Promo-LEX Observation Mission for the General Local Elections of 5 (19) November 2023: The last incidents reported during the voting

Until 22:00, the Promo-LEX OM received and processed 118 incidents, of which 56 are included in this release.

Intimidation of observers, obstruction of the free observation – 4 cases:

PS 2/59 Balti, Elizaveta. The Promo-LEX observer was intimidated by the PEB president, following a report of the group voting incident at 12:30. The PEB president mentioned: “I expected surprises from the Promo-LEX, but not so much.”

PS 2/41 Balti. After the Promo-LEX observer asked the PEB members why the voting booths were dismantled before the polling station closed, the president reacted aggressively, having commented: “We stay in a cold place and you don’t take this into account!” And why is the Promo-LEX not informed about the conditions in the PS?”. At the same time, the PEB members did not react aggressively to the observations made by the representatives of the electoral competitors.

PS 2/58 Balti. At 21:12, the representative of an electoral competitor informed the PEB president about the desire to shoot the process of counting the ballot papers. The president forbade him for the reason of “not wanting to be captured”, but the representative insisted on shooting. After consultation with DEC II representatives, the president allowed the shooting provided that the faces of the PEB members would not be shot.

PS 2/22 Balti. The representative of an electoral competitor requested to shoot the process of counting the ballot papers. The president allowed him to shoot, but moved him to a distance of about 5 meters.

Unjustified presence of unauthorized persons in the polling station or within 100 m – 19 cases:

PS 23/38 Nisporeni, Varzaresti. Within 100 m of the PS, the means of transport of both candidates were observed repeatedly (the 3rd time). They were not observed interacting with voters, only with each other. One of the cars was a Nissan, metallic gray in color.

PS 34/14 Telenesti, Chitcanii Vechi. At 14:24, an unauthorized person was observed at the PS entrance urging a voter to vote for a particular candidate. The PEB president was notified and he informed the unauthorized person that he was not allowed to influence the voter’s vote. Later, the unauthorized person, who could not be identified, left.

PS 15/3 Dubasari, Corjova. At around 15:50, three women were observed within 100 m of the PS (observed also during round 1). The women were also present in the first part of the day (the blue car). They interacted with certain voters and were always on the phone.

PS 4/22 Anenii Noi, Floreni. During the observation (about 30 minutes), the mobile team found that a candidate was stationed in the immediate vicinity of the polling station in a personal car.

PS 22/20 Leova, Ceadir. In the immediate vicinity of the PEB, a car with the former mayor of the locality and a candidate was observed. The STO stated that he saw at least two voters who entered the minibus for a few minutes and then got out. The police warned them and they left the place.

PS 17/18 Falesti, Ciolacu Vechi. The candidate for the position of mayor appeared in front of the PEB without a justified reason, having discussed with the citizens. The candidate was not a resident of Ciolacul Vechi village.

PS 01/259, Chisinau, Durlesti. An Audi car was parked near the PS, which has been monitoring the voters coming to vote since the morning, the PEB president approached the car, talked to the person inside for 5-7 minutes, but the car did not leave.

PS 01/254, Chisinau, Durlesti. Within 100 meters of the PS, a car was parked for a long time. There were two women inside, who were constantly talking on the phone. They were gone for a short time, but they came back.

PS 01/255, Chisinau, Durlesti. Near the entrance to the PS yard, a car stationed for a long time (Renault). The person in the car was behaving suspiciously.

PS 01/257, Chisinau, Durlesti. At 19:05, a red Mazda car was observed supervising the PS. When the persons in the car understood that they were observed, they left. The said car was seen during the day and around other PSs in Durlesti.

PS 01/255, Chisinau, Durlesti. An Audi car stayed near the PS for a long time (about 50 minutes), after which the previously reported Renault car returned. From the Renault, a person got into the Audi. The individuals were identified as advisers to a competitor.

PS 2/49 Balti. Starting at 19:00, the secretary from another polling station was present in the PS (PS 2/5). She periodically entered the office where the safe with ballot papers of the PS 2/49 was located. The president of the PS 2/49 explained that the secretary of the PS 2/5 was an employee of the educational institution where PS 2/49 was located and needed access to the office.

PS 28/51 Singerei, Pepeni. A Suzuki car parked within 100 m of the polling station was observed over a longer period of time.

PS 01/257, Chisinau, Durlesti. There was a car parked in front of the PS, in which there were 2 persons. During the day, they came and went, stayed for about 30 minutes, then left. At 19:40, the PEB president asked them “what was the reason why they returned to the PS, and that their presence was suspicious”. One of the persons replied ironically: “We are waiting for a relative to come, don’t worry – we are not campaigning”.

PS 01/254, Chisinau, Durlesti. A person periodically returned to the PS and talked with the PS president. He was in the station for 28 minutes, from 18:35 to 18:58. He left and returned at 20:20, waited for a voter to vote, then left. During the day, he entered the PS several times. He drove a Toyota car.

PS 01/255, Chisinau, Durlesti. A car transporting voters was observed several times around the PS. The PEB president was notified, after which the policeman was informed, and, at the request of the policeman, the person left the PS.

PS 28/51 Singerei, Pepeni. A candidate for the position of mayor was in the premises of the polling station without authorization, he created conflict situations. He was located near the polling station starting at 13:00.

PS 01/258, Chisinau, Durlesti. Outside the PS, between 20:10 and 20:38, the Audi car was observed within 100 meters of the PS. That means of transport was also observed periodically within the radius of other PSs in Durlesti.

PS 11/17 Cimislia, CiucurMingir. Several unauthorized persons were in the premises of the house of culture, where the polling station was located. After the PEB president’s observation, they left.

Violation of voting secrecy (photographing the ballot papers, presenting the ballot paper with the cast vote, faulty location of the voting booths that allow the voter’s option to be viewed, etc.) – 11 cases:

PS 26/33 Rezina, Buciusca. A PEB member wrote the nominal list of voters in a notebook. The list was drawn up by the representative of the Socialist Party of the Republic of Moldova, who left the section, having asked the PEB member to continue writing down the surnames/names of the voters in his place.

PS 12/7 Criuleni, Malaiesti Noi. At 14:42, a voter was observed by a competitor’s representative photographing the ballot paper. An observation was made to the voter, he said he deleted the picture.

PS 4/34 Anenii Noi, Speia. A voter took a photo of the ballot paper. As a result, the PEB president canceled the ballot paper, by unanimous vote of the PEB members, and inserted it into the ballot box.

PS 17/10 Falesti, Bocani. At 15:27, a voter took a photo of the ballot paper. At the request of the PEB members, the photo was deleted. No sanctions were applied.

PS 23/1 Nisporeni, Nisporeni. The voter took a photo of the ballot paper after applying the Voted stamp, and the PEB president who noticed that notified the police. A report regarding the contravention was drawn up for the voter in question.

PS 11/33 Cimislia, Lipoveni. A voter took a photo of his ballot paper. He was not punished and was allowed to go.

PS 01/257, Chisinau, Durlesti. A voter, after casting her vote, approached the table of the PEB members and showed the ballot paper with the applied option, asking if “it was visible?” The PEB members confirmed that the vote was visible, after which the ballot paper was inserted into the ballot box, and the voter left the PS.

PS 01/258, Chisinau, Durlesti. A voter took a photo of the ballot paper after expressing his option of voting. At the insistence of the PEB members, the picture was deleted.

PS 2/11 Balti. At 18:16, a voter took a photo of the ballot paper. The PEB secretary made an observation and requested the deletion of the photo. The voter deleted the photo, then voted and left the PS.

PS 2/11 Balti. At 16:43, a voter took a photo of the ballot paper. That was noticed by the PEB members, who made an observation.

PS 01/267, Chisinau, Vadul lui Voda. A drunken voter entered the PS and, after voting, took a photo of the ballot paper. The intervention of the police was needed to resolve the situation described.

Discontinuation of the shooting of electoral operations during the voting day – 3 cases:

PS 27/27 Riscani, Malinovscoe. At the time of the visit, at 15:40, the observers noticed that the video camera was not recording the voting process. The PEB members do not draw attention to that. It was not known when the camera stopped recording.

PS 25/70 Orhei, Mana. While the mobile team was in the PS premises (20 minutes), the shooting process was interrupted. The SAIS Elections operators have communicated that the video camera had technical problems.

PS 35/29 Ungheni, Bulhac. The video camera had technical problems. It got turned off every 2 minutes. The PEB members turned it on only when voters came to vote.

Deficiencies in voters’ lists (address discrepancies, deceased voters, signatures instead of others) – 3 cases:

PS 18/24 Floresti, Tipordei. The voter was not found in the polling station lists according to his residence. He was allowed to vote, having been included in the supplementary lists.

PS 01/248, Chisinau, Codru. A voter signed mistakenly the voters’ lists instead of another voter. At the request of the PEB president, he submitted a statement on own responsibility that he had signed for another person by mistake.

PS 01/255, Chisinau, Durlesti. A person with the address in the identity card assigned to the respective PS, would have had the address in Briceni according to SAIS Elections. The voter was directed to DEC I Durlesti to clarify whether she can vote in Durlesti.

Deficiencies in the functioning of the SAIS Elections System (suspension of operation, situations when SAIS Elections System indicates that the voter voted, and s/he claims not to) – 2 cases:

PS 2/22 Balti. At approximately 14:50, following checks in SIAS Elections, 2 voters were not identified in the system. However, taking into account the fact that their domicile was within the territorial radius of the polling station, with the consent of the PEB president, the voters were included in the supplementary voters’ lists.

PS 01/255, Chisinau, Durlesti. At 16:30, the power went off in the PS premises. The problem was resolved immediately and the electricity was reconnected. However, that case disrupted the activity of SAIS Elections, as it was not possible to be accessed by operators for about 5-10 minutes, after which functionality was restored.

Organized transportation of voters (buses, minibuses, or other transport units that would normally not be around the polling station) – 5 cases:

PS 25/23 Orhei, Chiperceni. A car bringing voters to the polling station in an organized manner was observed (3 times). According to the car driver, he brought the parents, and then the grandfather. Upon exiting the PS, the voter (the “grandfather”) was asked by the Promo-LEX observer who he came with to vote. The voter stated that he did not know the driver.

PS 15/3 Dubasari, Corjova. At 16:06, a car (Lexus, gray in color) transporting voters was observed (for the second time) within 100 m of the PS.

PS 15/3 Dubasari, Corjova. At 18:20, within 100 m of the PS, a car transporting voters in an organized manner was observed (already for the third time).

PS 4/15 Anenii Noi, Chirca. Organized transport of voters by a candidate to the polling station. The candidate was in close proximity to the polling station.

PS 15/3 Dubasari, Corjova. The candidate for mayor was transporting voters to the polling station. The police was noticed, the electoral competitor was taken to the police station and documented.

Presence of advertising materials, posters, electoral boards within the radius of the polling station (100 meters from the station) – 1 case:

PS 4/37 Anenii Noi, Tintareni The presence of a competitor’s electoral poster near the PS.

Unjustified group voting (two or more voters) – 3 cases.

PS 11/40 Cimislia, Satul Nou. Two voters voted together in the voting booth without any justifiable reason.

PS 01/258, Chisinau, Durlesti. Two voters tried to vote simultaneously in the same voting booth. However, at the intervention of the PEB members, they separated.

PS 2/11 Balti. At 16:02, two persons entered the PS, who stayed in a voting booth for 1 minute, later they voted in different booths. The PEB members did not react to that case.

Incidents in the process of closing the PS and counting the votes – 1 case:

PS 2/41 Balti. At 20:30, the PEB members, at the initiative of the President, dismantled 2 voting booths, out of the 3 present ones. They motivated the decision by wishing to get free earlier. Likewise, the PEB president came up with the initiative to start the process of canceling unused ballot papers. The representative of a competitor criticized that initiative, to which the president replied that they would start the procedure after 21:00.

Ballot boxes were not sealed according to legal procedures/ broken/damaged or missing seals on ballot boxes – 2 cases:

PS 18/3 Floresti, Floresti. Stationary ballot boxes were sealed with only three seals. The PEB president stated that he did not receive enough seals for all ballot boxes.

PS 29/43 Soroca, Voloave. The mobile ballot box was not sealed according to legal procedures.

Others – 2 cases:

PS 2/1 Balti. At 14:20, a voter tore up the ballot paper, after he had actually voted, having reasoned that he got confused. The PEB president collected the torn fragments of the ballot paper to document the case, as possible evidence, and called the police.

PS 2/48 Balti. Until 15:26, there were 3 subsequent power cutoffs in the PS, lasting 5 min and with intervals of 10 min. The cutoffs did not affect voting.

The release is drafted within the Observation Mission for the General Local Elections of 5 (19) November 2023, carried out by the Promo-LEX Association with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Program “Democracy, Transparency and Responsibility” and of the European Union through the Project “Strengthening the electoral legislative framework and assessing its implementation during the general local elections in 2023”.

The opinions expressed in the reports and public releases of the Promo-LEX OM belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the point of view of financiers or partners. The content hereof may be subject to editorial revisions.

In case of discrepancies between the text in Romanian and its translation into another language, the provisions established by the Romanian text prevail. 




Promo-LEX Observation Mission for the General Local Elections of 5 (19) November 2023: New details on carrying out the elections

Until 15:00, the Promo-LEX OM received and processed 62 incidents, of which 41 are included in this release.

Unjustified presence of unauthorized persons in the polling station or within 100 m – 9 cases:

PS 19/22 Glodeni, Nicolaevca. Within 10 meters of the polling station (PS), there was a car with a video camera on board oriented to the PS entrance and recording. The PEB president knew about that, but he did not comment anything and did not react to notify the police about that case, having claimed that the car was in that place also in the first round of voting.

PS 01/255, Chisinau, Durlesti. A car with two persons (a man and a woman) was parked near the PS entrance for a longer period of time. When an observer passed by, the persons inside took a picture of him. It was not possible to identify the purpose of those persons being near the PS.

PS 01/259, Chisinau, Durlesti. Several vehicles have been parked for over 30 minutes at the entrance to the PS yard. A person observed in one of those cars accused the Promo-LEX observer that “persons of his type” were guilty of cases of alerting the police who came “to document their people”.

PS 01/257, Chisinau, Durlesti. Starting at 10:15, for a period of more than 30 minutes, two cars (grey and blue) were parked near PS in which unauthorized persons were observed. The purpose of their presence near PS was not clear, but after they had been stationed for more than 30 minutes, another car stopped near PS, from which a candidate for mayor of Durlesti got out. He got into one of two parked cars (grey), and, after 1-2 minutes, the candidate got out of the car, got into the car he came with and, together with the person he talked to, left the PS area. A few minutes later, the grey car returned, having parked again near PS, where it continued to be. Periodically, the person in the car drove around the PS.

