The Promo-LEX Association launched a Monitoring Report on the electoral candidates’ finances during the campaign for parliamentary elections on 30 November 2014. The document contains an analysis of the declared and undeclared revenues and expenses of the candidates 10 October – 30 November 2014.

Based on the current legal provisions on election funding, and on the analysis of declared revenues and expenses of the candidates, and the estimates of Promo-LEX observers with regard to the candidates’ reported and unreported revenues and expenses, the Election Monitoring Effort has uncovered several major deficiencies:

• The total estimated quantum of total undeclared expenses was at least 14,916,866 lei (PDM – 9,592,846 lei, PLDM – 2,965,895 lei, PCRM – 703,917 lei, PL – 446,953 lei, PSRM – 411,636 lei, and others – 795,619 lei). Most of the undeclared expenses went to cover the organization of public events (74.82%);
• Two electoral contenders (PD and PLDM) went beyond the 5% deviation from the set threshold, risking sanctions such as cancelation of their registration;
• At least six candidates incurred expenses for organizing 181 concerts, 7 disco parties, two campaign launch events, and two concerts abroad. At least 91 musicians were involved in the events, which amounts to no less than 11,160,545 lei in unreported expenses;
• Nine candidates failed to report at least 728,200 lei in advertising expenses;
• Ten candidates had expenses for transportation, and, according to Promo-LEX observers’ estimates, they travelled approximately 114,718 km, thus unreported expenses amount to at least 397,723 lei;
• Twelve candidates had at least 379 employees engaged in the campaign at their central and local party offices. The total amount of payment for their work was not less than 1,014,622 lei;
• Ten electoral contenders involved a total of at least 4,032 volunteers in campaigning activities. Promo-LEX estimates show that at least 529,378 lei had to be spent for each working day of the volunteers.
• At least four candidates (PLDM, PSRM, PDM and PL) conducted campaigning activities in no less than six countries. Unreported travel expenses amount to at least 49,945 lei;
• According to Promo-LEX findings, 15 electoral candidates maintained at least 227 local offices throughout the country. A comparative analysis of the data presented in the candidates’ financial reports shows that the minimum quantum of undeclared rent expenses amounts 592,209 lei;
• 15 candidates failed to report at least 77,900 lei in expenses for maintenance of permanent premises;
• 26 candidates failed to report at least 366,344 lei as expenses for communication services.

The total amount of funds declared by the candidates during the electoral campaign was 116,721,720 lei. Candidates’ revenues grew 3.5 times compared with the campaign for 2010 elections.

According to the candidates, their declared expenses amounted to 116,721,908 lei, of which:

• 90.5% were spent on advertising;
• 2.56% were spent on public events;
• 1.28% covered transportation expenses;
• 1.01% were spent on renting premises;
• Other expenses represented 4.65%.
• Only one candidate declared expenses for the compensation of volunteers;
• Only 4 candidates reported expenses for paying staff members and employees.

See the Report here.

The Election Monitoring Effort is part of the activities conducted by the civil society under the aegis of the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections.

The Monitoring Effort for the Parliamentary Election on 30 November 2014 has received technical assistance from the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) and is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the Council of Europe, and the Stefan Batory Foundation from the funds provided by the Solidarity Fund as part of the “Support for Democracy” Programme of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

For additional information, please contact:
Galina Sanduta, Press Officer of the Promo-LEX Election Monitoring Effort, GSM: 069 95 82 89,
E-mail: [email protected].

The Promo-LEX Association carried out a Quick Count during the 30 November 2014 Parliamentary Elections, on a representative sample of 700 polling stations in country, of the total of 1 987 polling stations (polling stations from abroad were not included).

The selected sample is statistically representative for the entire country and the maximum margin of error is 1.2%.

According to the results of the Quick Count, the votes in the country were divided as follows:

Based on the results of the Promo-LEX Quick Count, the mandates in Parliament will be distributed in the following manner:

The maximum margin of error 1.2% is applicable to the candidate PCR. The margin is calculated for each candidate individually. The analysis excluded 7 polling stations from the sample that failed to report the results and the 151 protocols that were received by the Promo-LEX operators but failed to pass the CEC-established checks.

The Quick Count is a statistical operation of assessing the quality of the voting, and high-precision prediction of the final results of the poll.  The operation reported an overall high-quality of voting procedures and lack of major incidents.

