two cases were found when two voters entered the same voting booth.

Transportation of Voters

Promo-LEX observers found organized transportation of voters in at least 12 PSs:

– PS 13, Dondușeni, the brother of an election contestant to the position of mayor has transported the whole day voters to the PS by his own car (Registration number DN AL 844);

– PS 15, Surchiceni v.,  Causeni d, an election contestant transported voters to the PS by a Toyota car (Registration number A 678 BC);

– PS 276, Bacioi v., Chisinau mun., voters were transported four times by a BMW car (registration number C MX 975);

– PS 2, Cocieri v., Dubăsari d., one party member transported voters to the PS by the ambulance care (registration number C  AS 618). Over 10 trips were made, transporting over 100 persons;

– PS 36, Mihailovca v., Cimislia d., an election contestant running for the position of district councillor transported at least eight voters to the PS by a Renault car  (registration number CM AM 544);

– PS 36, Mihailovca v., Cimislia d., another election contestant running for the position of mayor ensured the transportation of at least 10 voters to the PS by a car (registration number CM AN 378);

– PS 2, Cocieri v.,  Dubăsari d., the brother of an election contestant to the position of mayor transported about 40 persons to the PS by a Dacia Logan car (registration number DB AI 019);

– PS 29, Cotul Morii v., Hancesti d., the supported of a party transported voters;

– PS 6, ATUG, three supporters of an election contestant for the position of mayor of Comrat mun. brought about 30 voters to the PS by two cars and a bus;

– PS 16, Causeni d., an election candidate running for the position of local councilor brought at least six voters to the PS;

– PS 16, Ciutulești v., Floresti d., an election candidate running for the position of mayor transported voters to the PS;

– PS 52, Moscovei v., Cahul d., brought about 20 voters to the PS by a bus running on a public itinerary;

– PS 20, Lalova v., Rezina d., an election candidate running for the position of mayor transported at least 20 people to the PS by his personal car (CH CQZ 585).

Lists of Voters

– PS 21, Chisinau mun., on the lists of voters some persons were found to be registered on an non-existing address – 48 Independentei St., ap. 0;

– PS 245, Chisinau mun., the lists of voters did not contain all of the voters’ addresses from the coverage area of the PS;

– PS 266, Chisinau mun., 15 voters domiciled in Chisinau mun., 26 Valea Babei St. voted on additional lists;

– PS 3, Corjova v., Dubăsari d., there were 1091 persons on the main lists, and 376 persons on the additional lists, as of 5:00 pm. It was found that people domiciled in Dubăsari t. also voted in this PS. 37 deceased persons were also found on the main lists of voters at this PS.

Electioneering by EOPS Members

– PS 136, Chisinau mun., one EOPS member showed to a person which election contestant to vote for;

– PS 136, Chisinau mun., one EOPS electioneered for an election contestant. The Municipal Electoral Council (MEC) filed a notification to CEC to exclude the respective person from the EOPS membership.

– PS 297, Stauceni v.,  Chisinau mun., a EOPS member asked a person to vote for any election contestant, except for one party;

– PS 27, Farladeni v., Causeni d., the PS chairman accompanied an elderly person to the voting booth and suggested to vote for a certain election contestant;

– PS 16, Ciutulești v., Floresti d., the EOPS chairman entered the voting booth together with the voter. He also had left the PS for 15-20 minutes and was replaced by his daughter.

People voting in PS were do not have a domicile or residence

• PS 7, Cahul t., 43 requests to vote were made by voters hospitalized in the rayon hospital. The EOPS chairman stated that, inadvertently, he allowed about 20 people to vote, though they did not have their residence in the area covered by the PS;

– PS 74, Zastanca v., Soroca d., 10 voters with their residence in Chisinau mun. were allowed to vote on additional lists;

– PS 23, Branza v., Cahul d, was voted was mentioned as “person with a special status”. After consultations with CEC members, the EOPS chairman allowed him to vote on the additional lists.

Registry of Voters

– PS 192, Chisinau mun., 808 voters are recorded in the SRV, whole the lists of voters contained only 80.