PS 25/23 Orhei, Chiperceni. Within 100 m of the PS, 2 transport units were observed to be parked in front of the PS and the representative of a candidate approached the voters and told who to vote for. Police intervention was requested.

PS 31/14 Soldanesti, Cusmirca. One of the candidates for the position of mayor was talking to voters within 35 m of the polling station. A PEB member approached him and told him something, after which he moved from the polling station approximately 150 meters away.

PS 01/256, Chisinau, Durlesti. Near the PS, within 100 m, for a longer period of time (over 1.5 hours), a car with two persons in it was parked. It seemed that they monitored the voters who came to vote.

PS 31/14 Soldanesti, Cusmirca. Councilors of a competitor, within 40 m of the polling station, talked to voters. The PEB president told them repeatedly to leave, and, in the end, they complied, having moved about 150 m away from the polling station.

PS 01/257, Chisinau, Durlesti. At around 12:44, approximately 100 meters from the PS, a candidate for mayor was observed in a parked car. Based on previous observations, he watched the process for about half an hour, then left and returned after some time.

Violation of voting secrecy (photographing the ballot papers, presenting the ballot paper with the cast vote, faulty location of the voting booths that allow the voter’s option to be viewed, etc.) – 11 cases:

PS 25/23 Orhei, Chiperceni. Before the ballot paper was inserted into the ballot box, a drunken voter disclosed who he was voting for by presenting the ballot paper and shouting who he voted for. The PEB president asked him to leave the PS; upon his refusal to comply, the intervention of the police officer was requested. The voter complied and left the PS.

PS 10/13 Causeni, Baimaclia. A voter took a photo of the ballot paper, and the PEB members noticed that and made an observation to him. The voter deleted the photo, put the ballot paper in the ballot box and left the PS.

PS 12/17 Criuleni, Dubasarii Vechi. A voter took a photo of the ballot paper inside the polling station, then posted the photo on social media. That was not noticed at the time, but only after the voter posted the photo. The photo from social networks was identified by the SAIS operators. The PEB president called the police and informed about that case. The sector policeman had to go to the concerned voter’s home to document the case.

PS 36/11 TAUG, Comrat. A voter took a photo of the ballot paper. Later, the voter deleted the photo at the request of the PEB president.

PS 36/32 TAUG, Baurci. At 10:18, a case of a voter taking a photo of the ballot paper in the voting booth was observed. Not a single PEB member reacted to that incident, probably not even having noticed it.

PS 2/47 Balti. At 10:20, a voter took a photo of his ballot paper. The PEB president intervened and requested the person to delete the picture, but the voter did not comply, having argued that he took the picture for himself.

PS 31/14 Soldanesti, Cusmirca Two voters photographed the ballot papers, after having applied the stamp against the electoral competitor. That was brought to the attention of the PEB president, who told the persons to delete the photo taken.

PS 31/14 Soldanesti, Cusmirca The voter took a photo of the ballot paper after casting the vote, against the name of the electoral competitor, and that was noticed by the PEB president, who forced the person to delete the photo taken. The person complied and deleted the photo, but was not punished.

PS 4/34 Anenii Noi, Speia. A voter took a photo of the ballot paper with the voting option. The PEB president notified the case, and the voter got a report issued therefor.

PS 17/10 Falesti, Bocani. At 13:39, a voter photographed the ballot paper with the voting option. The PEB president requested the deletion of the picture. The voter complied.

PS 28/51 Singerei, Pepeni A voter took a photo of the ballot paper. Following the PEB president’s observation, the voter deleted the picture.

Discontinuation of the shooting of electoral operations during the voting day – 5 cases:

PS 31/32 Soldanesti, Vadul-Rascov. During the mobile team’s visit, at 9:31, it was observed that the video camera had not been put into operation throughout the day for the reason that it was not operational. The PEB president claimed that they called the CEC to be able to remove the problem, but the camera was still not operational.

PS 11/14 Cimislia, Mereni. The video camera was connected, but had not recorded anything since the beginning of the day. The PEB members detected that only when the observer took the photo. Starting from 10:46, the camera was operational and the whole process was recorded.

PS 9/15 Calarasi, Frumoasa. At 10:31, it was noticed that the video camera was not recording the voting process and was turned off. The PEB president did not know that, she only found out after asking the observer why the camera was not operational. It was not known exactly when the camera stopped recording. It was later turned on by a SAIS operator.

PS 8/22 Cantemir, Enichioi. When the observers were in the polling station, at about 12:25, the video camera was not operational and did not record the voting process. The PEB members noticed that when the observers arrived and informed them that the camera was not operational so far. They tried to remove the problem, but they did not succeed and they contacted the higher electoral bodies. When the observers left the PS, the video camera was not operational.

PS 25/61 Orhei, Pohrebeni. At 13:35, the observers entered the PS and saw that the video camera was not operational and was not recording the voting process. The PEB president notified that the camera was not operational since 10:00. From 06:50 to 10:00, the camera was operational. The PEB president appealed to the CEC, but the issue remained unresolved. The camera does not record currently the voting process.

Deficiencies in voters’ lists (address discrepancies, deceased voters, signatures instead of others) – 2 cases:

PS 23/38 Nisporeni, Varzaresti. Two voters (spouses) were on the voters’ list from different PSs. Both voters voted at that PS, the woman on the basic voters’ list, and the man (husband) on the supplementary list (with the approval of the PEB president).

PS 18/22 Floresti, Cuhurestii de Sus. The voter was not found in the lists, in the PS corresponding to her residence. The voter was introduced in the supplementary lists and was allowed to vote in that PS.

Deficiencies in the functioning of the SAIS Elections System (suspension of operation, situations when SAIS Elections System indicates that the voter voted, and s/he claims not to) – 3 cases:

PS 9/28 Calarasi, Paulesti During the visit at 9:43, due to the lack of internet connection, the voters’ personal data were written on A4 paper, but were not entered into the system by the SAIS operators.

PS 2/22 Balti. At 9:57, following the operator’s check in the SAIS Elections system, the voter was not identified, although he has a residence visa within the radius of the polling station and with the consent of the PEB president, the voter was included in the supplementary lists.

PS 2/50 Balti. At 10:10, a voter was not identified in the SAIS Elections, but as a result of checking the identity card, it was found that the residence visa indicated in the identity card corresponded to the PS territorial radius and the voter was included respectively in the supplementary lists.

Presence of advertising materials, posters, electoral boards within the radius of the polling station (100 meters from the station) – 1 case:

PS 4/15 Anenii Noi, Chirca. When moving to the PS, election leaflets of an electoral competitor were observed attached on the notice board. It was within 100 m of the polling station.

Organized transportation of voters (buses, minibuses, or other transport units that would normally not be around the polling station) – 2 cases:

PS 22/31 Leova, Sarata-Razesi. A candidate transported in an organized manner, with his own car, voters who came down within a radius of more than 100m.

PS 30/22 Straseni, Lozova. A driver (voter who had expressed his right to vote) was observed twice transporting voters to the PS. A verbal report was drawn up for him by the MIA employee. The driver argued that he only helped his neighbors to reach their destination more easily.

Unjustified group voting (two or more voters) – 3 cases:

PS 01/256, Chisinau, Durlesti. In the case of two voters voting in close voting booths, one applied Voted stamp to both ballot papers, then passed the ballot paper to the second voter to drop into the ballot box. PEB members did not react to that situation.

PS 12/37 Criuleni, Slobozia-Dusca. Two voters voted together in the voting booth. PEB members did not react.

PS 2/59 Balti, Elizaveta. Around 12:10, two voters were observed voting together in a voting booth, although neither showed signs of needing assistance. One of the PEB members made observations about that incident, after which those two persons left immediately the PS premises.

Violence or intimidation of voters or other people – 1 case:

PS 11/33 Cimislia, Lipoveni. A voter insulted PEB members because he was not allowed to have access to vote. He approached the operators without the identity card, only with the attachment. He stated that in the first round he was able to vote without the identity card and was even able to photograph the ballot papers.

Ballot boxes were not sealed according to legal procedures/ broken/damaged or missing seals on ballot boxes – 1 case:

PS 18/35 Floresti, Gura Cainarului. The stationary ballot box was sealed with only 3 seals.

Others – 3 cases:

PS 2/40 Balti. At 12:14, a voter reported to the PEB members that he was contacted by phone by an unknown person, who did not introduce himself and who informed him that the elections (second round) had been canceled and it was not necessary to appear at the polling station to vote. A representative of a party intervened also in the discussion and communicated that he was also contacted anonymously by phone and was informed the same way that the elections had been canceled and he should not vote.

PS 9/23 Calarasi, Horodiste. At the voter’s (elderly) request, the PEB member signed the voters’ list instead of the voter.

PS 16/4 Edinet, Edinet. One voter signed, he said “by mistake”, instead of another voter. According to the PEB member, the signature will be deleted.

Regarding the turnout in some localities where repeat voting takes place.

On 19 November 2023, in addition to the second round of voting, repeat voting is taking place in 8 localities, where less than 1/4 of the number of voters registered in the voters’ lists participated in the first round of voting.

By 15:00, in at least 2 localities, a low voter turnout was observed. It is about the Salcia commune (Taraclia district), where the mayor and the local council are elected, and the Cotovskoe village, where the local council is elected. 8 voters voted in each of 2 localities. Moreover, in another locality – Chioselia Rusa village (TAU Gagauzia), no voters had voted.

We mention that, according to article 177 of the Electoral Code, repeat voting is considered valid regardless of the number of voters who participated in the voting.

The release is drafted within the Observation Mission for the General Local Elections of 5 (19) November 2023, carried out by the Promo-LEX Association with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Program “Democracy, Transparency and Responsibility” and of the European Union through the Project “Strengthening the electoral legislative framework and assessing its implementation during the general local elections in 2023”.

The opinions expressed in the reports and public releases of the Promo-LEX OM belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the point of view of financiers or partners. The content hereof may be subject to editorial revisions.

In case of discrepancies between the text in Romanian and its translation into another language, the provisions established by the Romanian text prevail. 




The Promo-LEX Observation Mission of the General Local Elections of 5 (19) November 2023: Opening of polling stations.

On the day of the second round of voting, the Promo-LEX OM delegated one static short-term observer to each of 175 polling stations (PSs) out of 620 PSs open and expected to be monitored. The other 445 PSs will be observed by 50 (two-observers) mobile teams. We remind that the second round of voting is held in 609 polling stations, and repeat voting in the case of 11 stations.

General data on the opening of polling stations

Information on the opening of polling stations was collected based on 225 observer reports.

According to observers, the vast majority of PSs 219 (97.3%) started their activity on time, at 7:00, except for 6 PSs (2.7%), which were opened with insignificant delays, up to 10 minutes. In 4 PSs (1.2%), the video cameras were not turned on since the start of the electoral operations for opening the polling station. In 65 PSs (28.9%), the solemnity of the voting process was not ensured by playing the national anthem at the opening of the polling station and displaying the state flag in the station. And in 78 PS (34.7%), the thermal agent is not provided.

Incidents reported at the opening of polling stations

Until 10:00, the Promo-LEX OM received and processed 21 incidents.

Electoral campaigning or adverse promotion in the 100 m perimeter and/or in the polling station to influence voters’ choice – 1 case:

PS 2/11 Balti. The representative of a competitor appeared with a transparent folder in which an electoral leaflet could be seen. None of the PEB members noticed or reacted.

Presence of advertising materials, posters, electoral boards within the radius of the polling station (100 meters from the station) – 2 cases:

PS 23/38 Nisporeni, Varzaresti. Electoral campaigning materials were observed within 100 m of the PS. Although an attempt was apparently made to remove them, the picture of one competitor’s team remained. According to the observer, later, the PEB president ordered the removal of the campaigning material.

PS 4/27 Maximovca, Anenii Noi. On a billboard near the polling station, the observer identified A4 leaflets with an electoral message in favor of a competitor.

Unjustified presence of unauthorized persons in the polling station or within 100 m – 2 cases:

PS 15/3 Dubasari, Corjova. Within 100 m of the PS, two women were observed (observed also in the first round of voting on 5 November 2023) talking to voters before and after they exercised their right to vote. One of the women is the grandmother of a competitor’s representative.

PS 25/45 Orhei, Malaiesti. For 18 minutes, the PEB president talked with an unidentified person inside the polling station.

Discontinuation of the shooting of electoral operations during the voting day – 3 cases:

PS 25/81 Orhei, Viscauti. Although the camera was installed and turned on, it did not record the voting process.

PS 25/45 Orhei, Malaiesti. For 10 min (08:03 – 08:14), the camera did not record the shooting process due to a failure of the electrical outlet. The problem has been removed.

PS 31/8 Cot, Soldanesti. The shooting process has been interrupted due to a failure of the extension cord the video camera was connected to. That was observed by PEB members at 08:45.

Deficiencies in the functioning of the SAIS Elections System (suspension of operation, situations when SAIS Elections System indicates that the voter voted, and s/he claims not to) – 3 cases:

PS 4/34 Anenii Noi, Speia. Until 07:10, operators could not connect to the SAIS Elections system.

PS 25/67 Samananca, Orhei. When the polling station opened, at 06:57, the lack of internet connection was detected at both SAIS operators. They started to register the people who came to vote on paper. CEC was called to remove the problem. At 7:15, when the mobile team left the polling station, the problem had not been resolved.

PS 4/34 Anenii Noi, Speia. The SAIS Elections was not operational for 10 min (09:15 – 09:25) because there was no internet connection. In the meantime, the voters expressed their vote while being registered on paper, with the idea that they would later be introduced in the system.

Violations of voting secrecy (photographing ballot papers, etc.) – 3 cases:

PS 11/33 Cimislia, Lipoveni. At 8:04, a voter took a picture of the ballot paper (the flash was noticed when she took the picture). When another observer/representative checked the phone, the picture was not found in the phone’s gallery.

PS 15/3 Dubasari, Corjova. A competitor’s representative was observed standing behind the operators and checking against his lists persons who entered the PS. The PEB president made an observation to him, but he did not react.

PS 01/276, Chisinau, Bubuieci. The voting booths were positioned in such a way that they did not ensure voting secrecy, and it was possible to observe the process of applying the voter’s stamp (the open side of the booths was not facing the wall). The PEB president reasoned that the position of the booths was still good.

Ballot boxes were not sealed according to legal procedures/ broken/damaged or missing seals on ballot boxes – 6 cases:

PS 9/6 Calarasi, Calarasi. The ballot boxes were not sealed according to procedures. The stationary ballot box was sealed with 3 seals and the movable ballot box was sealed incorrectly (the seal was applied to the top and not to the side).