The Election Monitoring Effort is part of the activities conducted by the civil society under the aegis of the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections.

The Monitoring Effort for the Parliamentary Election on 30 November 2014 has received technical assistance from the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) and is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the Council of Europe, and the Stefan Batory Foundation from the funds provided by the Solidarity Fund as part of the “Support for Democracy” Programme of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to the findings of Promo-LEX observers submitted by 20.00 hours, the following irregularities were found:

Polling Station Arrangements
At the PS no. 47 in Congaz (UTAG), PS no. 17 in Ciadir Lunga, and PS no. 12 in Orhei, voting booths were arranged in a way contrary to legal provisions to ensure secrecy of the vote.

At the PS no. 35 in Noroceni and PS no. 77 in Curchi, the PSEB members sat in one room, and the voting booths were set in another room, and the two rooms were separated by an open door. PS no. 26 in Clisova had no heating. Persons with disabilities had no access to PS no. 66 in Seliste, PS no. 77 in Curchi, and PS no. 49 in Morozeni (all in Orhei). At the PS no. 36 and 66 in Svetlii (UTAG), two stamps had no inkpads.

Two polling stations encountered issues with electricity supply. Thus, there was no lighting before the entrance to PS no. 215 in Chisinau, and the power went off at the PS no. 12 in Bravicea between 17.45 and 18.13 hours, which caused the station to suspend the voting, and caused a line outside the station.

Ballots and Taking Photos of the Ballots
At the PS no. 128 in Centru sector, Chisinau, a person with impaired vision could not cast their vote.

At the PS nos. 8 and 18 (Leova), there were 300 and, respectively, 200 more ballots than needed.

The ballots at the PS no. 42 in Leuseni (Hincesti) did not have “withdrawn” stamps next to the name of the candidate that was eliminated from the race.

Several people photographed their ballots at the PS no. 36 in Sadova (Calarasi), PS no. 26 in Mincenii de Sus (Rezina), and PS no. 299 in Stauceni (Chisinau).

Failure to Apply the “Elections 30.11.2014” Stamp
At the PS no. 30 in Crasnoarmeiscoe (Hincesti), one person refused to have their ID inserted stamped “Elections 30.11.2014”, band was still allowed to vote.

Voting with Inadequate Documents
In at least 5 polling stations in Floresti, 2 PSs in Briceni, one polling station in Rezina, PS no. 39 n Tribisauti (Briceni), and PS no.13 in Bulboaca, voters were allowed to vote with foreign passports.

At the PS no.10 in Ciniseuti (Rezina), 4 persons voted without inserts to their IDs.

Transportation of Voters
At the PS no. 29 in Paulesti (Calarasi), local councilor C.I. transported 3 to the polling station using his personal car.

At the PS no. 7 in Ciorna (Rezina), M.G., driving an Opel car, registration number RZAG 663, brought at least 4 persons, and at least twice, to the polling station.

At the PS no. 26 in Mileştii Mici (Ialoveni), the owner of a Dacia Logan car, registration plate KVL 162, was observed driving to the station 5-6 times, and transporting 3-4 people to the station each time.

At the PS no. 29 in Nimoreni and PS no. 24 in Malcoci (both in Ialoveni), a van with registration plates ILBK 343 was seen transporting people to the polling stations.

At the PS no. 14 in Buteni (Hincesti), three care transported persons to the polling station. A BMW car with registration plates RMA 027 was seen near PS no. 44 in Tanatarii Noi (Causeni) every two hours.

Electoral Campaigning
Promo-LEX observers recorded multiple cases of electoral campaigning at PS no. 38 in Grozasca (Ungheni), PS no. 49 in Vasieni (Ialoveni), PS no. 2 in Drochia, PS no. 292 in Cruzesti, PS no. 5 in Straseni, PS no. 18 in Cisla (Cantemir), and PS no. 13 in Albina (Cimislia).

Corrupting Voters
At the PS no. 22 in Lipceni, a party member bought groceries for citizen N.T. and called him to vote for a certain candidate.

At the PS no. 40 in Țareuca (Rezina), the head of the Rezina Gaz company served alcohol to people at approximately 60 m from the polling station.

