7.00 pm, 28 June 2015 // Chisinau

Until 7:00 pm, the Promo-LEX observers recorded a number of worrying cases of electoral process violation. They include: corruption of voters, taking ballot papers out of the polling station, violation of the principle of secret voting, illegal voting, voting on the basis of inappropriate documents and intimidation of Association’s observers.

The presented data were collected from 186 observers, who are monitoring the electoral process throughout the whole country, in 93 mobile teams, as well as from the 320 observers present in all polling stations from Chisinau and Comrat municipalities. A summary thereof is presented below.

Enabling PS Infrastructure on the Election Day

According to the reports of Promo-LEX observers, there were found 18 problematic PSs:

• lack of safe boxes (PS 18, Andrusul de Jos v.,  Cahul d.; PS 55,  Pervomaiscoe v., Hancesti d.; PS 18, Chircaiestii Noi v., PS 19, Baurci v., PS 35, Pervomaisc v., Causeni d.; PS 49, Lugovoe v., Soroca d.; PS 37, Poiana v., Edinet d.; PS 3, Sangerei t. (because of this the ballot papers are stored in inappropriate places, outside the PS);
• inappropriate location of the voting booths, so that the voters’ choices could be seen (PSs 1, 8, 9, Causeni t.; PS 10, Cainari t., Causeni d.; PS 68, Slobozia Varancau v., Soroca d.);
• inaccessibility of PS for people with mobility impairments (PS 10, Rassvet v., Straseni d.; PS 56, Piatra v., Orhei d.);
• defficient operation of the operators’ laptops of the State Register of Voters (SRV) (PS 53, Suvorovca v., Falesti d.);
• presence of only one operator in the polling station (PS 40, Gavanoasa v., Cahul d.);
• problems with Internet connection (PS 284, Bubuieci v., Chisinau mun.);
• deterioration of the ballot box seal (in PS 304, Truseni v., Chisinau mun.).

Procedural Violations by EOPS Members

• In PS 31, Pelinia v., Drochia d., one voter signed by mistake instead of another person in the list of voters. The EOPS members changed the information in the respective section using a correction pen and allowed the voter to vote.
• In PS 120, Chisinau mun., the mobile ballot box was taken in the field only by one EOPS member.

Voting on the Basis of Inappropriate Documents

Promo-LEX observers reported three cases when people voted on the basis of inappropriate documents:

• In PSs 164 and 189, Chisinau mun., one person voted without the loose leaf of the ID card;
• In PS 75, Chisinau mun., one person voted with an expired ID card.

Failure to apply the “Local Elections.28.06.2015. Second round ” Stamp in the loose leaf of the ID card

In PS 189, Chisinau mun., one person voted without having the respective stamp applied in the loose leaf of the ID card.

Illegal Voting

Promo-LEX observers found two cases of illegal cases in two PSs. Thus, in each of PS 47, Mingir, Hancesti d., and in PS 3, Briceni t., an elector who established his residence within the area of those PSs was allowed to vote on the additional lists.

Sales of Alcoholic Beverages

Three cases were alcoholic beverages were sold in the close proximity to polling stations were noticed (PS 26, Coscalia v., Causeni d.; PS 70, Vertiujeni v., Floresti d.). Besides, in Baxani v., Soroca d., a group of drunk people were sleeping near the store, located close to PS 17.

Lists of Voters

In PS 299, Stauceni com., Chisinau mun., a family found 4 strangers, registered as having the residence in their house.

Electioneering on the Voting Day

Promo-LEX observers found five cases of electioneering on the voting day:

• In PS 19, Cairaclia v., Taraclia d., the supporter of an election contestant stood for one hour in front of the PS for purposes of electioneering. EOPS chairmans and policeman intervened to resolve the situation;
• In PS 58, Elizaveta v., Balti mun., the voters queueing up to the voting booths discussed purposefully their electoral choices;
• In the Great National Assembly Square of Chisinau mun., during a manifestation to commemorate the Soviet occupation, the supporter of an election contestant held the flag of the respective party;
• In PSs 147 and 253, Codru t., Chisinau mun., a MP of the RM Parliament visited the PS and talked with voters.