PS 12/7 Criuleni, Malaiestii Noi. The stationary ballot boxes were not sealed according to procedures, only two seals were applied to each one.

PS 01/276, Chisinau, Bubuieci. Stationary ballot boxes were sealed with only 3 seals.

PS 11/35 Schinosica, Cimislia. When the polling station was opened, the mobile ballot box was not sealed completely (the seal was hanging on it). PEB members did not pay attention thereto, and when the observers left the PS at 7:30, the mobile ballot box had still not been sealed.

PS 8/10 Capaclia, Cantemir. The stationary ballot box was sealed with only 3 seals. PEB members did not react to that situation in any way.

PS 9/12 Buda, Calarasi. The mobile ballot box was not sealed. The PEB president announced that the ballot box will be sealed before moving to the locality.

Others – 1 cases:

PS 36/27, TAUG, Vulcanesti. At 7 a.m., there is no electricity in the PS premises due to weather conditions. By 8:30, the power supply was restored. The voting process was not suspended.

The release is drafted within the Observation Mission for the General Local Elections of 5 (19) November 2023, carried out by the Promo-LEX Association with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Program “Democracy, Transparency and Responsibility” and of the European Union through the Project “Strengthening the electoral legislative framework and assessing its implementation during the general local elections in 2023”.

The opinions expressed in the reports and public releases of the Promo-LEX OM belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the point of view of financiers or partners. The content hereof may be subject to editorial revisions.

In case of discrepancies between the text in Romanian and its translation into another language, the provisions established by the Romanian text prevail. 

 




Electoral campaign for the second round more apathetic, but still marked by misuse of administrative resources

Promo-LEX Association published on Friday, 17 November, the Report no. 5 of the Observation Mission for the Local Elections from 5 (19) November 2023, which presents findings on the work of electoral bodies, examination of contestations and notifications, performance of competitors, including their financial reporting, as well as use of hate speech in the campaign for the second round of local elections.

Recount of ballots. Validation of mandates

CEC has ordered for 10-12 November 2023 the recount of ballots in 18 electoral constituencies. Promo-LEX OM observed 57 ballot recount procedures, monitoring the degree of compliance by the bureau members during the recount.  It was found that in more than 42% of cases the voter lists were not checked and in about 25% of the observed cases there was no compliance with the requirement that only one EBPS member should present the ballot papers to all participants. In one case (PS 9/4) the observer was prevented from receiving certified copies of the minutes.

Regarding the results of the recount, we note that the differences in votes were not significant. Relatively higher values were found in only two cases. In the recount of the ballots for the local councils of level I, in the town of Calarasi and in the commune of Mileștii Mici (Ialoveni) differences of about 17 votes were found for PDCM and PSDE candidates, without affecting the distribution of mandates.

From 10 November 2023, the process of confirming the legality of elections and validating the mandates of local elected representatives by the electoral constituency councils began. It should be noted that the involvement of ECEC in this process is a novelty in the electoral legislation, as previously this procedure used to be carried out by the courts.

Promo-LEX OM observed several ECEC meetings and notes that the process of validating mandates generally went according to the normative provisions.

More electoral contestations, but most rejected or inadmissible

According to Promo-LEX observers, in the period 5-15 November, at least 150 contestations and notifications were submitted to electoral bodies (ECEC I – 16, ECEC II – 79 and CEC – 55). Their number has significantly increased compared to previous monitoring periods. Most of the contestations related to vote counting and tabulation, confirmation of the legality of elections, illegal electoral campaigning, use of administrative resources and illegal campaign financing.

As regards the solutions issued, we note that the majority were either rejected or declared inadmissible (49 – at ECEC level and 44 – at CEC level). The deadlines for resolution were not respected in all cases.

A more apathetic electoral campaign

Involving a much smaller number of candidates, the electoral campaign for the second round of the local general elections was more apathetic than that on the eve of the first round and focused mainly on meetings with voters, which accounted for 57% of the total 53 campaign activities observed.

Most activities were carried out by PAS – 45%, followed by PSRM and PN – 12% each. Of the total activities observed, most were organised in Balti – 32%, Ungheni – 15% and Floresti – 10%.

Promo-LEX OM found at least 19 cases that can be qualified as misuse of administrative resources. All of them were in favour of PAS candidates. These include involvement of President Maia Sandu in the local general elections (3 cases) and participation of Prime Minister Dorin Recean (14 cases) and Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Andrei Spinu (2 cases) in campaign activities.

According to Promo-LEX OM, the involvement of the President, the Prime Minister and other public officials in electoral campaign activities violates the principle of clear separation between state institutions and political parties and does not ensure equal opportunities for electoral competitors.

Campaign financed mainly from parties’ budget allocations

According to CEC’s website, for the period 8 – 10 November 2023, out of the 17 political parties and 3 ICs that submitted financial reports, only 9 political parties and 2 ICs declared revenues, amounting to a total of 646,119 lei. In the case of other electoral competitors, no revenues were accrued for the monitored period. Most revenues were reported by PAS – 73%, followed by PN – 14% and PDCM – 4%. The largest share of revenues (74%) is again transfers from the current accounts of political parties, mainly allocations from the state budget.

In the period 8 – 10 November 2023, 11 political parties and 1 IC reported expenditures in total amount of 954,095 lei. The most expenditures were reported by PAS – 70%, followed by PSRM – 15% and PN – 8%.

Following the civic monitoring, Promo-LEX OM estimated that at least 35,401 lei were not spent on electoral activities carried out by 8 political parties. Of the total estimated unreported expenditures, 41% were for PSDE, 22% – PSRM and 18% – PDCM.

According to destination of expenditures estimated as unreported, most were for promotional materials – 41%, followed by social media advertising – 32% and internet advertising – 18%.

During the monitoring period, at least 2 cases of „third party” involvement in financing electoral advertising on social media were found. In this context, Promo-LEX OM reiterates its recommendation that the Electoral Code should regulate political and electoral financing by „third parties”.

Hate speech emphasised

In the period 30 October – 12 November, Promo-LEX identified at least nine cases of hate speech, including two that took a more serious form of manifestation – justifying violence and threats. Another two cases were sexist language and the remaining five took the form of discriminatory language about mental disabilities.

In most instances, the cases identified were based on „political affiliation” and were directed against politicians, members of political parties and their supporters. These nine cases were distributed 1,735 times and had more than 651,000 views.

Please note that on the day of the second round of elections, Promo-LEX OM will delegate a static observer in 174 polling stations and in the other 442 polling stations – the electoral process will be observed by 49 mobile teams of two observers each.

See the full report here.

The report was prepared with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Democratic, Transparency and Accountability Programme and of the European Union under the project „Strengthening the electoral legislative framework and assessing its implementation during the 2023 general local elections”.




REPORT no. 5 | Observation Mission Promo-LEX for the General Local Elections of November 5, 2023




Promo-LEX Election Observation Mission of 2023 General Local Elections: ELECTION DAY FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 




Promo-LEX Observation Mission for the General Local Elections of 5 November 2023: New details on carrying out the elections

The Promo-LEX OM for the General Local Elections of 5 November 2023 notes a total of 1145 alerts reported by Promo-LEX observers until 24:00. The central team of the Promo-LEX OM processed 718 cases with incident status, of which 191 incidents are included in this release.

 Restriction of the observes’ access or obstruction of the free monitoring process in polling station – 5 cases.

 PS 1/163 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 21:07, the Promo-LEX observer received from the PEB secretary 2 minutes: one for mayors, with the names of PEB members, but without signatures, and the second for councilors – incomplete minutes (no names/signatures). The purpose of sending the minutes is to complete the election results by a observer during/after counting the ballot papers.

PS 01/145, Chisinau, Centru. At 21:04, the PEB president and secretary surrounded the area of counting unused ballot papers in such a way that the observers and representatives could not monitor the process of counting them. At the request to grant access for observing, it was stated that access will be ensured during the process of counting the votes.

PS 01/70, Chisinau, Botanica. An attempt was made to shoot the process of counting unused ballot papers, but the PEB members prohibited this. The shooting was allowed only when unused ballot papers were punched.

PS 01/12, Chisinau, Botanica. At 20:20, the PEB secretary handed out the model of the vote counting minutes, noting that the results of the totals will be dictated, and everyone will complete their minutes. All the observers objected and returned the minutes with the mention that PEB members are obliged to hand out them filled in. The PEB president made a call to confirm this and then accepted.

PS 1/201 Riscani, Chisinau. The PEB president accused the Promo-LEX observer of taking pictures and video recordings. He mentioned that it’s allowed to take some pictures only with his consent and in his presence.

Discontinuation of the shooting of electoral operations during the voting day – 17 cases.

PS 1/184 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 15:25, the SAIS operator detected that the camera recording the voting process was discharged and it doesn’t load. The problem was solved at 15:34 by changing the power strip.

PS 1/162 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 21:25, the video camera disconnected during the distribution of the ballot papers according to the names of the candidates, the disconnection being caused by battery discharge. The video camera was reconnected in less than a minute.

PS 1/180 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 21:30, after the unsealing of the ballot boxes, the video camera was not fixed to shoot the process of counting the ballot papers. Even at 21:45, the camera still hadn’t turned to the table where the ballot papers were counted.

PS 2/19 Balti. The video camera didn’t work during the whole day, starting at 07:05. The PEB  members didn’t draw up an act of finding.

PS 2/59 Balti, Elizaveta. The shooting process was stopped at the time of closing the PS.  The bureau members placed the camera on the table for counting the ballot papers, mimicking the shooting process. The STO and other representatives noticed this fact and notified the PEB members. They reacted aggressively and later connected the video camera.

PS 01/12, Chisinau, Botanica. At 21:02, the video camera didn’t record the opening of the first ballot box,. The PEB president began unsealing the ballot box. The video recording was resumed when the votes are counted.

PS 01/145, Chisinau, Centru. When the votes were counted, the video camera was placed approximately at a distance of 2m from the table where the counting of votes takes place.

PS 22/28  Leova, Orac. The video camera doesn’t record the voting process.

PS 22/32 Leova, Sarateni. At 14:40, the observers found that a PEB member was positioned between the ballot box and the video camera, thus obstructing the shooting of the electoral process. While the voters were approaching to put the ballot papers in the box, the woman stood up and pointed with her hand to put the ballot paper. therefore she completely covering the camera view even if the persons are competent to put the vote in the ballot box themselves.

PS 18/12 Floresti, Bahrinesti. The shooting process has been interrupted. Overall,  the camera recorded only 24 seconds from the entrance of the Promo-LEX observer.

PS 30/46 Straseni, Vorniceni. The shooting process has been interrupted. The PEB president stated that the camera worked, but it was disconnected because the memory on the SD card ran out.

PS 25/16 Orhei, Berezlogi. The shooting process has been interrupted. The PEB president stated that he only shooted the process of opening the polling station.

PS 7/23 Cahul, Brinza. The voting process was periodically interrupted. The PEB members were instructed to disconnect the camera periodically to avoid running out of SD card memory.

PS 01/68, Chisinau, Botanica. The shooting process was interrupted for unknown reasons, although the video camera was not moved from the place where the process…… This fact was found at 22:04 p.m, not knowing when the shooting was interrupted. Therefore, the stand and the video camera were gathered by SAIS Elections operators, and the PEB members continued the count vote without the registration of the process.

PS 01/25, Chisinau, Botanica. As soon as the unsealing of the ballot boxes began, the video camera was not placed in close proximity to the tables that the PEB members began the process. The camera continued to shoot the place where the ballot boxes had been standing all day. The SAIS operator changed the camera position when the second ballot box was opened. The first hour of vote counting was not recorded.

PS 1/250 Chisinau, Codru. During the punching unused ballots, the video camera turned itself off. After a minute, the camera was turned on again by the SAIS Elections operators.

PS 1/220 Riscani, Chisinau. The camera was switched on from the beginning of the ballot counting process and it was recording. At 23:31 it was noticed that it doesn’t record, A PEB member was informed and he started the recording again.

Unjustified cessation/suspension of voting in the polling station – 1 case.

PS 2/52 Balti. The PEB members and SAIS operators stopped the voting process with the consent of the PEB President for a period of 5 minutes (17:50-17:55), stating that they must report to the CEC. The voters were outside the PS.

Deficiencies in voters’ lists (address discrepancies, deceased voters, signatures instead of others) – 25 cases.

PS 25/25 Ciocilteni, Orhei. The voter was not found in the list and neither in SAIS Elections. He was included in the additional list.

PS 1/195 Riscani, Chisinau. The address of the voter indicated in the identity card didn’t coincide with the address indicated in the electoral lists. He was identified in SAIS Elections and allowed him to vote.

PS 1/109 Buiucani, Chisinau. The voter wasn’t found in the electoral lists, even if the SAIS operator confirmed that he is assigned to this PS. The PEB president and secretary registered the voter in the additional list.

PS 1/80 Buiucani, Chisinau. The voter wasn’t found in the electoral lists, even if he was found in SAIS Elections. The voter was registered in the additional list and he voted.

PS 1/88 Buiucani, Chisinau. The SAIS operators found that the voter wasn’t on the electoral list, but he was registered in SAIS Elections. The PEB president decided to add the voter to the additional list. The voter was able to exercise his right to vote.

PS 1/96 Buiucani, Chisinau. A voter wasn’t found on the electoral list. The voter was included in the additional list with permission to vote.

PS 21/17 Danceni, Ialoveni. The voter wasn’t found in the database. In the identity card he is domiciled in the given locality. Following consultation with the PEB president and data verification, he was included on the additional voting list.

PS 1/215 Riscani, Chisinau. An address was missing from the electoral lists. Thus, some voters were not on the lists. The PEB registered these voters on the additional list. It should be noted that these voters weren’t included in the database of the SAIS operators of another polling station.

PS 1/171 Chisinau, Ciocana. The voter came to vote and saw that her deceased son was inscribed in the electoral lists.

PS 1/157 Chisinau, Ciocana. A voter signed next to another person’s name, the PEB member noticed that she indicated wrongly and the voter quickly signed next to her name as well. Later, in the lists, the PEB president indicated in the notes about committing the given error.

PS 2/38 Balti. At 16:00, according to a voter, the PEB president refused to let her husband vote, because he was not found in the electoral lists and in SAIS Elections. The voter mentions that she consulted with the LPA, who confirmed that her husband can vote in that section.

PS 2/27 Balti. At 18:38 a voter wasn’t found in SAIS Elections and neither in the electoral lists. The voter mentioned that he didn’t make any changes to his residence visa or domicile after 5 August.  The PEB president allowed him to vote according to the data from the identity card  making a photocopy of the identity card.