Electioneering by Observers

– PS 253, Codru t., Chisinau mun., the observer of an election contestant discussed with an elderly person and suggested to vote for a certain election contestant;

– PS 194, Chisinau mun., the observer of an election contestant helped a voter with disabilities to apply the “Voted” stamp in the ballot paper.

Procedural Violations by Observers

– PS 115, Chisinau mun., the observer of an election contestant helped a voter to exercise his right to vote;

– PS 245, Chisinau mun., two voters entered simultaneously the voting booth, as one of them had low vision. The observer of an election contestant  bullied the voters, in response to which one of them crumpled the ballot paper and threw it to the box.

Sabotaging the Voting Process

– PSs 45 and 21, Ialoveni d., two supporters of an election contestant were persuading people not to participate in the voting.

Buying the Votes

– PS 29, Cotul Morii v., Hancesti d., a supporter of an election contestant offered MDL 50 and alcoholic beverages to voters;

– PS 37, Plop Stiubei v., Causeni d., within an area of 30 meters from the PS, the members of a party distributed parcels to voters from his car (EMY-999). Besides, some voters would eat some food directly from the trunk of the same car;

– PS 8, ATUG, at the entry in school No 6, where the PS is located, a person representing an election contestant offered money to vote. At the request of EOPS members, he stepped away;

– 16, Ciutulești v., Floresti d., the candidate of an election contestant running for the position of mayor electioneered and served voters with alcoholic beverages.

Violation of the Procedure of Voting by Mobile Ballot Box

• PS 19, Coteala v., Briceni d., EOPS members left with the mobile ballot box at 10.30 am and returned at 3.30 pm. Before coming to the PS, they took the mobile box to the Mayor’s Office, and later brought it back to the PS. The observers also noticed broken seals under the table of EOPS members. When asked for clarifications, the members threw away the seals and avoided providing an answer.

Application of the “Voted” stamp instead of “Elections 14.06.2015”

– PS 52, Sangerei d., in about 450-500 cases, the round stamp “Voted” was applied on the loose leaf of ID cards, instead of the rectangular stamp “Elections 14.06.2015”.

Sales of Alcoholic Beverages in Close Proximity to PS

– Alcoholic beverages were sold in the close proximity to three PSs (PSs 13, 56, Floresti d.; PS 19, Baurci, v., Causeni d.).

– An outlet selling alcoholic beverages is located within an area of 15-20 meters from PS 32, Balti mun.

– Alcoholic beverages are sold at a distance of 30 from PS 119, Chisinau mun.

Intimidation of Voters

– PS 34, Speia v., Anenii Noi d., an electoral candidate running for the position of local councillor forcedly put two voters into a car and on the way to the PS threatened them with physical violence or putting their houses on fire unless they voted for a certain party.

Violation of the Secret Voting Principle

– PSs 188 and 189, Chisinau mun., the observer of an election contestant asked voters who they had voted for.

Incidents

Promo-LEX observers found electoral incidents in four PSs:

– PS 13, Criuleni d., an election candidate running for the position of district councillor was insulted and threatened with physical violence by another candidate to the position of local councillor. They called the police;

– PS 15, Orhei d., a drunk person entered the polling station and started to shout that representatives of an election contestant offered him MDL 100 to vote. The sector police was contacted, who asked the vote to leave the premises;

– PS 21, Cimislia, a person came to vote together with his friend, who also wanted to vote but had his domicile in a different settlement. An EOPS member reproached the voter for bringing his friend and hit him in the back. The voter fell down and hit himself. This case is under police investigation;

– PS 32, Saharna v., Rezina d., a candidate to the position of mayor argued with another candidate to the same position.

Annulment of the Ballot Paper

• PS 33, Calarasi d., one ballot paper was annulled because it was found in the voting booth. A protocol was developed with regards to this case.