Electoral Advertising in Close Proximity to PS

In PS 310, Chisinau mun.; PS 27, Copaceni v., Sangerei d.; PS 43, Grigorauca v., Sangerei d.; PS 3, Sangerei t.– electoral posters were found close to the PS.

Collecting the Ballot Papers

In PS 2, Oxentea v., Dubasari d., two supporters of an election contestant collected by fraud at least three ID Cards of some elderly people from the settlement. They were told that in such a way they will have the possibility to vote at home.

Taking the Ballot Paper out of the Polling Station

Promo-LEX observers reported 2 cases of ballot papers being taken out of the PS:

• In PS 56, Piatra v., Orhei d., two EOPS members took out the ballot papers for a voter with mobility impairments, and he voted outside with the help of an assistance, who then deposited the papers in the ballot box;
• In PS 2, Comrat t., a voter who was not allowed to vote on the basis of “Form No 9”, which expired in 2014, stole a ballot paper.  After which he shouted the name of an election contestant and ran away from the PS. With the help of the police, the citizen was apprehended, and the ballot paper was recovered.

Violation of the Secret Voting Principle

In PS 12, Comrat t., one voter took a picture of the ballot paper, and another voter showed to everyone his ballot. In both cases the ballot papers were annulled, and others were issued instead.

In PS 46, Napadova v.,  Floresti d., when leaving the voting booth one voter showed to the people present there his ballot, before depositing it in the ballot box.

Organized Transportation of Voters

Promo-LEX observers reported cases of organized transportation of voters in 9 PSs:

• in PS 3, Comrat t., two cars (registration numbers KA 55 NPZ and GE AC 565) transported each four voters 3 times;
• In PS 284 Bubuieci v., Chisinau mun., a Škoda car with the registration number C QW 796 transported voters 3 times;
• in PS 280 (at least twice) and in PS 276 (once), Bacioi v., Chisinau mun. by a car (registration number K PW 244);
• in PS 11, Comrat t., voters were transported by cars: VAZ (registration number GE GH 428) – 4 people twice; VAZ (registration number CO AO 201) – 3 persons 3 times; Mercedes minibus (registration number GE AO 877) – 5 people 4 times;
• 4 citizens, inhabitants of Ghiduleni v., Rezina d. were brought, by a car with Transnistrian registration number P 551 CB, to the Population Recording and Registration Section of Rezina t. in order to register their residence in that settlement and then to vote in Ghiduleni v. Promo-LEX observers reported that the transportation of voters was organized by a candidate for the position of Mayor;
• In PS 13, Frasin v., Donduseni d., a white Ford Tranzit car transported several voters to the PS at the order of an election contestant;in PS 308, Ghidighici v., Chisinau mun., 15 voters were transported by a bus with the registration number H 2361 BH;
• in PS 26, Coscalia v., Causeni d., a Ford Mondeo car (registration number A 726 SO) transported supporters of an election contestant.

Presence of Unauthorized Persons in the PS

• In PS 11, Comrat t., an unknown citizen stood for one hour in front of the PS, manifesting violence many times. The police forced him to leave.
• In PS 151, Chisinau mun., an MP in the RM Parliament, entered several times the PS during the day, being registered as MP among observers.
• In PS 60, Ivanovca v., Floresti d., the sector policeman stayed inside the polling station.
• In PS 16, Beștemac v., Leova d., the voting process is monitored by the observers of two former election candidates.

Procedural Violations by Observers and Representatives with the Right to Consultative Vote

In PS 58, Elizaveta v., Balti mun., the observer and representative of an election contestant (social workers by profession) were talking to elderly voters.

Observer Intimidation

In PS 26, Coscalia v., Causeni d., a Ford Mondeo car (registration number CS AR 423) permanently followed the mobile team of Promo-LEX. According to the locals, the car belongs to an election contestant.