PS 2/53 Balti. At 17:12, a voter made a mistake in the electoral list, signing in a different column. The PEB members drew up the act of findings.

PS 2/39 Balti. At 18.10 a voter wasn’t found in the basic electoral lists, having restrictions related to art. 160 of the Electoral Code. She states that she didn’t make any changes to her residence visa or domicile after 5 August. Following consultations, the PEB president allowed her to vote, being included in the additional list.

PS 2/60 Balti, Sadovoe. At 17:36 a voter wasn’t found in the electoral lists. The voter didn’t make any changes to the residence or domicile visa (after 5 August). The voter voted based on the additional lists, according to the data from the identity card.

PS 2/60 Balti, Sadovoe. At 17:32, the PEB secretary cast his vote based on the additional lists, according to the data from the identity card. Although he has a residence visa in the locality, he is not included in the basic electoral lists.

PS 2/39 Balti. At 16:22, two voters weren’t found in the basic electoral lists. One of the voters had restrictions related to art. 160 of the EC. They state that they haven’t made any changes to their residence visa or domicile after 5 August. Following the consultations, the PEB president allowed them to vote, being included in the additional lists.

PS 1/ 152 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 20:50, a voter was observed who signed in a column other than the one intended for signature, but next to her name. At the time of the finding, the voter wasn’t present. The PEB  member drew an arrow from the column where the signature is to the column where it should be.

PS 26/15, Rezina, Ghiduleni. A deceased voter (in Italy ) was identified as being included in the electoral lists. The PEB president knew about the mentioned situation.

PS 01/12, Chisinau, Botanica. A voter, identified by operators in SAIS Elections with the right to vote at the respective PS, he was not found in the basic electoral lists. As a result, he voted on the additional lists.

PS 01/66, Chisinau, Botanica. According to the address on the identity documents within the PS radius, a voter wasn’t found in the basic electoral lists. The PEB president allowed him to vote on the additional lists.

PS 01/116, Chisinau, Centru. Two voters from the same address approached SAIS Elections operators. It was found that one of the persons was assigned to another PS. The person communicated that he had the same problem in the previous elections, after which he left the PS.

PS 01/145, Chisinau, Centru. Two voters were found in SAIS Elections, but they were not included in the basic electoral lists. They voted on the additional lists.

PS 01/130, Chisinau, Centru. During the day, a voter signed in the electoral list with a lower position than the one next to his name. At 20:15, the voter came to whom signed the voter during the day came.  The PEB president stated that he can sign in place of the voter who made the wrong position during the day.

PS 01/116, Chisinau, Centru. A voter presented the identity card to the SAIS Elections operator. It found that the address in the bulletin is different from the address that is in SAIS Elections. The PEB president allowed the inclusion of the voter on the additional lists, because the address from the identity card didn’t correspond to PS.

Photographing of ballots, other violations of voting secrecy  (presentation of the ballot paper with the cast vote, faulty location of the voting booths that allow the voter’s option to be viewed, etc.) – cases – 35 cases.

PS 25/23 Chiperceni, Orhei. The voter took a picture of the ballot papers in the voting booth. The president of the polling station reported and requested the voter to delete the pictures from the phone. He checked and the pictures were permanently deleted from the phone.

PS 25/81 Viscauti, Orhei. A voter took a photo of the ballot. The PEB members interfered, the voter was asked to delete the picture.

PS 1/220 Riscani, Chisinau. A voter took a picture of the ballot paper. A PEB member and the PEB president made observations.

PS 1/226 Riscani, Chisinau. A voter took a photo of the ballot paper. The PEB members did not notice.

PS 1/75 Buiucani, Chisinau. A voter shooted the ballot  paper in the voting booth. The PEB president noticed the incident, he approached and requested to delete the video materials.

PS 1/74 Buiucani, Chisinau. At 18:00 a voter took a photo of the ballot paper. The PEB member warned the voter.

PS 1/105 Buiucani, Chisinau. A voter took a picture of the ballot paper in the voting booth. The PEB president interfered and the picture was deleted from the phone.

PS 1/79 Buiucani, Chisinau. A voter asked the PEB president if the vote he cast would be considered valid, showing the ballot to the PEB president, so that the voting option of the voter is visible. The PEB president didn’t react. The voter inserted the ballot paper into the ballot box.

PS 1/87 Buiucani, Chisinau. The voter took a picture of the ballot paper after applying the stamp on the ballot paper, being in the voting booth. The PEB members did not notice the incident because the voter was hiding.

PS 8/34 Cantemir, Pleseni. A voter was observed taking a photo of his ballot paper before inserting it into the ballot box. The PEB president made a remark to him.

PS 1/149 Chisinau, Ciocana. A voter with the minor child took a picture the ballot paper. The PEB president made a remark to them, but they did not give up. When the PEB members warned them about the possibility of calling the police, did they comply.

PS 1/149 Chisinau, Ciocana. “Where’s the party…?” the voter consulted with someone at the phone. The PEB representative interfered and informed him about the removal of a party from the race. Later, the voter asked if he could vote “against everyone”. That person also assisted a person with disability.

PS 1/162 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 16:04, on the premisesinof  the PS, a person came out of the voting booth, and when her son was supposed to enter, that person loudly told him to vote for a certain competitor. The PEB members did not make any comments in this regard.

PS 1/182 Chisinau, Ciocana. Between 15:00 and 15:10 in the voting booth, a voter took a photo of her ballot paper. Being informed by the PEB president, he forced the person to delete the photos taken.

PS 2/11 Balti. At 6:07 p.m., a voter attempted to take a photo of the ballot paper, being stopped by a PEB member.

PS 2/35 Balti. At 18:19 a voter attempted to take a photo of the ballot paper. The PEB president noticed him and took over his phone for the voting period. After this, the president returned the voter’s phone.

PS 2/53 Balti. At 18:15 a voter took a photo of the ballot paper. The PEB president noticed this and requested the voter to delete the photo from the phone. The voter deleted the picture in the presence of the president and later allowed him to vote.

PS 2/57 Balti. At 17:47 a voter took a photo of the ballot paper. This was noticed by PEB members who noticed him and requested to delete the photo. At the observation, the voter reacted with the expression “Pretend I deleted it”, he put the ballot paper in the ballot box and left the PS. The PEB president did not take any other measures.

PS 2/57 Balti. At 17:39, a voter tried to take a photo of the ballot paper, but she was stopped by the PEB member, who made a remark. She was allowed to vote.

PS 2/30 Balti. At 19:52 a voter came to the polling station in a drunken state and he wanted to call and take a photo of the ballot paper. The PEB president approached to him and explained that it was not allowed.

PS 2/35 Balti. At 20:33, two voters (probably a couple) attempted to photograph the ballot paper, which was stopped by the PEB president. Both exercised their vote and left the PS. No other sanctions were applied.

PS 2/57 Balti. At 20:58, a voter tried to take a photo of the ballot paper, but she was stopped by the PEB president. The president requested that the voter present her phone with photos, after which she was allowed to vote.

PS 36/17 ATUG, Ceadir-Lunga. At 17:03, a voter attempted to take a photo of the ballot paper. He was noticed by a PEB member who made a remark. She threw the ballot into the ballot box and quickly left the PS.

PS 1/164 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 18:58 a voter started taking photos of the ballot paper. The president of PEB made a remark, and the voter replied that “its his business”, he put the ballot paper in the ballot box and left the polling station.

PS 1/159 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 16>15 a voter entered in the voting booth, after putting the stamp he took out his phone and took a picture. After the intervention of the PEB member, the voter only argued that he looked at the time.

PS 36/17 ATUG, Ceadir-Lunga. At 17:03 p.m., a voter attempted to take a photo of the ballot paper. This was noticed by a PEB member, who pointed it out. She threw the ballot into the ballot box and quickly left the PS.

PS 28/58, Singerei, Radoaia. A voter took a photo of the ballot paper, and he was noticed only by one of the SAIS Elections operators, who, however, did not communicate about this.

PS 28/58, Singerei, Radoaia. A voter took a photo of the ballot. No PEB member noticed that case.

PS 01/114, Chisinau, Centru. A voter took a photo of the ballot paper. At the request of PEB members, he communicated that he would have deleted the picture.

PS 18/53, Floresti, Putinesti. A voter took a photo the ballot paper in the voting booth. The PEB president was notified and he took action and requested that the picture be deleted.

PS 20/2 Hincesti, Hincesti. A bright flash was seen in the voting booth, which confirms that the voter took a picture of the ballot paper.

PS 25/60 Orhei, Pohorniceni. The representative of a competitor drew up 3 lists of voters who cast their vote. She mentioned that she makes the lists for “statistics”.

PS 22/32 Leova, Sarateni. The Promo-LEX observers found that the representative of a political party wrote down in her personal book the names and surnames of the voters who came to vote.

PS 27/4 Riscani, Riscani. Two voters without visual impairment or other justified reason were in the same voting booth.

PS 36/52 ATUG, Congazcicul De Sus. An elderly man took a photo of his ballot paper.

Undistributed  ballots to PEB members are not kept in a safe/closet inside the polling station – 3 cases.

PS 01/116, Chisinau, Centru. At 20:20, the PEB president took all the ballot papers not distributed to PEB members out of the safe. She counted them and arranged them on a PS table without putting them back in the safe.

PS 21/18 Ialoveni, Gangura. Undistributed ballots are not kept in the safe, but sit on the table behind the PEB members.

PS 25/16 Orhei, Berezlogi. The undistributed ballots by PEB members are not kept in a safe or cabinet inside the polling station, but in the next room on a table. The door to the next room is right next to the PEB president’s desk.

Rumors, attempts or even situations of material or monetary rewards offered to voters in the 100 m perimeter of the polling station to determine the voters’ vote – 2 cases.

PS 15/3, Dubasari, Corjova. There are rumors among voters that money was being offered for voting. Some voters, addressed an independent candidate after voting for the position of district councilor, requesting details about the location where they can pick up the money. In one case, the candidate was observed driving a voter near the PS where a woman was waiting for him, who took the said voter with her. From discussions with other people, it has been established that the woman is the independent candidate’s grandmother. During the day, the candidate was often observed in front of the PS, with a periodicity of no more than 10 minutes, when she discusses something with “the people”, who then come to vote.

PS 4/41 Anenii Noi, Zolotievca. At 14:40 when they arrived at PS, the observers noticed that every voter who exercised his right to vote was taking the same route to the pub in the village. They approached the place and from what they heard the voters were receiving the reward in the form of alcohol and monetary resources, they also noticed the presence of the city hall officials as well as the current mayor. The pub is located less than 100 meters away. According to the PEB president, this is the only pub in the village and people spend their Sundays in this way.

Ballot boxes were not sealed according to legal procedures/ broken/damaged or missing seals on ballot boxes – 3 cases.

PS 2/17 Balti. The PEB president applied 2 seals to the mobile ballot box, sealing also the space where the ballots must be inserted. After the return of the PEB members who were with the mobile ballot box, at 15:33 a seal was removed from the place where it was incorrectly placed.

PS 01/62, Chisinau, Botanica. During the day, one of the four seals applied to the stationary ballot box was unintentionally damaged by voters. The president of PEB did not notice this.

PS 21/18 Ialoveni, Gangura. The stationary ballot box was sealed with 2 seals.

Unjustified voting in a group (there are 2 or more people in voting booths) or when one and the same person assists voters several times who cannot fill in the ballots themselves – 20 cases.

PS 25/23 Chiperceni, Orhei. Two people voted in the same voting booth. They did not comply with the observations of PEB members.

PS 1/239 Riscani, Chisinau. While one voter was in the voting booth, another voter approached and indicated who to vote for.

PS 1/201 Riscani, Chisinau. Two voters voted in the same voting booth. The PEB members warned the voters.

PS 1/222 Riscani, Chisinau. Two voters entered the same voting booth and one of them stamped both ballot papers (both his and the other voter’s). The PEB members did not react to the incident.

PS 1/100 Buiucani, Chisinau. At around 17:40 the group voting of 2 voters (elderly) took place. When the PEB president was notified, the voters opposed, they continued to vote in groups. In a short time, one of the voters tried to leave the institution without inserting the ballot paper into the stationary ballot box. The PEB members blocked access to the exit, after which both voters were again together in the voting booth. One of them went to the ballot box, and the other voter took the ballot from his hand, inserting the vote stamp by himself on 2 ballot papers. In all circumstances the PEB members tried to limit them from committing violations, but without success.

PS 1/101 Buiucani, Chisinau. Two voters (members of a family) voted in the same voting booth. They did not react to the observations of the PEB members.

PS 1/283 Chisinau, Ciorescu. At 11:00, in the same voting booth, the mother assisted by her daughter voted (mother being visually impaired). The daughter gave both the mother and the neighbor accurate clues as to who to vote for. The president of PEB interfered and forbade the entry of 2 people into the ballot box, but the latter did not comply.

PS 1/161, Chisinau, Ciocana. At 17:22, two voters and a child entered the polling station to exercise their right to vote. One of the voters, after voting, went to the voting booth, where the other woman was with the child, indicating who to vote for. A PEB member reported himself, warning the voter about the restrictions in the PS premises. She moved away from the booth, leaving the voter with the child to vote.

PS 1/152 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 16:32, a voter tried several times to ask other people from other voting booths something. The PEB members noticed that she was disturbing the other voters, but the woman continued the same behavior. She then went into his voting booth and cast her vote.

PS 1/185 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 16:00, two people entered the voting booth, none of them seemed to need assistance. People voted and left, and the PEB members had no reaction.

PS 1/189 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 14:30, a mother and her daughter (49 years old) came to the polling station to vote. Visibly, none of them had special needs to be assisted. Taking their ballot papers, both voted in different booths. The mother came out 1 min away after her daughter. After which, in a few seconds, her mother returns with the ballot paper for councilors in her hand and went straight to the voting booth, where she applied the stamp voted for a political party and folded it, wanting to put it in the ballot box. Being observed, she communicated that her daughter has mental disabilities, cannot read and write and left with a ballot paper in her short pocket (the ballot for councilors) and she decided to apply the stamp instead of her daughter. The ballot has been cancelled.

PS 2/46 Balti. At 18:36, two voters attempted to vote in a group. On the observation of the PEB members, they moved to different voting booths.

PS 7/3 Cahul. At 17:56 two voters (mother and daughter) voted in separate booths, but for 20-30 seconds they were in the same booth. The PEB members did not comment on the incident. The persons were not visually impaired.

PS 1/158 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 18:38, 2 voters, even if they were in different voting booths, consulted each other during the voting process. One of them was observed moving to the other in the cabin for discussions. After the intervention of the PEB deputy president, voters exercised their right to vote without consultations, in separate booths.