Taking a Picture of the Ballot Papers

– PS 2, Nisporeni t., a voter made a picture of the stamped ballot paper, while in the voting booth;

– PS 14, Rezina d., a voter tried to make a picture of his ballot paper. The sector policeman was invited, and that person had to write explanations. However, no protocol was developed on this case.

Complaints

Promo-LEX observers found that in at least seven PSs representatives of election candidates filed complaints:

– 2 complaints were filed in PS 57. One operator saw a voter with a cap with the electoral signs of a party. When asked to take the cap off, he insulted verbally the operator and even intended to apply physical force. Another representative of an election contestant filed a complaint against the actions of a voter, who made a picture of his ballot paper;

– A candidate to the position of mayor filed a complaint against ECC 1/11 Gratiesti,  Chisinau mun., because his logo was not included in the ballot paper.

– PS 22, Edinet d., an election candidate filed a complaint with ECC II of Edinet, asking to annul the votes from the mobile ballot box from ECC 1,  Branzeni v., which were given to the Psycho-Neorologic Institution, arguing that the observers do not have access to the electoral documents for the mobile ballot box;

– Level-one ECC of Stauceni v.,  Chisinau mun., one voter filed a complaint against the activity of EOPS 297, Stauceni v.,  Chisinau mun. The reason is that a EOPS member told the voter for vote for any candidate, except for one party;

– PS 37, Tabaniv.,  Briceni d., citizens filed six complaints. The PS chairman put them in the table drawer without signing them, claiming that he would sign them later;

– Level-two ECC from Drochia t., a candidate to the position of mayor made a complaint, arguing that people are brought to Drochia to record their residence/domicile in the town. Such actions were carried out by people dressed with the insignia of an election contestant;

– PS 15, Orhei d., the observers of another contestant filed a complaints because a drunk person entered the polling station and started to shout that representatives of an election contestant offered him MDL 100 to vote.

Violation of the Right to Vote

– PS 46, Tocuz v.,  one voter, who took a picture of ballot papers, was not allowed to put them in the ballot box. The ballot papers were annulled and new ballot papers were not offered.

Election Fraud cases

– PS 7, Causenii Vechi v., Causeni d., a voter came to the PS with an elderly person, claiming it was his grandmother, and voted instead of her.

Limitation of Mass-Media Rights

– PS 74, Chisinau mun., a newspaper reporter was not allowed to shoot inside the PS.

Introduction of Inappropriate Materials in the Ballot Box

– PS 4, Orhei t., a case was recorded, when a voter came out of the voting booth with three ballot papers and a piece of paper, which he put in the ballot box. A protocol was developed with regards to this case.

In addition, you can find in the annexed documents, statistics on the electoral process till 7:00 pm, collected from the whole territory of the Republic of Moldova (based on a representative sample, consisting of 600 PS), as well as from Chisinau, Balti and Comrat municipalities.

Tomorrow, 15 June, 10:00 am, Promo-LEX Association will hold the next press briefing to present statistical data on the quality of the electoral process throughout the Republic of Moldova on the basis of a representative sample, consisting of 600 PS, as well as the results of parallel vote tabulation in Chisinau, Balti and Comrat municipalities.

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]

10:00 am, 12 June 2015 // Chisinau

Promo-LEX Association presented the observation results with regards to the opening of polling stations this morning. According to the observers, the General Local Elections take place normally, though some violations of the electoral process have been reported. The data were collected from over 1400 Promo-LEX observers. A summary of the findings is presented below.

Polling Stations Infrastructure

• Polling station (PS) 59, Sangerei d., does not have a landline phone;
• PS 44, Chisinau mun., is located on the second floor and does not have the necessary conditions for persons with disabilities to vote;
• PS 19, Criuleni d.,  internet service interruptions, a Moldtelecom team is performing repair works;
• Three PSs (PS 83, Chisinau mun.; PS 44 and 46, Floresti d.) the voting booths are located too close one to another, which could lead to a failure to ensure secret voting.