Incidents

In PS 13, Cotova v., Drochia d., the label with information about the PS was torn in the morning of the voting day.

In PS 308 Ghidighici v., Chisinau mun., a local councillor brought 4 health certificates, on the basis of which some people were supposed to vote. When asked by an inhabitant about the reason for health certificates, he attacked him physically. The case is being investigated by the police.

In PS 4, Comrat t., one voter tore the ballot paper and caused a scandal in the PS, when he found in the list of voters other 2 people domiciled on his address. They called the police and the voting process was suspended for 7 minutes. Later, another voter caused a scandal on the same reason.

In PS 10, Bocani v., Falesti d., the observer from an election contestant stayed at the entrance of the polling station for an hour and prohibited the access into the PS to voters who do not live in the village, but have the residence there. The incident was resolved after the intervention of the sector policeman.

Corruption of Voters

In PS 35, Draguseni v., Soldanesti d., the relative of an election contestant gave MDL 100 to a citizen, to pay for his debts at the local pub. Being invited on the site, the sector policeman found this fact, but did not qualify it as an attempt to buy the vote.

In PS 26, Coscalia v., Causeni d., persons who voted were served alcoholic beverages at the grocery store, located at 20 m from the PS.

Situation in Topala v., Cimislia d.

About 30 people are protesting in the vicinity of PS 44 from Topala v., Cimislia d. because strangers are allegedly trying to vote in there, being at the same time outraged by the plenty of policemen present in the settlement. Representatives of law enforcement bodies were present in the field: 5 persons in uniform and 8 persons in plain clothes. Being blocked by protesters, the police is trying to ensure free access to the polling station, by organizing a corridor at the entrance to the PS for those who want to vote.

45 people voted on additional lists until 6.00 pm. All these people are not inhabitants of this village, but registered their residence in late May and early June.

The president of ECC II had talked with the protesters for an hour. Likewise, there were present representatives of three parties that have electoral candidates.

EOPS 44, Topala v., refused to record 5 complaints from some election candidates and referred them to ECC II. The complaints referred to voting on the basis of expired ID cards, voting by persons without the domicile or residence in that settlement, violation of the secret voting principles by EOPS members.

Complaints

6 complaints were filed in PS 11, Comrat t. (5 of them were against one contestant).

An election candidate filed two complaints to the ECC M of Chisinau mun., asking to exclude one member from EOPS 57, arguing that he did not reach the age of majority, as well as a member from EOPS 1/1 from Codru t, arguing relations with affinity with one of the election candidates.

In PS 12, Cimiseni v., Criuleni d., 6 complaints were submitted.  The first 3 complaints, submitted by representatives of two political parties, were against the shooting of the electoral process by a journalist from Euro TV. Other 3 complaints were submitted by an election contestant against the transportation of voters and buying of votes.

Two election candidates submitted complaints to ECC II against the electioneering activities, carried out in the vicinity of PS 5, Basarabeasca t. While one election contestant accuses the other of electioneering, the latter denies the accusations and qualifies the case as misinformation.

Black PR

“Moldova Yesterday” group disseminated on social networks some parts of the video clips produced by Promo-LEX Association as part of the “COME TO VOTE” Campaign. The clips were used in order to promote a candidate for the position of Mayor of Chisinau on the elections day.

Tomorrow, 29 June, 10.00 am, Promo-LEX Association will organize the next press briefing to present information regarding the parallel vote tabulation in Chisinau 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 Ciochina, 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].

Promo-LEX Association presented the results for the monitoring of the polling stations opening for the second round of the 2015 General Local Elections. The presented data were collected from 186 observers, who are monitoring the electoral process throughout the whole country, in 93 mobile teams, as well as from the 320 observers present in all polling stations from Chisinau and Comrat municipalities.

We remind that today repeated elections are organized in 3 PS (PSs 45-46, Ulmu v., r. Ialoveni d., and PS 4, Topala v., Cimislia d.).