PS 1/174 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 19:29, two voters, who were in separate voting booths, consulted each other during the voting process, including showing each other the chosen option. After a PEB member warned them, they continued to vote without further discussion.

PS 1/162 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 20.30 two voters, father and son, went to the same voting booth. After the PEB member interfered, voters exercised their right to vote in different booths.

PS 1/174 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 17:40, 2 people were communicating with each other while filling in the ballot papers. The PEB member warned them, after which the voters inserted ballot papers into the ballot box.

PS 1/154 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 18:08 a voter, after voting, approached another voter and showed her how to vote. The PEB president did not make any remarks.

PS 18/53, Floresti, Putinesti. There were two people in the voting booth, explaining that they cannot fill in the ballot papers themselves. The PEB president made a remark to them, they complied and voted separately.

PS 24/5 Ocnita, Otaci. Two voters were simultaneously in the same voting booth for no reason. The reaction of PEB members was lacking.

Presence of advertising materials, posters, electoral boards within the radius of the polling station (100 meters from the station) – 1 case.

PS 25/23 Chiperceni, Orhei. Within 100 m of the polling station, a tractor is parked in front of the city hall on which a competitor’s flyer is stuck.

Interruption during the voting day of the filming process – 3 cases.

PS 35/57 Petresti, Ungheni. It was detected at 18:03 that the shooting process was stopped because the camera’s memory is loaded.

PS 1/198 Riscani, Chisinau.  At 15:15 it was observed that the camera was disconnected. Following the notification by the observer to the PEB secretary, the operator checked the camera and started the recording.

PS 1/288 Chisinau, Colonita. Between 11:25-11:35 the shooting process was stopped for technical reasons. The problem has been fixed.

Acts of violence or intimidation of voters or other persons – 9 cases.

PS 1/224 Riscani, Chisinau. Two voters who came together to the PS were very indignant that one of them was not on the electoral lists. One of them insulted the PEB president and the operators.

PS 1/198 Riscani, Chisinau. An aggressive voter insulted the PEB members, representatives and observers, because it was difficult to find PS.

PS 2/30 Balti. At 19:06 a voter started insulting the PEB members, because the daughter (24-25 years old), after the marriage, was supposed to appear at the section where she had the new residence visa, but she was redirected to the old one – PS 2/30. The voter was indignant, because his daughter was not identified by the PEB members in this section either.

PS 2/31 Balti. At 19>20 a voter behaved aggressively and inappropriately. The PEB  president allowed him to exercise his vote and after that he called the police. That person was escorted by the police at 19:30. Until 8:20 p.m., the policeman was present in the police station, who was drawing up the minutes together with the PEB  president.

PS 2/25 Balti. At 19:40, the representative of an independent candidate videotaped the PEB president talking on the phone with someone about the incident that took place at 17:43. The PEB members pointed out to him that he is not allowed to record video. The representative called her lawyer (a third party who is not authorized to be in the polling station) and the police. They retired to another room to talk.

PS 2/44 Balti. At 20:00 a voter presented himself with a temporary identity card. The PEB president forbade him to vote due to the restrictions of art. 160 of the Electoral Code. Later, at 20:50, the voter came again with an American passport and was again denied the vote. The voter behaved aggressively and insulted those present.

PS 1/151 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 20:15, a voter, after registering with the SAIS operators to vote, caused a scandal in the PS, as soon as she examined the electoral list, in which she should have signed to receive the ballot paper. The reason for the trouble was that one of his sons, by mistake, would have signed instead of the second son, who would be in Amsterdam. The voter blamed the PEB members for the mistake committed. After several attempts to clarify the situation and calm the person in question, the PEB president called the district police officer, who escorted her out of the PS. The voter did not exercise her right to vote.

PS 2/59 Balti, Elizaveta. At 21:10, after the observer alerted the PEB members about the non-functioning of the video camera, the PEB members reacted with aggressive behavior, calling the observers obscene words.

PS 01/32, Chisinau, Botanica. A voter, presumed to be drunk, voted and then tore up the ballot paper in front of those present in the premises of PS, after which he inserted the ballot paper into the ballot box. The president of PEB called the police and filed a complaint, and the police officer drew up a report.

Electoral campaigning or adverse promotion in the 100 m perimeter and/or in the polling station to influence voters’ choice – 2 cases.

PS 1/242 Riscani, Chisinau. At 15:56, a voter came to the PS and protested as if she had been called by someone in order to convince her to go to the polls and to vote for a certain competitor because another one is removed from the race.

PS 1/79 Buiucani, Chisinau. A voter entered the polling station with an advertising material, demonstratively showing it to the people in the station (observers and party representatives), upon the PEB member’s request to hide the material, he complied.

Rumors, attempts or even situations of material or monetary rewards offered to voters in the 100 m perimeter of the polling station to determine the voters’ vote – 3 cases.

PS 1/87 Buiucani, Chisinau. It was observed how one person handed another person who came out of the polling station €50, while they were talking about political parties.

PS 1/161 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 15:48, a voter wanted to cast his vote without registering at SAIS Elections, without offering the ballot paper to be registered. The PEB president explained to him the procedure for voting, but the given voter did not want to comply and caused agitation in the PS. The PEB president called the police, while another member of PEB tried to explain the correct procedure to the person. Later, when the police officer arrived at the PS, the person calmed down and voluntarily left the PS.

PS 01/46, Chisinau, Botanica. In the premises of the PS, a representative of a competitor has conversations on Viber with the following content: ” ok, there are… some of ours that will come ” … “look for results at 16:00″ … ” 500+6 are ours “.

Unjustified presence of unauthorized persons in the polling station or within 100 m – 14 cases.

PS 12/23 Izbeste, Criuleni. At 16:20, within 100 m of the PS, a group of young people, where there was also a person appearing in the ballot paper for local councilors from a party, stayed longer than necessary. The PEB president was notified about this fact. The President intervened by making an observation to them, but without any results. Finally, the PEB president informed the representative of the security forces and took measures.

PS 1/208 Riscani, Chisinau. In the PS premises after 21:00 when the doors were supposed to be closed and no third parties were to be in the room, the policeman is present in the voting hall.

PS 4/34 Anenii Noi, Speia. At 14.57 near the PS, at a distance of less than 100 m, there were candidates for the position of mayor and local councilors. At the warning of the PEB president, they only moved a little away from the polling station. The president called the police to remove the incident. The police intervened quickly, and the unauthorized persons left there.

PS 34/26 Telenesti, Mindresti. At 16:40, a voter entered and raised his voice and said some unclear phrases. He did not intend to vote, noting that he came to see the PEB members and observers. The PEB president intervened asking him to come out.

PS 16/43 Edinet, Ruseni. At approximately 12:30 a car was observed to be within 10 m of the PS and parked for several hours. At approximately 16:55 it was observed that the driver was talking to the PR representative. Later, the driver moved away from PS, at a distance of about 50-60m.

PS 1/167 Chisinau, Ciocana. At approximately 19:28, a person entered the polling station 3 times, with 3 different people. Based on the statements of the SAIS operators and the PEB president, that person was waiting for each voter who entered into the booth. The PEB president asked him for an explanation and the people left, the man stating that the accompanied people were “his children”.

PS 1/157 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 18.21, an elderly woman entered the polling station, who said that she only came “only to look for”, presenting herself as an observer. There was a woman at the gate who recorded the number of people entering. When asked who she is, she replied that she was from a candidate and was directing people to the polling station.

PS 28/21, Singerei, Chiscareni. Near the PS, a candidate for mayor was observed talking with other people. The discussions lasted around 20 minutes.

PS 28/29, Singerei, Coscodeni. A representative from the District Council with a voter, entered the PS at 12:40 and sent a message of congratulations and thanks to the PEB members for the work they are doing today. After 3-4 minutes, they left the PS premises.

PS 28/4, Singerei. The candidate designated by a political party for the position of councilor, entered the PS already for the second time, and at 15:23 he sat down on the chair. The PEB president asked him to do a research, and as a result of the identification that he is not authorized to be in the premises of the PS, he was asked to leave the PS.

PS 01/47, Chisinau, Botanica. In the premises of the PS, for 20 minutes, there was an unauthorized person – a friend of one of the PEB members. They discussed, checked the information from the phones. After several notifications to the PEB president and secretary, the mentioned person left the PS.

PS 28/2, Singerei. During the day, the candidate of a political party for the position of city councilor, was all day in the premises of the PS and observed the voting process, being considered by the PEB members as a representative of the electoral competitor. At the end of the day, it was found that at the time of the presentation in the PS premises at the beginning of the day, the PEB members did not check her documents that would prove her right to be present during the day in the PS – documents that the candidate did not have. At the end of the day, she was spotted chatting near the PS with a deputy.

PS 25/21 Orhei, Braviceni. Within 100 m of the PS there are 3-4 groups of 4-5 people conversing in the group.

PS 01/126, Chisinau, Centru. The police officer was in the PEB premises starting with the closing of the PS and during the vote counting process the deputat members did not react in any way.

Organized transport of voters (coaches, minibuses or other transport units that would not normally be around) – 2 cases.

PS 16/43 Edinet, Ruseni. Two minibuses were observed twice near the polling station: Once during the day, and the second time – at 20.50. The driver left the location after the observer’s remarks.

PS 5/4 Basarabeasca, Basarabeasca. The wife of the former president of the district brought two voters with her personal vehicle, who later went directly to the polling station. (The observer does not know if the voters in question are related/acquainted with the woman).

Deficiencies in the operation of SAIS Elections (suspension of operation; situations when SAIS Elections indicates that the voter voted, and he claims that he did not vote) – 9 cases.

PS 1/198 Riscani, Chisinau. When counting voters from the lists, the PEB members found that 8 fewer people are registered in SAIS Elections than in the lists. Members assume that this happened due to the inattention of the trial participants or due to some Internet connection errors, because such errors persisted in the first part of the day. The PEB members search for unregistered voters in the personal identification number database and register them.

PS 1/246 Chisinau, Codru. When checking in SAIS Elections, a voter was going to vote in another PS. Upon proof of residence within the scope of this PS, the voter voted on the additional lists.

PS 1/273 Chisinau, Bacioi. A voter presented himself at the PS who, following the verification in SAIS Elections, had a special status. After calling the CEC hotline, the voter was included in the additional list. In the period 1996-2023 he was declared deceased, and from February 2023 he had completed a new identity document.

PS 1/149 Chisinau, Ciocana. Addresses registered differently, in the SAIS Elections system, the voter having a different address than the one indicated on the identity card sheet. The PEB secretary offered the opportunity to write his address on the sheet and be included in the additional lists. The person refused and left without voting.

PS 1/175 Chisinau, Ciocana. The operation of SAIS Elections was suspended between 14:12 and 14:17. The incident was caused by the electrical current settling at the outlet that fed the laptop and the server. The problem was fixed in a short time.

PS 2/40 Balti. At 18.10 a voter came to the polling station, but SAIS Elections resulted her old address of residence and her current address is at the polling station where she presented herself. After clarifying by phone, the president allowed her to vote.

PS 2/25 Balti. At 17.43 a voter was not found in SAIS Elections and neither the electoral lists. The voter mentioned that he changed his residence visa, within Balti municipality, after 5 August. Following the consultations, the PEB president allowed the voter to vote based on the additional lists, a copy of the identity card being made.

PS 01/33, Chisinau, Botanica. Two voters, husband and wife, who previously voted at the same PS, having the same address and data in their identity documents, approached the PS to vote. The husband was identified in SAIS Elections and the basic electoral lists, but the wife was missing from both. As a result, the husband voted and the wife did not.

PS 30/45 Straseni, Vorniceni. Two voters, husband and wife, were on different electoral lists, having to vote at different polling stations.

Incidents in the process of closing the PS and counting the votes – 20 cases.

PS 1/198 Riscani, Chisinau. After the polling station was declared closed, the PEB unsealed the ballot boxes and turned them over on a table to count the votes, but did not change the camera to record the vote counting process.

PS 1/293 Gratiesti, Chisinau. A party representative returned to PS at 21:31, the door being locked because the PEB members were already counting the ballots. The president of PEB allowed him to enter.

PS 1/293 Gratiesti, Chisinau. The police officer assists in the ballot counting process.

PS 1/208 Riscani, Chisinau. Starting at 9:00 p.m., the police is in the polling station.

PS 25/45 Malaiesti, Orhei. On November 4, and respectively on election day, the observer asked the president about the number of applications for voting at home, being informed that it was 11, and when the mobile ballot box was unsealed, there were 12 ballots.

PS 1/107 Buiucani, Chisinau. In the premises of the PS, at 21:00 after the closure of the PS, two unauthorized persons were observed arranging the furniture and assisting in the process of unsealing the ballot boxes. The PEB president explained that these people are the guards of the educational institution where the PS is located.

PS 25/6 Orhei, Orhei. After the polling station was closed, the video surveillance camera was turned off because it no longer has memory. Accordingly, CECE II was called, it was announced that the surveillance camera was not working, and consent was given to start the vote counting process.

PS 1/107 Buiucani, Chisinau. The PEB secretary requested that the observers and representatives of the competitors participate in the process of counting the ballots, reasoning that they will complete it faster. 3 people accepted the request and participated in the trial.

PS 35/57 Petresti, Ungheni. When the ballot boxes were unsealed, the video camera was taken and the counting process is not recorded.

PS 01/126, Chisinau, Centru. The police officer was in the PEB premises starting with the closing of the PS and during the vote counting process. The PEB members did not react in any way.

PS 31/02 Soldanesti, Soldanesti. Starting at 21:29, the electricity was disconnected in PS, but not in other rooms of the building, where PS was located. By 10:31. the electricity had not been restored. The counting of ballots began at 10:04. The lamps were brought to the aid of PEB members. The camera did not disconnect, when the power went out, it continues to work. The act of finding wasn’t drawn up. The reason for the disconnection is unknown.

PS 25/23 Chiperceni, Orhei. After the closing of the polling station at 21:00, after the unused ballots were counted, some incidents occurred. The ballot papers for district councilors, 2 ballots were not enough. When the ballot boxes were opened, these 2 ballot papers were found in the ballot box.

PS 1/79 Buiucani, Chisinau. Starting at 22:30, within 20 minutes, the representatives of the political parties (RP and MDCP) got involved in distributing the ballot papers. The PEB members did not comment on them.

PS 01/56, Chisinau, Botanica. At 21:50, when the stationary ballot boxes were unsealed and the process of counting the votes started, the mobile ballot box was not unsealed and remained on the same place all day after returning from the territory. The PEB members did not notice this.