Polling Stations Opening

– At least eight PSs opened five minutes earlier (PS 18, Gangura v., Ialoveni d.; PSs 273, 115, 149, 128, Chisinau mun.; PS 6, Calaras t.; PSs 32, 10 Causeni d.);

– At least 11 PSs opened with a delay up to 10 minutes (PS 35, Gura Cainarului v., Floresti d.; PSs 66, 28, 100, 264, 112, 94, 44,  Chisinau mun.; PS 35, Floresti d.; PSs 9 and 8, Ungheni t.);

– Three PSs opened with a delay up to 15 minutes (PSs 127 and 180, Chisinau mun.; PS 34, Criuleni d.).

The following were invoked as a reason for delayed opening of PSs:

• PS 114, Chisinau mun., the mobile ballot box was not sealed until 8:40 am;

– Distribution of ballot boxes and ballot papers was delayed in: PS 35, Floresti d.; PSs 112, 128, 66, 28, 127,  Chisinau mun.; PS 6, Calaras t.; PS 32, Causeni d.;

– PS 9, the door of the safe box got blocked when they were taking out the ballot papers;

– Protocols were prepared with delay at: PS 34, Criuleni d., PS 10, Causeni d.;

– PS 273, Chisinau mun., the seals were found with delay, which led toa delay in the opening of the PS.

Insufficient Ballot Papers

– As of 13 June 2015, in five Electoral Offices of the Polling Station (EOPS) from ATUG ( 1 each in  Comrat t., Congaz v., Copceac v., Vulcanesti d.) the number of sent ballot papers was lower then the requested number;

– PS 7, Causenii Vechi v., Causeni d., after renumbering on the voting day, 14 ballot papers for local councilors are missing: on 13 June there were 2937, on 14 June – 2923.

Entry of Several Persons in the Voting Booths

• PS 13, Ivanovca v., Basarabeasca d., the observer of a party helped a voter to draw up the ballot papers.

Voting on the Basis of Inappropriate Documents

• PS 6, Straseni t., three cases were found when people voted on the basis of the ID cards without the loose leaf, the PS Chairperson justifying that such a voting is possible because these people are on the lists of voters.
• PS 42, Suri v., Drochia d., one person voted with her ID card, but with the loose leaf of her grandson.

Taking the Ballot Paper out of the Polling Station

– PS 64, Targul Vertiujeni v., Floresti d., two ballot papers (one for the position of mayor, and one for the position of local councilor) were found on grass, in front of the PS. The ballot papers were clean (no voting applied). One voter found them and brought them into the polling station;

– PS 26, Chimislia, one EOPS member took the ballot paper out of the PS, which does not have an access ramp, for a person with disabilities to vote. Subsequently it was put into the ballot box.

Electronic Register

• The State Register of Voters (SRV) was found to malfunction in three CSs (CS 36, Telenesti r.; PS 261, Durlesti t., Chisinau mun.; PS 9, Balti mun.). The operators record the voters manually.

Electioneering on the Election Day

• A car parked in front of PS 4, Floresti t., had electoral posters of an election contestant, and the electoral posters were removed from the car at the request of the EOPS Chairman;

– PS 9, Orhei t., a voter entered the voting booth, carrying his granddaughter on his arms, who held a balloon with the signs of a party;

– PS 49, Zaim v., Causeni d., the candidate of a party was electioneering in front of the PS;

– At a distance less then 100 m from PS 9, Sangerei d., an electoral poster of a party was identified.

Lists of Voters

– PS 94, Chisinau mun., one voter was present neither in the SRV, nor in the main list of voters. Thus, he voted on the additional list.

Transportation of Voters

– PS 12, Cimiseni v., Criuleni d., the brother of an independent candidate transported several voters to the PS (at least three times).

Intimidation of Observers

– PS 44, Floresti d., the Promo-LEX observer was intimidated, limiting his possibilities to move within the PS.

Additionally, in the attached document you’ll find quantitative statistical data on the voting process as of 10:00 am.

At 3:00 pm, Promo-LEX Association will organize the next press briefing to present the observers’ findings regarding the electoral process as of 2:00 pm.