According to Promo-LEX observers, the second round of the General Local Elections started in an ordinary regime, though some violations were reported as of 10.00 am. A summary thereof is presented below.

Polling Stations Opening

Promo-LEX observers found that PS 7 from Taraclia t., opened by 10 minutes earlier, while PS 4 from Glodeni t. and PS 4 from Basarabeasca t. opened 5 minutes later.

In Chisinau mun. 29 (9.4%) of the 308 polling stations were opened earlier or later than 7:00 am (Figure 1)

Figure 1. Time of Polling Stations Opening, Chisinau mun.

Other problems related to the opening of PS: late counting of ballot papers (PS 150, Chisinau mun.), operation of the State Register of Voters (SRV) (PS 190, Chisinau mun.), delayed preparation of the protocol (PS 153, Chisinau mun.; PS 4, Glodeni t.), problems with Internet connection (PS 153, Chisinau mun.), EOPS member missing (PS 153, Chisinau mun.), recounting of ballot papers at the insistence of an observer (PS 4, Basarabeasca t.).

Enabling PS Infrastructure on the Election Day

Promo-LEX observers found a number of violations as regards the infrastructure of polling stations. Thus:

• In some polling stations the safe box is located in another building (PS 140, Chisinau mun.; PS 7, Tvardita t., Taraclia d.; PS 22, Hartopul Mic v., Criuleni d.; SV 5, Rezina t.);
• the voting booths are located very close to each other, which does not guarantee secret voting (PS 120, Chisinau mun.; PS 44, Floresti d.; PSs 4 and 5 Causeni);
• electioneering in the vicinity of polling stations (PSs 4 and 5, Causeni t.);
• Voting in the second round of the elections with „Local Elections 14.06.2015” seal (in PS 55, Rosu v., Cahul d., the wrong seal was applied to at least 30 voters);

In Chisinau mun. some violations related to the opening of polling stations were also reported:

• the ballot box was not sealed appropriately (PS 218);
• presence of electoral posters in the vicinity of 30 polling stations (9.7%) (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Presence of Electoral Posters in the Vicinity of Polling Station (within the area of 100 m from the PS).

Enabling the Voting Infrastructure for Persons with Disabilities

Promo-LEX observers found that 144 of the 308 polling stations from Chisinau mun. (about 47%) cannot be accessed by persons with mobility impairments. At the same time, 68 polling stations (about 22%) are not provided with appropriate equipment for persons with mobility impairments, and 165 stations (about 53%) – for persons with vision impairments.

Violation of the Secret Voting Principle

In non-compliance with the legal requirements, in PS 92, Chisinau mun., at the request of an elderly person, the deputy chairman of EOPS helped him to apply the seal next to an election contestant. In PS 4, Alcedar v., Soldanesti, some voters deposited the ballot paper in the ballot box in such a manner as to show purposefully who they voted for.

Voting on the Basis of Inappropriate Documents

Promo-LEX observers found three cases when people voted on the basis ID cards without the loose leaf (PS 6, Straseni t.). The EOPS chairman argued that this was possible, because these people had been already included in the list of voters.

Sales of Alcoholic Beverages in Close Proximity to PS

Promo-LEX observers found two cases when alcoholic beverages were sold in the close proximity to polling stations:

• PSs 1 and 3, Soroca t., within less than 50 meters from the PS there is a store that sells alcoholic beverages;
• PS 4, Soldanesti d., at a distance of about 40 meters from the PS, a store is selling spirits. The PS chairman spoke to the store owner, asking not to sell alcoholic beverages, but she refused to follow the request.

Today, 28 June, 3:00 pm, Promo-LEX Association will organize the next press briefing to present information regarding the electoral process.

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 Ciochina, 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, 28 June 2015 // Chisinau

3 attempts to rig elections, 7 cases of electioneering on the voting day, 5 cases of organized transportation of voters, 8 cases of sales of alcoholic beverages in the close proximity of polling stations – are only some of the key findings, reported by Promo-LEX observers as of 2.00 pm.