Incidents
At the PS no. 67 in Sinesti (Ungheni) observers from several candidates were noisy, threw ballot papers on the floor, and required police intervention.

At the PS no. 231 in Chisinau, a voter tore the ballot in pieces and stuffed them into the ballot box.

At the PS no. 111 in Buiucani, Chisinau, a voter received the ballot and ran towards the door with it. PSEB members managed to stop him.

At the PS no. 231 in Chisinau, a woman wanted to vote with a Soviet passport, and when she was not allowed to do so, she started a scandal, which required the intervention of the police.

Preventing Students for Exercising Their Right to Vote
A group of 5 students were not allowed to vote at PS no. 54 in Chisinau despite the fact that they presented their student cards and IDs.

Persons Remaining in Polling Stations
An activist of an electoral candidate was present at the PS no. 3 in Causeni between 15.30 and 16:20 hours.

At the PS no. 11 in Bozieni, a representative of a candidate came in and out of the polling station and spent a total of 3 hours there, talking to voters. He did not react in any way to the warnings and remarks of the PSEB chair, and the later was forced to call the police and take the person out the PS.

Cancellation of Ballots
On 29 November 2014, contrary to legal provisions, PSEB no. 115  (m. Chisinau) cancelled approximately 1,300 ballot papers by applying the “cancelled” stamp instead of the “withdrawn” stamp next to the candidate that was withdrawn from the race. This issue was found on Election Day, and the PSEB was instructed by the CEC to issue voter certificates to the voters and redirect them to another polling station to cast their votes.

At the PS no. 42 in Leuseni (Hincesti), the “withdrawn” stamp was not applied next to the name of the candidate that withdrew from the poll.

At the PS no. 11 in Cotiujenii Mari (Soldanesti), o person was caught photographing their ballot, and the electoral bureau took the decision to withdraw the ballot.

Transnistrian Region
At approximately 14.20 hours, at the customs post in Varnita, members of the electoral bureau of PS no. 42 who were travelling to Bender with the mobile ballot box were turned back by the local militsia.

Ensuring the Safety of Voting by the PSEB Chair
In the proximity of PS no. 26 in Micauti (Straseni), there was a barbecue joint, and some voters were served alcohol.

in PS no. 13 in Bulboaca (Briceni), approximately10 persons who do not live or have their domicile in the village submitted written requests to vote on standard A4 sheets and all voted at the respectve polling station.

Voter Lists
In PSs nos. 3, 5, and 8 in Leova, approximately 70 persons were not included in voter lists, while deceased persons were found on the respective lists.

Observers’ Performance
An observer on behalf of a candidate at PS no. 5 in Taraclia showed a voter where on the ballot to apply the voting stamp.

The Election Monitoring Effort is part of the activities conducted by the civil society under the aegis of the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections.

The Monitoring Effort for the Parliamentary Election on 30 November 2014 has received technical assistance from the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) and is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the Council of Europe, and the Stefan Batory Foundation from the funds provided by the Solidarity Fund as part of the “Support for Democracy” Programme of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

For additional information, please contact:
Galina Sanduta, Press Officer of the Promo-LEX Election Monitoring Effort
GSM: 069 95 82 89, email: [email protected].

According to the first findings of Promo-LEX observers submitted by 10.00 hours, most of the polling stations [PS] were opened in accordance with the legal provisions. Nevertheless, the sections opened with a delay of up to 55 minutes at PS no. 31 in Pelinia (Drochia), due to a power outage, and PS no. 5/9 in Bascalia (Basarabeasca), where the members of the PSEB failed to prepare the PS opening procotol in time.

PS no. 42 in Varnita, PS no. 9 (Basarabeasca), PS no. 42 in Anenii Noi and PS no. 6 in Banestii Noi  (Telenesti) started work with delays of up to 20 minutes due to deficiencies in the functioning of the State Voters’ Register. Delays were also registered at the opening of PS no. 147 (mun. Chisinau), PS no. 60 in Carpineanca (Ialoveni), PS no. 260 (Straseni) and PS no. 36 in Valea Trestieni (Nisporeni) due to the fact that the stamp “withdrawn” had not been applied in all ballots next to the name and symbol of the candidate who was recalled from the campaign, and in PS no. 6 (Floresti) because the PSEB could not seal the ballot box.