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]

2:00 pm, 14 June 2015 // Chisinau

Intense Electioneering on the Election Day, transportation of voters to polling stations (PS), taking ballot papers out of the PS, insufficient ballot papers, sales of alcoholic beverages – these are just a few of the main findings reported until 2:00 pm by over 1400 observers of Promo-LEX Observation Mission.

A summary on the quality of the electoral process and some statistics on the conduct of the General Local Elections (at the national level and in  Chisinau, Balti and Comrat municipalities) are presented below.

Electioneering on the Election Day

• PS 15, Ialoveni d., a minister from the RM Government has been since morning in front of the polling station (PS), talking to voters;
• PS 39, Causeni d., the candidate of a party and his wife are electioneering among voters;
• PS 15, Hancesti d., one party’s candidate for the position of mayor has electioneered for three years near the PS;
• PS 49, Causeni d., one party’s candidate electioneered at the PS;
• PS 39, Causeni d., the wife of a candidate to the position of mayor is an observer on behalf of the party her husband belongs to. This observer is welcoming voters and is chatting with them;
• PS 219, Chisinau, a sticker was placed close to the PS door, encouraging voters to vote for a certain party. It was removed after the verbal request of the Promo-LEX observer;
• PS 5, Drochia t., three candidates to the position of mayor electioneered;
• PS 18, Calarasi d., the brother of a candidate to the position of mayor is electioneering among voters;
• PS 5, Ocnita, the candidate of a party electioneered within the PS. The candidate ignored the repeated requests of EOPS to leave the station and was escorted out of the PS by a number of voters.

Transportation of Voters

Promo-LEX observers reported eight cases of transportation of voters:

• PS 13, Criuleni d., a candidate to the position of councilor transported 12 people to the PS with a Toyota car;
• PS 1, Hancesti t., the candidate to the position of councilor brought four times voters to the PS with his personal car (registration number HN AZ 692), and another candidate transported three times 3 voters each time by another car (registration number HN BD 211);
• PS 30, Criuleni d., one party’s candidate for the position of councilor brought, by three cars, 20 voters to the PS;
• PS 14, Buten v., Hancesti d., two cars (one with the registration number of HN AZ 588 and another with a foreign registration number) transported to the PS 10 voters;
• PS 3, Baraboi v., Donduseni t., a car (with the registration number of DN VD 777) is transporting elderly voters to the PS;
• PS 276, Chisinau mun., one party’s candidate to the position of councilor is transporting voters with his own car (registration number KMX 975), and the candidate from another party – by a car with registration number from Transnistria;
• PS 18, Harjauca, Calarasi d., the brother of a candidate to the position of mayor transported seven voters to the PS by a car (registration number CL AS 838);
• PS 25, Gura Galbenei v., Cimislia d., the candidates to the position of local councilor and to the position of mayor on behalf of an election candidate transported 12 voters by microbus, with the registration number of C GO 279.

Location Electoral Advertising in Close Proximity to PS

• PS 32, Sangerei d., there is an electoral poster of a candidate on a pole, located within the area of 20 m from the exit from the polling station;
• PS 49, Floresti d., a large poster of an election contestant is placed on the window of the shop near the PS.

Ensuring the PS Infrastructure

• Five polling stations (PS 59, 63, 64, Sangerei d.; PS 24, Criuleni d.; PS 21, Floresti d.) do not have safe boxes. Ballot papers are stored in unsecured conditions;
• PS 24, Criuleni d., the ballot papers are stored in the Mayor’s Office and are brought by a member of the Electoral Office of the Polling Station (EOPS) without any security;
• PS 179, Chisinau mun. and PS 26, Cimislia d., issues with Internet connection were noticed;
• PS 74, Chisinau mun., the office is not equipped properly for voters with low vision;
• In five polling stations (PSs 35, 53, 56, 67, Floresti d., and PS 14,  Causeni d.) the voting booths are located too close to each other, thus failing to ensure secret voting;
• PSs 22, 35, 56, 67, Floresti d., the mobile ballot box is not sealed. PSs 12 and 53, Floresti d., the mobile ballot box was sealed only on one side.