The presented data were collected from 186 observers, who are monitoring the electoral process throughout the whole country, in 93 mobile teams, as well as from the 320 observers present in all polling stations from Chisinau and Comrat municipalities. A summary thereof is presented below.

Enabling PS Infrastructure on the Election Day

According to the reports of Promo-Lex observers, there are still deficiencies with the infrastructure of polling stations (PSs). Thus, the following were found in other 19 PSs:

• lack of safe boxes (PS 14 Bilicenii Noi v.; PS 16, Mandrestii Noi v.; PS 51, Pepeni v.; PS 64, Octeabrscoe v., Sangerei d.; PS 44, Stolniceni v., Edinet d.; PSs 14 and SV 16, Costești v., Ialoveni d.; PS 20, Hasnasenii Noi v., Drochia d.; PS 38, Grozasca v.; PS 37, Floritoaia Noua v.,  Ungheni d.; PS 6, Cimislia t.). Promo-LEX observers state that because of this the ballot papers are stored in other places than required by law;
• problems with the Internet connection (PS Glodeni t.), problems with Internet connection (PS 51, Pascani v., Cahul d., PSs 184 and 185, Chisinau mun.);
• inappropriate location of the voting booths (PS 11, Dumitreni v., Floresti d.), so that the voters’ choices could be seen;
• poor illumination of the polling station (PS 6, Biruinta v., Sangerei d.);
• lack of an ink-pad in a voting booth (PS 6, Causeni t.). Because of this voters use only two of the three available booths;
• lack of the panel with the identification data of the polling station (PS 45, Voinova v., Straseni d.; PS 63, Tambula v., Sangerei d.).

In addition, Promo-LEX observers reported 6 PSs with deficiencies related to the sealing of ballot boxes:

• the lack of seal on mobile ballot boxes was found in PS 11, Ungheni t., and PS 22, Pelivan v. and PS 30, Cucuruzeni v., both from Orhei d.
• broken seal on mobile ballot boxes was found in PS 25, Iorjnita v.,  Soroca d.; PS 19, Cosernita v. and SV 45, Marculesti v.,  Floresti d. (the last two seals were fixed with a thread).

Procedural Violations by EOPS Members

In PS 140, Chisinau mun., the mobile ballot box was taken earlier in the field only by one EOPS member.

Besides, in PS 155, Chisinau mun., one voter damaged the ballot paper and left it in the booth, after which an EOPS member took the ballot and deposited it in the ballot box.

Voting on the Basis of Inappropriate Documents

Promo-LEX observers found three cases when people voted on the basis of inappropriate documents. In PS 3, Causeni t., the stamp „Elections 28 June 2015” was applied on the laminated loose leaf of a voter, and in PS 92, Chisinau mun. and PS 23, Dusmani v., Glodeni d., each one person voted without the loose leaf of the ID card.

Failure to apply the “Voted” Stamp in the ID Card

In PS 248, Chisinau mun., one person voted without having the “Elections 28 June 2015” stamp applied in the loose leaf of the ID card.

Sales of Alcoholic Beverages

Promo-LEX observers found 8 cases of sales of alcoholic beverages in close proximity to the polling stations (PS 4, Basarabeasca t.; PS 26, Harbovat v., Anenii Noi d.; PS 119; PSs 14 and 16, Costești v., Ialoveni d.; PS 45, Voinova v., Straseni d.; PS 35, Sarcova v., Rezina d.).

In addition, alcoholic beverages are sold in Chisinau mun. in the close vicinity of 40 of the 308 polling stations (about 13%).