Delays of up to 10 minutes were registered in PS no.1 in Straseni (reason: a broken seal) and PS no.16 in Straseni, PS no. 58 in Sarata Galbena (Hancesti), PS no. 19 in Carpineni (Hancesti), PS no. 91 (Straseni), PS no. 275 (Straseni), PS no. 50 in Chisinau, and PS no. 20 in Cioresti (Nisporeni), where computers needed to be replaced.

Delays between 2 and 8 minutes were registered at PS no. 291 in Fauresti, PS no.19 in Cioresti (Nisporeni), PS no. 251 (Straseni), PS no. 43 (m.Chisinau), and PS no. 86 (Straseni).

PS no. 256 (mun. Chisinau) was opened too early, and namely at 06.55 hours.

The protocol on the preparation of the PS for the vote was not introduced into the ballot box at the opening of the PS at PS no. 155 in Chisinau.

At the same time, we note that in the early hours of the vote, deficiencies were found with the functioning of the State Voters’ Register at the following polling stations:

PS no. 46 in Tocuz (Causeni), PS no. 5 (Ialoveni), PS nos. 23, 56, 44, 9, and 25 (Balti), PS no. 55 in Valea Rusului (Falesti), PS nos. 13, 43, 151, 135, 119, 115, 256, and 141 (Chisinau), PS no. 5 (Ialoveni), PS no. 4  (Criuleni), PS no. 29 n Naslavcea (Ocnita), PS no. 27 in Ialpug (Cimislia), and PS no. 14 and no. 15 in Sadaclia (Basarabeasca).

At the same time, 10 voters at the PS no. 36 in Milestii Noi (Ialoveni) could not be found in the State Voters’ Register although they were included in the main voter lists.

PS Arrangements
Promo-LEX observers noted that polling stations no. 13 in Sloveanca and no. 37 in Dobrogea Veche, raion Sangerei, were poorly lit. By 07.00 hours, there was no electricity at PS no. 31 in Pelinia (Drochia).

PS no. 49 in Valea Radoaiei (Floresti) is not equipped with a safe, and all election-related documentation is kept at the PS no. 38 in Iliciovca (Floresti). There was no heating in PS no. 9 in raion Rascani and PS no.11 in Drochia.

Sealing Ballot Boxes
The ballot box at PS no. 9 (Basarabeasca) cracked, and, per DEC instructions, was later stitched with tape. The seal was broken at PS no. 1 (Straseni) and PS no. 7 and Alexandreni (Sangerei).

Issues with sealing of ballot boxes (as the seal did not fit in) were also registered at PS no. 291 in Fauresti, PS nos. 147 and 53 in Chisinau, and PS no. 6 in Floresti.

The PSEB at PS no. 147 in Chisinau sealed the ballot box using a plume.

PS no.22 in Gradiste (Cimislia) received a smaller number of stamps than necessary, thus, one ballot box had 3 instead of 4 stamps, and was therefore sealed as such.

The seals broke in PS nos. 147, 134, and 154 in Chisinau and were later replaced.

Voting Ballots
According to the information provided by Promo-LEX observers, DEC no.5 in Basarabeasca issued 249 ballots more for PSEB no.7 than the number of voters n the voter lists.

Issuing Voting Certificates
DEC no. 14 in Drochia issued 600 voting certificates, which were distributed among all polling stations.

PS no. 8 in Antoneuca, PSEB no. 33 in Pervomaiscoe, PSEB no. 20 in Hasnasenii Noi, and PSEB no. 43 in Suri did not have sufficient voting certificates. PS no. 8 in Soroca did not have sufficient voting certificates either.

Registration of Observers
There were issues with the registration of STO observers at the polling stations in villages Mihaileni and Groznita (Briceni) and PS no.47 in Drochia.

The Election Monitoring Effort is part of the activities conducted by the civil society under the aegis of the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections.

The Monitoring Effort for the Parliamentary Election on 30 November 2014 has received technical assistance from the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) and is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the Council of Europe, and the Stefan Batory Foundation from the funds provided by the Solidarity Fund as part of the “Support for Democracy” Programme of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

For additional information, please contact:
Galina Sanduta, Press Officer of the Promo-LEX Election Monitoring Effort
GSM: 069 95 82 89, email: [email protected].