Taking the Ballot Paper out of the Polling Station

• PS 24, Falesti d., three ballot papers were found thrown near the voting booth. One of them had the “Voted” stamp applied, and the other two were clean. The ballot papers were put aside, but without annulling them.

Insufficient Ballot Papers

• PS 42, Riscani d., 20 ballot papers are missing compared to May 13 2015. This case was recorded in the presence of observers;
• PS 63, Singerei d., EOPS received by 100 ballot papers for the position of local council less than the number of voters.

Voting on the Basis of Inappropriate Documents

• Three persons voted without the loose leaf of the ID card (PS 25, Rascani d. – 1 case; PS 148, Chisinau mun. – 2 cases);
• PS 19, Briceni d., the EOPS chairman allowed one person to vote without presenting the ID card, explaining that he knows that voter personally;
• PS 45, Cahul d., one person voted with an expired ID card.
• PS 299, Chisinau mun., one person tried to vote only with the ID card’s loose leaf. The voter was not allowed to vote;

Election Fraud cases

• PS 16, Causeni d., a voter received two sets of ballot papers: one for himself and another one for his mentally ill son. The respective voter stamped “Voted” both sets and put them in the ballot box.

Violation of the Right to Be Elected

• PS 40, Sadic v., Cantemir d., the electoral symbol of an election candidate was not inserted next to its name on the ballot papers.

Entry of Several Persons in the Voting Booths

• PS 19, Cotelea v., Briceni d., a person voted with the support of the EOPS member;
• PS 115, Chisinau mun., the observers of two parties helped two voters with sight disabilities to vote.

Failure to apply the “Local Elections 14.06.2015” Stamp in the ID Card

• PS 175, Chisinau mun., a person voted , but the “voted” stamp was not applied in the ID card.

Violation of the Secret Voting Principle

• PS 37, Tabani v., Briceni d., the observer of a party is monitoring the electoral options of the voters, standing close to the voting booths.

Transnistrian region

• The voters from Corjova v., Dubasari d., travel without problems to the PS from Cocieri. Two cars of the Transnistrian militia were spotted. They register the care plates of the persons crossing the so-called “border” to Cocieri v.

Presence of Unauthorized Persons in the PS

• PS 37 in Tabani v., Briceni d., the interim mayor was present in the PS between 7.10 am and 10.00 am.

Limitation of the Right to Vote

Promo-LEX observers found 5 cases when the right to vote was limited:

• PSs 94 and 167 in Chisinau, and PS 3 in Basarabeasca t., several persons were not allowed to vote because allegedly the State Register of Voters (SRV) indicated that they had voted, though they had no “voted” stamp in their ID cards;
• PS 31, Soldanesti d., a person was not allowed to vote with the temporary ID card;
• PS 283, Chisinau mun., a voter made a mistake in the ballot paper and requested a new one. He was not given a new one, and this provoked a conflict which ended with the pulling apart of the ballot paper by the voter.

Violation of Personal Data Security

• PS 63, Cahul d., the integral lists of voters were placed on the PS door on the date of elections.

Lists of Voters

• PS 263, Durlesti t., Chisinau mun., 20 persons were identified to be registered at the same address. A similar case (11 persons) was registered at the PS 91, Chisinau mun.;
• PS 301, Chisinau mun., the street addresses are not indicated in the lists of voters, and the EOPS members insert them manually. From the same motive, several representatives of the election candidates submitted six complaints to CEC.

Procedural Violations by EOPS Members

• PS 37, Briceni d., a voter made a mistake on the ballot paper and requested a new one. Upon the request, the EOPS chairman, having seen the option selected on the first ballot paper, informed the voter that the choice was correct and encouraged him to put the ballot paper into the ballot box;
• PS 276, Chisinau mun., the EOPS deputy chairman engaged in electioneering activities in favour of one of the candidates;
• At the same PS, the EOPS chairman stands next to the voting booth and monitors the electoral options of the voters;
• PS 214, Chisinau mun., at least two members of EOPS don’t check the data in the voters’ ID cards;
• PS 56, Floresti d., the first time voters receive a rose from the members of the commission, stating that this is a tradition;
• PS 29, Salcia v., Soldanesti d., a ballot paper was found in the ballot booth. A PS member put the ballot paper into the ballot box.