PS 01/115, Chisinau, Centru. The PS was closed at 21:00. At 21:18, the PEB president was called by someone saying that a representative of a competitor is requesting entry into the PS after its closing. At the CEC’s direction, the PEB members voted for his admission to the PS. Therefore, the PS door was reopened.

PS 1/185 Chisinau, Ciocana. 2 PEB members at 22:46 took part of the ballot papers for local councilors and counted them out of sight of the video camera.

PS 01/56, Chisinau, Botanica. The mobile ballot box was practically unsealed after the end of the vote counting process. Earlier, when the stationary ballot boxes were unsealed and the counting process was started, the mobile ballot box was not unsealed and remained on the same place the whole day after returning from the territory. The PEB members did not notice this.

PS 01/131, Chisinau, Centru. The process of counting votes was assisted by an unauthorized person who turned out to be a driver. During the voting day, he periodically entered and left the PS premises.

PS 1/293 Chisinau, Gratiesti. 2 men knocked on the door half an hour after the polling station was closed (at 21:00), one of whom was a representative of a competitor, who left PS around 16-17. They insisted on access to the polling station. After a call the president allowed the representative to enter. After 10 minutes, acquaintances of the observer came and behaved inappropriately, they were shouting, pounding on the door to open it. A police car was called by the police and arrived within 40-50 minutes. After the arrival of the police the situation improved, but the observer who remained in the polling station. HE called and wrote to the men with inappropriate behavior who were at the school gates.

PS 1/223 Riscani, Chisinau. When the PEB member sees that the vote has been applied on the first page of the brochure, he does not even check whether it is valid or not. He does not open the brochure to look further, and puts them all in a pile. The ballots were counted by another person nearby, but they remained unverified, they were only counted (499). Neither did the president check the number of votes.

Problematic situations regarding the use of ballot papers contrary to voting procedures – 8 cases

PS 25/23 Chiperceni, Orhei. A voter, going to the voting booth to cast his secret ballot, spotted a ballot paper,  left in the vooting booth and notified the election officials that he had spotted a ballot. A member of the polling station inserted the ballot into the ballot box.

PS 1/102 Buiucani, Chisinau. At 17:40 a voter received the ballots for the mayor and councilor, and after voting she put only the ballot  paper for the mayor in the ballot box, two members of PEB claim that they saw how she put the ballot vote for councilors in the personal bag. The voter denied this fact. The PEB members wanted to call the police who are on duty at the polling station, but this were not there. Finally she was granted a new ballot vote for councilors,. The voter voted and left.

PS 1/79 Buiucani, Chisinau. At 20:40 the PEB members have already started to count the unused ballots. Several unallocated ballots are not in the safe, but on the table, next to the president,. The seals are also counted, i.e. those that have not been applied to the ballot boxes. In the involvement of another PEB member, those who were counting, stopped the counting activity. The president of PEB did not intervene.

PS 21/16 Costesti, Ialoveni. After voting with the mobile ballot box, only 5 out of 7 voters voted. The PEB operators, by mistake, entered all 7 in SAIS Elections. The minutes were drawn up. Upon the tabulation of votes, the mistake committed will be taken into account, to exclude these 2 voters from the centralization of voting.

PS 1/198 Riscani, Chisinau. A voter tried to leave the PS with the ballot papers. He was stopped by the PEB secretary.

PS 1/293 Chisinau, Gratiesti. A voter forgot the ballot papers in the voting booth. The president took them out and put them in the ballot box.

PS 01/63, Chisinau, Botanica. A voter, after registering and taking the ballot papers, in an attempt to remove the ballots from the PS, turned and began to run from the polling station with the ballots. At the same time, SAIS Elections operators and 2 representatives ran after him. They had caught up and brought him back to the station, where the situation to be clarified. The police were also called on the spot.

PS 19/33 Glodeni, Sturzovca. In the voting booth were identified unused ballots. The president of PEB must draw up a protocol for canceling the ballots.

Voting based on non-compliant identity documents – 3 cases.

PS 2/52, Balti. At 18.43, a voter presented himself at the PS with his driver’s license and ID supplementary sheet. Following the consultations, at 18:47, PEB members allowed him to vote based on the documents presented.

PS 2/52, Balti. At  18.29, SAIS operators registered the voter based on the driver’s license. The PEB members forbade her to vote, but after consultations, they allowed her to vote based on the driver’s license, she presented the photo of the identity card on the phone.

PS 1/244 Riscani, Chisinau. One voter was only allowed to vote with a photo ID card on the phone.

Other – 6 cases.

PS 1/212 Riscani, Chisinau. A case was detected where a person voted 2 times. On 3 November , this person from Chisinau, being admitted to the „Sfanta Treime” hospital, submitted a request that he would like to vote at the place of his stay. In the morning he voted at the polling station where he had the residence. When the members of the electoral office went with the mobile ballot box to the address of the request, the voter did not admit that he had voted before today. It was detected in the evening, when the operators were entering the data from the identity card into the system. A report has been written on this case.

PS 2/27 Balti. At 18:02 a voter had many complaints, which were intended for state institutions, from the city hall to the presidency, and he wanted to put them in the ballot box, in order to reach the destination. The president explained to him that he is not allowed and convinced him to submit them to the city hall. He entered the voting booth and he stayed for 11 minutes and wrote with a pen on them.

PS 2/34 Balti. At 19.15, a voter, being in the voting booth, was having a telephone conversation. At the observation made by the PEB president, the person displayed aggressive behavior. In the end, the person calmed down and he expressed his vote and left.

PS 01/121, Chisinau, Centru. SAIS Elections operators communicated that while the PEB members were at Penitentiary no. 13 for the detainees to express their right to vote, it was found that 5 people had residence visas in Chisinau or Chisinau municipality, but they had restrictions according to art. 160 of the Electoral Code. Likewise, a person voted with an identity card, without a personal identification number. These people voted, but were not entered in SAIS Elections.

PS 7/57 Cahul, Taraclia de Salcie. A PEB member was excluded from PEB, because he is related to an electoral competitor.

PS 1/280 Chisinau, Budesti. The ballots were found without the “Withdrawn” stamp in the right of a candidate. However, they had the stamp voted for another candidate. The ballots given have been cancelled.

 The release is drafted within the Observation Mission for the General Local Elections of 5 November 2023, carried out by the Promo-LEX Association with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Program “Democracy, Transparency and Responsibility” and of the European Union through the Project “Strengthening the electoral legislative framework and assessing its implementation during the general local elections in 2023”.

The opinions expressed in the reports and public releases of the Promo-LEX OM belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the point of view of financiers or partners. The content hereof may be subject to editorial revisions.

In case of discrepancies between the text in Romanian and its translation into another language, the provisions established by the Romanian text prevail. 




Promo-LEX Observation Mission for the General Local Elections of 5 November 2023 | New details on carrying out the elections

The Promo-LEX OM for the General Local Elections of 5 November 2023 notes that of the total of 994 alerts reported by Promo-LEX observers until 19:00, the central team of the Promo-LEX Mission processed 527 as incidents, of which 213 incidents are included in this release.

Obstruction of the free observation and/or intimidation of observers – 1 case.

PS 1/106 Buiucani, Chisinau. The observer was intimidated by the PEB president, with the pretext firstly that she would not be allowed to take pictures or video, and she warned her after about 25 minutes that “she could have problems”. Later, the PEB president approached the observer several times and threatened to write a petition to the CEC against her by tonight.

Problematic situations regarding the exercise of the right to choose – 7 cases.

PS 1/72 Buiucani, Chisinau. A person with disabilities could not enter the polling station due to the lack of an access ramp and voted outside, but he was given everything and a board so that no one could see where he was putting stamp. PS 1/94 Buiucani, Chisinau. At 14:00, a voter approached the operator’s table to be registered, the operator asked for the identity card attachment but the voter did not have it. Both the operator and the PEB president refused, having argued that the presence of the attachment was mandatory.

PS 1/100 Buiucani, Chisinau. The voter could not be lifted up on the ramp (the ramp was at an awkward angle) to enter the polling station. The PEB president explained the cause to the voter, as the voter did not submit a preventive application to vote at home, but the voter did not have a medical certificate for a mobile ballot box to be transported at home, so he did not have the opportunity to vote.

PS 01/55, Chisinau, Botanica. One voter was forbidden to vote with his passport, he was carrying an expired identity card. The PEB president informed the voter that he can obtain a provisional identity card at the nearest Multipurpose Center.

PS 25/9, Orhei. After the registration of the identity document by the SAIS Elections operator and signing in the voters’ lists, the voter was informed by the PEB president that it was mandatory to apply the “Voted” stamp on the identity card attachment. After trying to find out the reason for that necessity, the president communicated that he had done so to all the persons who had previously voted, and so he had read from the training manual.

PS 01/56, Chisinau, Botanica. Around 09:00, a woman approached and requested a mobile ballot box for her son who was in a wheelchair. She was informed that she had to fill out an application and present a medical report, to which the woman agreed to come with her son to the PS. Having arrived at the PS at 13:15, it was found that her son cannot enter the PS because he was in a wheelchair, and the PS premises was not accessible (there were no access ramps). The voter had the opportunity to vote by taking out the voters’ lists and ballot papers with the Voted stamp outside the PS, under the supervision of observers and representatives of electoral competitors.

PS 01/55, Chisinau, Botanica.  One voter’s right to vote was denied because the identity card was damaged and the attachment was missing.

Rumors, attempts, or even material or monetary rewards offered to voters in the perimeter and/or near the polling station to influence voters’ choice – 2 cases.

PS 1/78 Buiucani, Chisinau. 50 meters away from the polling station, there were two persons who, according to some voters, were handing out money to elect a candidate from a party. The police accompanied them to the station to investigate the case.

PS 2/17 Balti. According to the discussions of the PEB members, near the PS, a minibus was located with persons who offered a monetary reward to voters who presented the photo of the ballot paper with the Voted stamp.

Discontinuation of the shooting of electoral operations during the voting day – 6 cases.

PS 20/11, Hincesti, Bozieni. At 10:22, a PEB member disconnected the camera, the camera was no longer functioning.

PS 5/11, Basarabeasca, Bascalia. Due to full memory in the camera, the shooting process was interrupted. PEB members were looking for remedial solutions.

PS 1/179 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 14:30, it was noticed that the video camera stopped recording because the memory was full. The PEB president did not know that it was disconnected, because the memory was full. Later, the PEB president telephoned CEC representatives and was waiting for their response. At least until 15:10, the video camera was still disconnected.

PS 1/78 Buiucani, Chisinau. At 15:00, the video camera was disconnected and removed from the stand to be charged.

PS 1/79 Buiucani, Chisinau. At 14:34, a member of the precinct electoral bureau noticed that the video camera was not recording, the recording was stopped. It was also noted that it blocked/turned off at 6 hours and 18 minutes of recording. The operator called the Call Center of the CEC, having reported the technical problem, the PEB president immediately contacted the responsible persons to solve the problem. The PEB president drew up a statement of findings. At 15:40, a new camera was installed and the recording resumed.

PS 11/1 Cimislia, Cimislia. As of 13:30, the video camera in the PS premises was not operational due to lack of memory. At 16:30, a new camera was installed and video recording resumed.

Electoral campaigning or adverse promotion in the 100 m perimeter and/or in the polling station to influence voters’ choice – 11 cases.

PS 1/93 Buiucani, Chisinau. One voter insisted on saying several times which candidate he was voting for. PEB members warned him.

PS 1/83 Buiucani, Chisinau. A representative of a party greeted people at the entrance, before entering the voting booth, and kept asking them some questions about which choice was better and suggested them some options to vote for. He also took notes and talked to observers and representatives of electoral competitors.

PS 1/109 Buiucani, Chisinau. The installation of tents with tables was observed at the headquarters of a party. There was no electoral information or electoral campaigning. Flags with the name of the party were placed at the tables. The polling station was located nearby, within 100 m.

PS 1/214 Riscani, Chisinau. At 14:45, an unknown citizen entered the PS premises, asked a question about the identity card, after receiving an answer from PEB members, began agitation and disturbance of peace in the PS. The PEB president and members asked him persistently to leave the PS, the citizen refused.

PS 01/20, Chisinau, Botanica. Two voters entered the PS, mother and daughter. When they both entered the voting booths, the daughter asked the mother who she voted for, then the daughter told her to vote for a party candidate.

PS 01/66, Chisinau, Botanica. A man asked with a raised voice where a certain candidate was on the list, and, at the end, he wanted to vote, also loudly. He did not react to the PEB members’ warning.

PS 2/41 Balti. At 12:05, a woman from a party was at the entrance to the polling station and urged voters not to vote. The information came from the PEB president, and while the observers came out to see the incident, the woman left.

PS 1/182 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 12:10, a person was observed persuading some elderly women to vote for a candidate. Likewise, that person also discussed with the accredited representative of the respective party.

PS 01/52, Chisinau, Botanica. In the PS premises, a voter was talking badly about certain political parties and doing electoral campaigning. The ballot papers were handed to him, but he did not go to the voting booth and tried to have political conversations with PEB members. They urged him to vote, and he left the PS after about 5 minutes.

Violence or intimidation of voters or other people – 1 case.

PS 1/180 Chisinau, Ciocana. Between 14:25 and 14:29, an intoxicated man appeared at the PS to vote, but was refused because both identity cards presented were expired, the last one in 2021. He got angry and started using foul language. The PEB president had to calm him down and lead him out of the polling station. He left the station at 14:34.

Deficiencies in voters’ lists (address discrepancies, deceased voters, signatures instead of others) – 40 cases.

PS 1/109 Buiucani, Chisinau. The voter was not found in the basic voters’ list, even if he was found in the SAIS Elections. The PEB president registered the voter in the supplementary lists.

 PS 1/105 Buiucani, Chisinau. A voter identified in the voters’ list a close relative who died in 2005. He claimed that he had previously applied to the PSA but the problem has still not been resolved.

PS 1/222 Riscani, Chisinau. The voter was not on the voters’ list. He voted on the supplementary list.

PS 1/238 Riscani, Chisinau. Two voters were found in the SAIS Elections, but were not found in the voters’ lists. They were included in the supplementary lists.

PS 23/38, Nisporeni, Varzaresti. Discrepancies were recorded in the voters’ lists. Thus, in the case of several voters with residence visas near the PS, they were assigned to another PS. Initially, some voters were included in the supplementary lists and voted, but later voters who, according to the SAIS Elections, were assigned to another PS, were redirected to vote at the PS where they were included in the list.

PS 23/38, Nisporeni, Varzaresti. A person was identified who had an address in the immediate vicinity of the PS, but was assigned to another PS.