Figure 1. Sales of Alcoholic Beverages, Chisinau municipality

Electioneering in Close Proximity to PS

Promo-LEX observers reported 7 cases of electioneering in close proximity to PS:

• in PS 58, Bocsa v., Falesti d., there were 10-15 persons wearing T-shirts with the logo of an election contestant;
• in PS 7, Cimislia t., 5 representatives of an election contestant, accompanied by the former district chairman, carried out electioneering activities;
• in PS 35, Sircova v., Rezina d., the candidate of an election contestant to the position of mayor marked his car, with the symbols of the party in the close proximity to the PS (registration number C MY 536);
• in PS 3, Basarabeasca t., two persons were carrying out electioneering activities;
• close to PS 34, Speia v., Anenii Noi d., an election contestant was talking to voters;
• in PS 36, Floritoaia Veche v, Ungheni d., at a distance of about 100 meters from the PS, the supporter of an election contestant was carrying out electioneering activities;
• in PS, Orhei d., a car with the logo of an election contestant brought two observers to the PS, one of whom was drunk and causing noise (the latter did not have an accreditation).

Electoral Posters in Close Proximity to PS

Promo-LEX observers reported several cases when electoral advertising was posted close to the PS (PS 2, Basarabeasca t.; PS 36, Telita v., Anenii Noi d.; PS 12, Albina v., Cimislia d.; PS 54, Prepelita v., Sangerei d.).

Illegal Voting

In PS 15, Ciuciulea v., Glodeni d., a voter who established his/her residence in the village on 25 June 2015, managed to vote.

Organized Transportation of Voters

Promo-LEX observers reported 5 cases of transportation of voters:

• in PS 5, Basarabeasca t., the supporter of an election contestant brought at least 5 voters to the PS by a private vehicle – VAZ 2103 (registration number – BS AF 209), with the insignia of an election contestant on it;
• in PS 20, Rediul Mare v., Donduseni d., a candidate for the position of Mayor organized the transportation of voters by a car with the registration number C MX 833;
• in PS 14 and 16 from Costesti v., Ialoveni d., the brother of a candidate for the position of Mayor was transporting voters to the PS by a car with the registration number IL BM 484;
• In PS 14, Cusnirca v., Soldanesti d., an election contestant was transporting great numbers of voters in the following means of transportation: Mercedes Sprinter – SD AE 775; VAZ 2101 – SD AA 460; Niva 2121 – SD AF 973; VAZ 2108 – SR BD 335; Volkswagen Pasat – OR AH 730 (the total number of transported persons is of about 50).

Presence of Unauthorized Persons in the PS

In PS 5, Cosnita v., Dubasari d., a candidate for the position of Mayor introduced himself to the members of the Office as a national observer, claiming that he was accredited. Upon Promo-LEX observers’ demand to present the accreditation certificate again, the refused to and left the PS.

Also, in PS 151, Chisinau mun., a Member of the Moldovan Parliament, who does not have her domicile or residence visa in the area corresponding to the PS, spent about 10 minutes inside the PS, asking those present there about how was the voting going on.

Observers’ Activity Disturbance in the PS

In PS 6, Cimislia t., the Promo-LEX observer was not allowed to enter the PS on the ground that only the observer who was in the PS concerned during the first round of elections can be present there.

Procedural Violations by Observers

In PS 84, Chisinau mun., the observer of an election contestant helped an elderly person to vote.

Attempts to Rig Elections

In PS 44, Topala v., Cimislia d., at least 20 persons protest in front of the PS because a stranger, who established her legal address in that village right before the first tour of elections, was allowed to vote. The protesters do not let persons who are strangers in the village to vote in the PS. About 6 policemen keep the public order and the voting goes on undisturbed.

In PS 277, Bacioi com., Chisinau mun., the EOPS Chairperson noticed that 4 voters (included on the additional lists having a temporary residence visa) who voted, introduced into the ballot box only one ballot paper (while they were suppose to throw in 2 ballot papers each – one for the position of Mayor General and the other – for the local Mayor), with 4 other ballot papers being taken along. When the EOPS Chairperson intervened, she was assaulted. Later, the police was called on-site (at this moment in time there are 5 police watches are in front of the PS with their beacon light on) looking for the 4 voters. It is worth mentioning that these persons came to the PS by a BMW car, the registration number being JBR 101. A protocol was developed with regards to this incident.