Procedural Violations by Mass Media Representatives

• PS 2, Orhei t., a voter signed wrongly in the cell on the additional list, which certifies the receipt of ballot papers. The voting process was suspended/stopped upon the insistence of Euro TV station representatives.

Sales of Alcoholic Beverages

• Within 50 meters from PS 49, Floresti d., there is a small store that sells alcoholic beverages;
• 20 meters away from PS 276, Chisinau mun., alcoholic beverages are sold;
• 20 meters away from PS 40, Ialoveni d.i, alcoholic beverages are sold. The bar was inaugurated on the eve of the election day;
• Within 30 and 50 meters from PS 22, Cuhurestii de Sus v., Floresti d., alcoholic beverages are sold;
• 5 meters from PS 68, Vascauti v., Floresti d., alcoholic beverages are sold.

Voting by Mobile Ballot Box

• PS 22, in Stefan Voda d., one EOPS member together with the driver took the car and drove with mobile ballot box to 59 requesters. The reason that they did not take the other observers or members was that there is no place in the car, and they were supposed to go by foot.

Incident

• PS 23, in Criuleni d., the father and his son, who is candidate for the mayor’s position, were filming from a car all the persons who were coming to the PS. Another candidate, who was filmed, revolted against this fact; he got closer to their car and they started a fight. Police intervention was requested.

Notifications

• PS 49, in Visniovca v., Cantemir d., the observer on behalf of an election contestant filed a notification about the electioneering actions of another contestant, who allegedly proposed MDL 200 to each voter. This case is under police investigation;
• PS 49, in Visniovca v., Cantemir d., an election contestant filed notifications about the actions of representatives of other two election candidates, who were staying in front of the CS office during 7:00 am and 11:00 am;
• PS 37, in Tabani v., Briceni d., the observer of an election contestant filed a notification about the fact that another observer checked how people voted in the voting booth. Although the EOPS members warned him verbally, he continued to check how people voted.

In addition, you can find in the annexed documents, statistics on the electoral process till 2:00 pm, collected from the whole territory of the Republic of Moldova (based on a representative sample, consisting of 600 PS), as well as from the Chisinau, Balti and Comrat municipalities.

At 8:00 pm, Promo-LEX Association will organize the next press briefing to present the observers’ findings regarding the electoral process as of 7:00 pm.

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]

21 May 2015 // Chisinau 22 electoral stakeholders used administrative resources, and other nine used electoral presents to promote themselves. These are some of the most severe violations recorded by Promo-LEX Association, which presented on 21 May the second Report of the Observation Mission of the General Local Election of 14 (28) June 2015. The report covers the period of 30 April – 20 May 2015 and reflects the electoral processes of the Republic of Moldova, as reported by Promo-LEX observers.

Most violations included in the report refer to the financing of the political parties. Promo-LEX experts found that only five of the nine election candidates that submitted reports to CEC, have reported their revenue and expenditures. At the same time, only four citizens contributed with MDL 950 thousand to the parties’ electoral funds. “The sources of funding stated as membership fees are still unclear”. Other funds worth MDL 3,418,200 were declared as donations from legal entities. Most expenses reported by election candidates were related to advertising – 83.1%. No election candidate has reflected during this period real expenses related to rental fees and maintenance of their permanent offices, salaries and remuneration” says Cornelia Calin, financial analyst of Promo-LEX Observation Mission.

In addition, Promo-LEX established that, unlike the previous election campaigns, during this campaign only several candidates started the electoral run with various promotion activities. They organized the traditional launches, meetings with voters, concerts, distributed promotional materials, placed outdoor and media advertising, tents, etc. At the same time, the local and regional media was passive, and the observers reported only five cases when it was used as an electoral instrument.