PS 23/38, Nisporeni, Varzaresti. Husband and wife, living at the same address, were assigned to different PSs.

PS 01/9, Chisinau, Botanica. One voter was not found on the basic voters’ lists, although he was identified in the SAIS Elections. He voted on the supplementary lists.

PS 01/17, Chisinau, Botanica. A voter claimed that his daughter was no longer domiciled at the address indicated in the SAIS Elections and in the basic voters’ lists.

PS 01/37, Chisinau, Botanica. Two voters were not found in the basic lists, although they claimed that, according to the identity documents, the addresses were within the radius of the PS. They have been included in the supplementary list.

PS 01/115, Chisinau, Centru. A voter was not found neither in the SAIS Elections nor in the basic voters’ lists, although, according to the identity documents, he has an address in the respective PS radius. He voted in the supplementary voters’ lists.

PS 01/129, Chisinau, Centru. One person was not found in the basic voters’ lists, having been included in the supplementary lists.

PS 01/131, Chisinau, Centru. A family, husband and wife, appeared at the PS, they presented their identity cards, having stated that they were registered at the same address, but the SAIS Elections operator informed that only the husband was registered at the respective PS, and the wife was registered at another PS.

PS 01/145, Chisinau, Centru. One voter was not found in the basic voters’ lists, having been included in the supplementary lists.

PS 01/128, Chisinau, Centru. A voter was outraged by the fact that at his home address, in the basic voters’ lists, there were 2 persons who were not registered with a residence visa at that address.

PS 1/176 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 12:54, 2 voters (husband and wife) were with the same residence visa. The husband was registered, but the wife was not. Thus, the husband found himself in the lists and was allowed to vote in the given polling station. Following discussions with the PEB president, the wife was redirected to vote at another polling station.

PS 1/152 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 12:10, a voter approached the PEB member with her identity card to sign in the voters’ lists, but there was already another person’s signature under her name. The PEB president established that the person added to the voters’ list, by mistake, signed under her name and drew up a protocol to that effect, after which the voter received the ballot papers and voted.

PS 1/184 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 14:35, a woman, by mistake, signed in the basic list of voters instead of another voter. The PEB member had to make a note in the notes section to remedy the situation.

PS 1/149 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 11:58, a voter requested an explanation regarding the registration of a foreigner in his apartment (the foreigner had not yet voted). He requested the “deletion” of the foreign person from the PEB president. The PEB secretary explained that she cannot change the list and she did not draw them up.

PS 1/171 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 11:32, a voter noticed his wife’s name in the basic list, but she no longer resided at the indicated address.

PS 16/31 Edinet, Fetesti. At 14:15, a voter was not found in the voters’ lists, but the residence visa in Fetesti was indicated in the identity card. The voter was included in the supplementary list and voted.

PS 16/4 Edinet. At 12:15, a voter reported that every time she participated in the elections, she found a foreign person registered in the basic list, whom she did not know and who had never lived in her house, nor registered in the real estate register. According to her, the basic lists have not been updated for 12 years.

PS 16/4 Edinet. At 11:25, a voter appeared, who lives in Edinet at the address str. Gagarin, and the identity card was indicated in Cupcini. The identity card was issued on 22 March 2022. He was not found in the SAIS Elections, nor in the basic lists. He was advised to go to the PSA and receive a provisional identity card in order to vote. The person returned with a provisional identity card and was included in the supplementary list.

PS 13/1 Donduseni, Donduseni. At 15:10, persons who had been dead for a longer time were found in the voters’ lists.

PS 2/50 Balti. At 16:35, two voters (husband and wife) were not found in the voters’ lists, and that was not a unique case.

PS 2/45 Balti. At 11:54, a voter came in, she wanted to vote but she was not allowed to, because a signature was affixed to her name and surname. According to the voter, she did not appear before, respectively the signature cannot belong to her.  Later, the police were called by the PEB president, they looked at the video cameras at the entrance to the polling station and it was confirmed that the voter had indeed not voted previously, but another voter who had previously messed up and signed instead.  In the end, the voter was allowed to vote.

PS 2/21 Balti. At 17:01, a voter’s right to vote was restricted, because he was not found in the voters’ lists, nor in the SAIS Elections system. The voter mentioned that he has not made any changes regarding his domicile or residence visa and, according to the data in the identity card, he could vote in that polling station.

PS 2/41 Balti. At 15:00, a person signed the voter list for another person – his daughter, then crossed out/hatched the signature, having explained that he did so because the daughter was not in the country. The PEB president intended to call the police, but the woman left the polling station.

PS 2/56 Balti. At 14:42, a voter was not found in the SAIS Elections by the operator, nor in the basic lists. The voter was included in the supplementary voters’ list and voted.

PS 1/88 Buiucani, Chisinau. The voter was not on the voters’ lists, but was identified in the SAIS Elections. He was included on the supplementary lists.

PS 12/13 Cruglic, Criuleni. The voter was not found on the basic voters’ list. In the SAIS Elections, he was wrongly assigned to another locality. The voter voted on the supplementary list.

PS 01/126, Chisinau, Centru. A voter with an address in the PS radius was not found in the basic voters’ lists. PEB members allowed him to vote on the supplementary lists.

PS 01/143, Chisinau, Centru. One voter, with the same address from 2021 in the PS radius, was not found in the basic voters’ lists. He voted on the supplementary lists.

PS 01/145, Chisinau, Centru. A voter noticed that in the basic voters’ lists there was a person who had been out of the country for 15 years and was no longer registered at the voter’s residence.

PS 01/5, Chisinau, Botanica. A woman with an address in the PS radius was not found neither in the SAIS Elections nor in the basic voters’ lists. She stated that she voted always at that the PS and always had the same problem. The voter voted on the supplementary list.

PS 01/37, Chisinau, Botanica. One voter was not found in the basic lists, having been included to vote on the supplementary lists.

PS 01/37, Chisinau, Botanica. When attempting to vote, a voter was not found on the basic voters’ list. Reasoning that that voter had the same problems every time, the PEB president allowed him to vote on the supplementary lists.

PS 01/144, Chisinau, Centru. An elderly voter noticed that the basic voters’ list contained the name of a person who had left the country since 1993, presumed to be deceased since his house had been sold. PEB members tried to explain to him that they had no right to change the list, recommending him to submit a request to the CEC. The voter was not satisfied with the answer he received, having left shouting loudly about the possible falsifications.

PS 18/6, Floresti. Two voters were not found in the basic voters’ lists, they were included in the supplementary voters’ lists.

PS 23/38, Nisporeni, Varzaresti. The same family, parents and children, living at the same address, found that they were divided into different PSs.

Deficiencies in the functioning of the SAIS Elections System (suspension of operation, situations when SAIS Elections System indicates that the voter voted, and s/he claims not to) – 18 cases.

PS 1/79 Buiucani, Chisinau. In the SAIS Elections system, it was indicated that the voter must vote in another locality. The voter was not registered in the basic list, but the residence visa was in Chisinau. The voter was included in the supplementary list.

PS 1/88 Buiucani, Chisinau. One voter could not be found in the SAIS Elections, but had a residence visa from 2019. He was recorded in the supplementary list.

PS 1/73 Buiucani, Chisinau. Having presented themselves to the operator, three voters were identified as persons who had already voted, but they did not sign in the voters’ lists. The PEB president told them that they had already voted according to the system and that they could not exercise their vote. Persons left the polling station.

PS 18/23, Floresti, Cuhurestii de Sus. In the case of 6 voters who live in the village of Unchitesti, but reside in the village of Cuhurestii de Sus, they were not identified in the SAIS Elections, although they were in the basic voters’ lists. The PEB secretary registered them on a separate list, and the PEB president said it’s because of SAIS and allowed them to vote.

PS 01/52, Chisinau, Botanica. Due to network connection problems, only one the SAIS Elections operator was working. Due to that, agglomeration was formed in the PS.

PS 01/140, Chisinau, Centru. For about 4 minutes, the Internet connection was interrupted, but the problem was promptly removed.

PS 01/124, Chisinau, Centru. A voter went initially to another PS, where – after checking in the SAIS Elections – he was informed that he had to vote at the PS 1/124. When he approached the indicated PS, the SAIS operator – upon checking the identity document – informed him that he was registered as having already voted, although the voter claimed that he did not vote. In the end, he did not vote.

PS 01/28, Chisinau, Botanica. One voter, who according to the identity card, had a residence visa in the PS radius, was not found in the basic lists. When contacting the superiors, PEB members were informed that the IDNP of the person in question was not in the national database (the IDNP was not valid). As a result, the said person did not vote.

PS 2/22 Balti. At 12:15, two voters, husband and wife, after the operator’s check, were not identified in the SAIS Elections. But according to the residence visa, they were assigned to the given polling station. With the agreement of the PEB president, they were included in the supplementary lists.

PS 2/50 Balti. At 10:50, a voter, having been entered into the SAIS Elections by the operator, appeared as having restrictions, but, in the identity card, the domicile dated back to 2018. The voter was allowed to vote and was included in the supplementary voting list.

PS 2/22 Balti. At 13:33, following the check of the voter in the SAIS Elections, he was not identified, although, according to the residence visa, he was assigned to that section. With the consent of the PEB president, the voter was included in the supplementary list.

PS 2/50 Balti. At 10:39, a voter was entered into the SAIS Elections, it was indicated that the identity card series was missing and that he did not have the right to vote. The PEB president called the CEC and was told that he had the right to vote. The voter returned and voted.

PS 2/28 Balti. At 11:30, a voter was checked in the SAIS Elections – and appeared as having restrictions, according to art. 160. The voter changed his surname. According to the decision of the PEB president, the voter was added to the supplementary list and then the SAIS operator added the voter to the database.

PS 2/22 Balti. At 10:50, when the operator checked in the SAIS Elections, the voter was not identified neither in the system, nor in the base list. The voter has been domiciled for a long time within the radius of that polling station. With the consent of the PEB president and the secretary, the voter was included in the supplementary list.

PS 2/22 Balti. At 14:08, the voter was not found in the lists in the SAIS Elections, but the residence visa was specifically in that sector. With the consent of the PEB president, the voter was included in the supplementary lists.

PS 2/22 Balti. At 15:37, a voter was not found in the lists of the SAIS Elections, but he has a residence visa within the radius of the polling station and, upon permission of the PEB president, he was included in the supplementary lists.

PS 1/101 Buiucani, Chisinau. One voter was on the voters’ lists, but was not identified in the SAIS Elections. The voter exercised his right to vote.

PS 12/21 Hrusova, Criuleni. In the SAIS Elections, 4 voters were wrongly assigned (to a PS from another locality). They were on the basic voters’ lists of the PS and exercised their right to vote.

Unjustified presence of unauthorized persons in the polling station or within 100 m – 22 cases.

PS 1/288 Chisinau, Colonita. The former mayor of the locality (suspended from office currently came to the polling station to vote. After voting, she went up to the 2nd floor (PS is in the City Hall). One of the representatives of a political party also went up to the 2nd floor to ask the former mayor why she went up to the 2nd floor. An argument was heard between them, after which the representative of the political party filed an appeal related to that situation, the mayor left the premises after a few minutes.

PS 1/254 Chisinau, Durlesti. One person was observed, for more than 1 hour, within 100 meters of the polling station. He talked to the persons who were going to vote and who have already gone to vote.

PS 1/249 Chisinau, Codru. An unknown person was near the PS. He entered the PS premises several times and talked to a few voters, then came out and sat in his car or near the PS entrance for several hours. The police was notified.

PS 18/63, Floresti, Temeleuti. A voter, after voting, remained in the PS premises for about 10 minutes to talk with one of the present observers.

PS 28/54, Singerei, Prepelita. Starting at 10:00, for at least 2 hours, the presence of some persons who gathered in a group was observed near the PS. From several sources, they would be candidates for the position of councilors on a party’s list.

PS 28/2, Singerei. Two persons entered the PS premises. Only one of them voted, and the other took a picture of the first person putting their ballot paper in the ballot box. At the exit from the PS, the PEB president made an objection to them.

PS 28/21, Singerei, Chiscareni. In front of the PS, the presence of a party’s candidate for the position of councilor was observed for a period longer than 10 minutes. He was talking to the voters he knew.

PS 01/55, Chisinau, Botanica. At around 12:15, daughter of an electoral competitor’s representative came to replace her for an hour, without having an official registration, according to legal procedures. The representative gave her daughter the accreditation. The PEB president consulted with the other representatives of other electoral competitors and they agreed to her presence in the PS premises.

PS 1/167 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 11:38, a person entered the station and began to riot, having mentioned that money was paid to the city from his project. The PEB president said she would call the police and the man left, and he was detained later, according to the PEB president.

PS 1/165 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 11:30, an unknown citizen entered the station and started shouting about the political situation in the country. The PEB president approached and asked to leave the station. The person was still shouting, and PEB members called the police, and the person suddenly left the station.

PS 1/278 Chisinau, Bubuieci. One person was in the PS radius for around 20 min and was discussing with different persons. Later, the PEB president intervened and asked to leave, the person left.

PS 1/246 Chisinau, Codru. Between 14:00 and 15:30, in the radius of 100 m of the PS, 3 young men shooting voters coming to the PS were observed. They interacted with a party representative who brought them food.

PS 1/257 Chisinau, Durlesti. A blue Mercedes car with the numbers BYF 191 was parked next to the PS. There was a person inside the car taking pictures of the persons that came out of the PS.

PS 1/257 Chisinau, Durlesti. In the parking lot near the PS, for more than an hour, there was a minibus in which there was a woman who, it seemed, was reporting the situation at the polling station, taking notes. She also approached and talked with several persons who were in the polling station. Whenever the given person saw the Promo-LEX observer, she hid behind the minibus.

PS 1/257 Chisinau, Durlesti. For one hour, there was a candidate for the position of councilor around the PS. He interacted with at least 3 persons who voted and with the Promo-LEX observer, having mentioned that he came to ensure that the voting process took place without illegalities.

PS 1/257 Chisinau, Durlesti. A Toyota car with the number TFN 835 was near the PS for about an hour. Someone in the car took notes and probably pictures of the persons leaving the polling station gate, including the observer when he went out to check the perimeter of the polling station.

PS 1/259 Chisinau, Durlesti. Within 100 m of the PS, a candidate for the position of councilor from the party was observed. She interacted with other voters. The representatives of another candidate called 112, requested the presence of the police, who drew up a report against the woman.

PS 12/37 Slobozia-Dusca, Criuleni. A candidate for mayor was within 100m near the PS for about 15 minutes and had conversations with people.