In PS 98, Chisinau mun., an inebriated voter tore the ballot paper up.  The police was summoned on the scene and a protocol was drawn up.

Misinformation

In PS 7, Otaci v., Ocnita d., a former candidate for the position of Mayor brought 2 persons to the PS whom he introduced as representatives of the TVC 21 television channel, although the letters on the microphone said TSN. Those persons were working on a coverage about the fact that in that PS cases of voter corruption were registered.  Besides that, 3 other persons, who introduced themselves as mass media representatives (although they did not present any journalist card), were carrying out an interview with a citizen who was talking about voter corruption cases and other severe incidents.  The Promo-LEX observer, present on the ground said the rumours were not true.

Today, 28 June, 8:00 pm, Promo-LEX Association will organize the next press briefing to present information regarding the electoral process.

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 Ciochina, 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]

26 June 2015 // Chisinau – Altercations between representatives of two parties in Bacioi v., Chisinau mun.; violent assault of an election contestant in Racovat v., Soroca d.; distribution of leaflets in the vicinity of several churches in Chisinau mun., which denigrated the image of a candidate for the position of Mayor of Chisinau mun. These are some of the most severe violations stated in the fourth Report of the Elections Observation Mission, presented by Promo-LEX. The report covers the electoral process in the Republic of Moldova during the period of 15-24 June 2015, on the basis of the findings made by Promo-LEX observers. See the report HERE.

According to the Promo-LEX Association’s report, during the election campaign for the second round of the General Local Elections of 28 June 2015 the number of electoral activities was lower. Thus, the election contestants organized at least 13 meetings with voters, 12 electoral concerts, and six election candidates carried out „door-to-door” activities. The outdoor and media advertising decreased, as well. At the same time, a big part of contestants submitted complaints, asking for the votes to be recounted.

“During the monitored period, the electoral bodies had an intense working regime, and focused on the processing of the results of the first round of voting. CEC adopted six Election Regulatory Decisions and reviewed a complaint, filed by one election candidate. At the same time, the second-level Constituency Councils and courts of law reviewed at least 37 complaints, 20 of which focused on votes recounting”, stated Pavel Postica, head of the Promo-LEX Observation Mission.

Promo-LEX analyzed the financial statements, submitted by election candidates to CEC during 6-12 June, and compared them with the observers’ findings in the field. Thus, Promo-LEX established that only 17 of all election candidates submitted financial statements to CEC, and 14 reported revenue and expenses. According to observers, during the reporting period only 786 citizens contributed with funds with the campaign budgets of political parties and electoral blocks. They donated approximately MDL 13.51 million.

“Overall, the election candidates reported to CEC revenue totalling at MDL 17.77 million. Most of the expenses reported by election candidates (71%) were intended for advertising. No election contestant reported any “salaries of temporary employed staff” as expenses during the reporting period. Insignificant amounts were reported on the lines of “rental of offices” and “related utilities”. Only one election contestant reported “expenses related to the delegation or secondment of people”. At the same time, the largest expenses for the election campaign of the 2015 local elections were reported by PDM – MDL 23.68 million, accounting for 39.98% of the threshold set by CEC. PSRM ranks the second – MDL 14.53 million (24.53%), and PPPN ranks the third with MDL 11.63 million (19.63%)”, stated Cornelia Calin, financial analyst of Promo-LEX Observation Mission.

At the same time, Promo-LEX recommends to criminal prosecution bodies to charge the persons guilty of having used administrative resources, offered electoral presents, instigated to violence and intimidated citizens.

We remind that the Promo-LEX Observation Mission will monitor on 28 June the second round of the 2015 General Local Elections and will organize three press conferences during the day, where it will present qualitative and quantitative information about the conduct of the electoral process on the whole territory of the Republic of Moldova. Promo-LEX will perform the parallel vote tabulation in Chisinau 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 report belong to authors and do not necessarily reflect the donors’ view.

For additional information please contact: Simion Ciochina, 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]

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]