“We may state that during the monitored period CEC had an ordinary working regime. It recorded another electoral block and excluded a political party from the list of election candidates. We are glad that out of the 1231 national observers, who will be present at the elections, 1217 will be from Promo-LEX”, stated Pavel Postica, head of the Promo-LEX Observation Mission.

Promo-LEX observers also referred to the problem of designating a special place for electoral posters, which exists in many settlements. The decisions to provide venues for meetings of the election candidates were taken without any violations. However, at least 603 cases were reported when the local authorities delayed the approval of such decisions.

Electronic version of the Report here.

The next Monitoring Report of Promo-LEX will be published on 12 June 2015.

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 report belong to authors and do not necessarily reflect the donors’ view.

For more information, please contact: Simion Ciochina, Press Officer of the Promo-LEX Observation Mission of the General Local Election of 2015, GSM: (+373) 69 11 96 94, email: [email protected]

Promo-LEX Association published the first Report on the Monitoring of the 2015 General Local Elections, launching simultaneously the Monitoring Effort for the June elections.

The report presented during a press conference covers the period of 3-29 April 2015, contains the findings of Promo-LEX observers and an analysis of the amendments made to the legal and regulatory framework, and reveals the subjects that will constitute the priorities of the Monitoring Effort.

Though the pre-election period was marked by uncertainties related to the date of the general local elections and amendments made to the Electoral Code, the Parliament set the elections date in compliance with the legal provisions. “In their publicly debated arguments, political leaders also referred to the need for a territorial-administrative reform; in this context we remind that at the beginning of the electoral period the Republic of Moldova still had 266 settlements with less than 1500 inhabitants, where constituencies will be established, thus spending money from the state budget”, stated Pavel Postica, head of Promo-LEX Monitoring Effort.

As a result of the recommendations made by Promo-LEX, the Parliament partially implemented the recommendation on the determination of an uniform and constant formula to calculate the upper ceiling for the funds that can be transferred into the electoral fund. By using the new formula, the ceiling has increased significantly, being twice higher than the one established for the previous elections of 5 June 2011.

Promo-LEX Monitoring Effort recommends: For the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova: to amend the Electoral Code and establish a single date for the general local elections; to implement the Law on the Territorial-Administrative Organisation and reorganize first the level-one local public authorities that have less than 1500 inhabitants. For the Central Electoral Commission: to establish a single financial ceiling for all election candidates, including political parties at the level of constituency where the elections take place, and require that expenses be broken down by constituencies in the financial statements of the election candidates delegated by parties and electoral blocks.

Besides monitoring the Electoral Campaign, for the 2015 elections Promo-LEX Association will also conduct a Civic and Electoral Education Campaign. “IEȘI la VOT!” (“COME TO VOTE!”) Campaign aims at promoting informed and conscious voting among the electorate. Civic education activities will be carried out in at least 28 rural and urban settlements throughout the whole Republic of Moldova (except for the Transnistrian region).

Last but not least, during May-June 2015, Promo-LEX will organize a series of Public Electoral Debates in at least 10 settlements with the goal to promote equitable, balanced and impartial activities of electoral education. The electoral education activities aim at promoting freedom of expression and political pluralism during elections.

We remind that the Monitoring Effort aims at informing the population about the conduct of the electoral campaign, at enhancing people’s trust in the electoral process, and at ensuring free and correct elections, according to the international standards and national law. Promo-LEX is still the only Non-Government Organization in the country that undertakes the largest monitoring effort, delegating over 1000 observers in all settlements of the country.

The electronic version of the Report here.

The Monitoring Effort of the 2015 General Local Elections is supported financially by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Council of Europe (CoE) and technical assistance provided by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI). The opinions presented in the public reports of Promo-LEX belong to authors and do not necessarily reflect the donors’ view.

For additional information please contact: Lilia Duca, PR manager of the Monitoring Effort of the 2015 General Local Elections, Tel: 0 (22) 49 26 84, GSM: (+373) 68 29 46 92, E-mail: [email protected]