PS 12/3 Criuleni, Criuleni. After the representative of a competitor left with the mobile ballot box together with other members of the PEB. Another person who was running for the position of councilor from the party came in his place. He was in the PS premises for about 30 minutes and was making notes while watching the voters who came to the PS. Later, the PEB president intervened and announced that the man did not have accreditation and could not be in the PS premises.

PS 01/127, Chisinau, Centru. One of the representatives of a political party registered in the electoral competition, got into a discussion with a woman after she voted. The discussion lasted about 5 minutes, during which international observers were also present in the PS. The party representative was warned by the PEB president to stop the discussions and asked her friend/neighbor to leave the PS.

PS 01/59, Chisinau, Botanica. A voter from another PS approached the PS premises. Without justifying his presence, he started shooting the polling station and what was inside. To solve and clarify the case, the police were called.

PS 15/3, Dubasari, Corjova. During the day, periodically, the presence of a candidate designated by a party for the position of local councilor was noticed near the PS. He was talking to voters coming in and out of the PS. The duration of the discussions was up to 10 min.

Photographing of ballot papers, other violations of the secret of voting (presentation of the ballot paper with the cast vote, etc.) – 43 cases.

PS 1/201 Riscani, Chisinau. At the insistence of some PEB members and a representative of an electoral competitor to the representatives and observers to help managing the flow of voters, some representatives of the electoral competitors started helping voters to fold the ballot papers, thus making their voting option visible.

PS 1/82 Buiucani, Chisinau. A voter took a picture of the ballot paper and then left, PEB members did not notice the incident.

PS 1/83 Buiucani, Chisinau. A voter took a photo of the ballot paper. PEB members warned regarding the interdiction.

PS 1/202 Riscani, Chisinau. A voter took a photo of the ballot paper. At the time when that incident took place, the PEB president was not present in the PS and other authorized persons did not notice that violation.

PS 8/5 Cantemir, Baimaclia. A voter took a photo of the ballot paper. The PEB president noticed that, asked the voter to delete the pictures. He complied and deleted the pictures.

PS 1/249 Chisinau, Codru. At 11:50, a voter took a photo in the voting booth with the ballot paper. A PEB member intervened and the voter was asked to delete the pictures.

PS 1/254 Chisinau, Durlesti. A political party representative was making notes about some voters coming to vote in the PS.

PS 1/305 Chisinau, Truseni. Two representatives of a political party were making notes regarding certain voters who came to vote at the PS.

PS 18/53, Floresti, Putinesti. A voter took a photo of the ballot paper. However, at the intervention and insistence of the PEB members, the picture was deleted from the phone.

PS 22/9, Leova, Iargara. A voter took a photo of the ballot paper.

PS 26/23, Rezina, Mateuti Two voters photographed the ballot papers. The PEB president observed and intervened in only one case.

PS 01/57, Chisinau, Botanica. Three persons, having been in adjacent voting booths, were discussing which candidate for mayor to vote for. There was no reaction from PEB members.

PS 1/25, Chisinau, Botanica. A young man photographed the ballot paper, having been in the voting booth. The PEB president insisted on deleting the photo. The voter complied.

PS 01/53, Chisinau, Botanica. A voter took a photo of the ballot paper. He was warned by the PEB member that it was forbidden, but he made fun of the PEB member’s appeal.

PS 01/9, Chisinau, Botanica. Three voters photographed the ballot papers. At the insistence of the PEB members, they deleted the pictures.

PS 2/17 Balti. At 13:15, a voter tried to take a picture of his ballot paper, but was seen by PEB members; the president took the ballot papers from him and handed them to the policeman, with whom they went out into the corridor. Without being clear what the policeman’s actions were, the voter returned to the polling station where he was allowed to put the ballot papers in the ballot box. The policeman left the PS without explanation.

PS 2/47 Balti. At 11:38, a voter took a picture of the ballot paper. After the PEB president intervened, the voter complied and deleted the picture.

PS 2/45 Balti. At 11:34, the ballot papers were photographed by a man after he had stamped “Voted”. The PEB president did not notice the incident.

PS 2/17 Balti. At 10:48, a voter took a picture of the ballot paper, but he was seen by PEB members and was asked to delete the picture. The voter reacted aggressively, and the PEB president called the police to check the contents of the phone and to take the necessary measures. The voter complied with the policeman’s instructions.

PS 1/188 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 10:43, in the polling station, a voter was very noisy about his choice, having displayed it. The PEB president made numerous objections to him and the man cast his vote and left.

PS 1/158 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 11:58, two voters were discussing who to choose. The secretary of the PEB made an objection to them regarding that, and the persons complied with the objections.

PS 1/163 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 11:17, it was observed that the representative of a party was sending messages regarding voters, keeping a record of voters in the form of lists.

PS 1/266 Chisinau, Vadul lui Voda. At 11:31, a voter was observed taking a photo of his ballot paper in the PS premises. The president and a PEB member intervened. The voter announced that he had deleted the pictures.

PS 33/5 Taraclia. Until 14:10, several attempts to photograph the ballot paper were reported, but the PEB president intervened each time and ended those attempts.

PS 36/6 TAUG, Comrat. At 16:00, an elderly voter, after voting, entered the WhatsApp application and a photo of a ballot paper to be filled in was sent during a conversation.

PS 2/49 Balti. At 11:30, two voters, at an interval of about 30 minutes, tried to photograph their ballot papers, but were stopped by the observers in the hall. Voters claimed they were doing it just for the memories.

PS 2/17 Balti. At 16:14, another voter tried to take a photo of his ballot paper, but the PEB president noticed it, took the voter and led him to the police to document and take the necessary measures. At 16:41, the voter returned to the polling station, and the PEB president gave him the same ballot papers and the voter inserted them into the ballot box.

PS 2/53 Balti. At 16:07, a voter tried to take a photo of the ballot paper, that fact was noticed in time, the PEB president intervened and the voter was unable to take the photos.

PS 2/32 Balti. At 16:01, a voter photographed the ballot papers in the voting booth. At the request of the PEB president, the voter deleted the photos.

PS 2/3 Balti. At 16:00, a voter took a photo of the ballot paper. The PEB president called the police, the voter deleted the pictures, the policeman checked the phone in that regard.

PS 2/45 Balti. At 15:44, the ballot papers were photographed by a voter after applying the voting stamps on the ballot paper. None of the PEB members noticed the incident.

PS 2/59 Balti. At 15:00, a voter photographed the ballot papers.  The PEB president made an objection, to which the man reacted brutally and immediately left the polling station, before it was possible to intervene.

PS 2/24 Balti. At 15:26, a voter took a picture of the ballot paper in the voting booth. He was warned by the PEB president and the picture was deleted.

PS 2/57 Balti. A voter attempted to take pictures of the ballot paper, but was immediately warned by the PEB member.

PS 1/89 Buiucani, Chisinau. A voter took a photo of the ballot paper. PEB members did not notice the incident.

PS 01/117, Chisinau, Centru. A PEB member approached the voter in the voting booth to return his identity card, which he had forgotten on the member’s table. Therefore, he intervened at the moment when the voter applied the “Voted” stamp in the ballot papers, and his option was visible to him.

PS 01/25, Chisinau, Botanica. A voter, having been in the voting booth, took a photo of the ballot paper. The PEB president was notified, who informed him that it was forbidden to photograph ballot papers. Eventually, the person deleted the photos.

PS 01/7, Chisinau, Botanica. An elderly voter, 92 years old, who claimed that he could not see and did not know who to vote for, was assisted to vote by 3 persons, including 2 PEB members and a PR representative.

PS 01/41, Chisinau, Botanica. A voter, after voting, took a photo of her ballot paper. It was all fast and the PEB president didn’t notice.

PS 01/31, Chisinau, Botanica. Despite the warnings of the PEB members regarding the illegality of the action, one voter insisted and photographed the ballot paper.

PS 01/39, Chisinau, Botanica. A voter took a photo of the ballot paper while having been in the voting booth. At the insistence of the PEB president and the intervention of the police, he deleted the picture from his phone.

PS 19/25, Glodeni, Fundurii Vechi. A voter photographed the ballot papers with the Voted stamp. The PEB president was announced. As a result, the 3 ballot papers were cancelled, the picture was deleted from the phone, and the voter was given 3 other ballot papers for a new voting.

PS 19/16, Glodeni, Cobani. Two persons were observed who photographed the ballot paper, under the pretext of wanting to have a memento. That case was reported to the police and a protocol was drawn up, they had hearing of the witnesses

Unjustified group voting (two or more voters) – 47 cases.

PS 1/72 Buiucani, Chisinau 2 voters voted in the same voting booth. PEB members did not react in any way and did not make any objections to the concerned persons.

PS 1/77 Buiucani, Chisinau. 2 voters voted in the same booth. The PEB president warned the voters.

PS 1/99 Buiucani, Chisinau. Two voters voted in the same voting booth. It was observed that one voter stamped the other voter’s ballot papers. PEB members made objections.

PS 1/225 Riscani, Chisinau. Two voters voted simultaneously in the same voting booth.

PS 1/228 Riscani, Chisinau. Two voters voted in the same voting booth, PEB members did not react to the incident.

PS 1/202 Riscani, Chisinau. Two voters voted in the same voting booth. It was observed that one voter stamped the other voter’s ballot papers. PEB members made objections.

PS 1/219 Riscani, Chisinau. Two voters voted in the same voting booth. It was observed that one voter indicated which electoral competitor the other voter should vote for.

PS 18/58, Floresti, Sanatauca. In the same voting booth, 3 voters voted at the same time. When the PEB members were notified, the voters did not react, having argued that they were part of the same family.

PS 18/58, Floresti, Sanatauca. Three voters voted as a group in the same voting booth. PEB members did not come up with any reaction.

PS 18/58, Floresti, Sanatauca. Two persons voted in the same voting booth. When PEB members involved, they separated.

PS 20/14, Hincesti, Buteni. Two persons entered the voting booth at the same time, having argued that one of them was disabled and needed assistance. The accompanying person turned out to be a party’s candidate for mayor. PEB members reacted immediately with a warning, but were ignored.

PS 22/26, Leova, Filipeni. In the same voting booth, 2 voters voted at the same time. When PEB members were notified, the voters did not react.

PS 22/26, Leova, Filipeni. Two persons entered the same voting booth. When PEB members involved, they separated.

PS 22/26, Leova, Filipeni. Two persons entered the same voting booth. When PEB members involved, they separated.

PS 22/26, Leova, Filipeni. Several persons entered the same voting booth at the same time, having voted unjustifiably in the group.

PS 22/26, Leova, Filipeni. The presence of two persons in the voting booth was observed. They were warned by PEB members, but without any changes, the persons voted together.

PS 22/26, Leova, Filipeni. Two persons in the same booth exercised their right to vote. When PEB members were alerted, the voters argued that help was needed.

PS 22/26, Leova, Filipeni. Two persons entered the same voting booth. When PEB members involved, they separated.

PS 28/54, Singerei, Prepelita. Two persons entered the voting booth at the same time, having consulted about the voting options. PEB members had no reaction.

PS 18/33, Floresti, Gura Camencii. The wife approached the husband in the voting booth, telling him and showing him where to put the stamp. The PEB president made an objection to them, but the woman had no reaction, having mentioned that it was her husband and she was allowed.

PS 01/15, Chisinau, Botanica. There were 2 voters in the same voting booth at the same time. At the PEB member’s objection that it was prohibited, the voter mentioned that he did not care that he was photographed.

PS 01/5, Chisinau, Botanica. Two young voters voted both in the same polling booth. PEB members had no reaction.

PS 01/56, Chisinau, Botanica. Two young voters, accompanied by two small children, voted in the same voting booth. PEB members had no reaction.

PS 01/8, Chisinau, Botanica. Daughter and mother entered the voting booth almost simultaneously. The daughter voted, then showed the mother where to vote and left the voting booth. PEB members did not notice the case.

PS 01/57, Chisinau, Botanica. In the voting booth, a man guided a woman in choosing the PSRM candidate and applying the stamp.

PS 01/133, Chisinau, Centru. Two persons voted in the same voting booth. The PEB members made an objection to them.

PS 2/47 Balti. At 13:42, two voters were simultaneously in the same voting booth, having voted one after the other. No one intervened, the PEB president was not there at the time, and the PEB members did not react in any way.

PS 2/30 Balti. At 11:25, two persons entered the voting booth together, without reasons for disability or other deficiencies. The PEB president appealed and they complied, having voted separately.

PS 1/151 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 13:05, two women were discussing their voting options at a voting booth. The PEB president took measures, having told them and the rest of the voters that everyone must vote individually, that such discussions were prohibited.

PS 1/152 Chisinau, Ciocana. A woman entered the voting booth to vote, after which two other women approached, the reason for which they approached was unknown. PEB members noticed that and persons were warned about group discussions.

PS 1/180 Chisinau, Ciocana. Between 11:10 and 11:14, 2 voters were observed for a few minutes in the same voting booth. As was observed, it seemed that only the man stamped the ballot papers and the woman only accompanied him. In the same way, the man took and inserted the ballot papers for both in the ballot box by himself. At the objection made by other observers to those two persons, the man reacted aggressively, having made a gesture with his fist towards the observers. It was assumed that the woman accompanying him had special needs. PEB did not notice or react to the incident.

PS 1/159 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 11:03, a voter entered the voting booth, then went out and consulted with her daughter, and following the objections made by the PEB president, she returned to the voting booth and cast her vote.

PS 27/30 Riscani, Mihaileni. At 12:56, two persons entered a voting booth in the polling station. PEB members warned of illegality and voters separated.

PS 2/26 Balti. At 16:10, two voters (adult son with his father) voted in the same voting booth. At the PEB president’s objection, the son stated that his father cannot see. Visually, the father had no vision problems. Likewise, no magnifying glass was used.

PS 2/7 Balti. At 15:50, two voters consulted on the choice of candidates. At the objections of the PEB members, they declared loudly that they were a family (mother and daughter) and considered their actions natural. After three objections, they stopped consulting and voted separately.

PS 2/9 Balti. At 12:45, two elderly voters (one was entering and the other was leaving the voting booth) were consulting on the voting options. When the PEB president made an objection to them, one of them said that she was her neighbor and she has vision problems. The PEB president asked them to stop those actions.

PS 2/11 Balti. Two voters (husband and wife) voted in the same voting booth. None of the PEB members noticed that.

PS 2/24 Balti. At 14:34, a voter helped another voter apply the “Voted” stamp on the ballot papers, having explained that her mother was ill, although the person helped did not seem visually to need assistance.  The individuals were noticed by the PEB president as well as other members, but the individuals did not react.

PS 2/35, Balti At 14:30, 2 persons entered the voting booth (one of whom had already voted).  The woman who had previously voted was warned not to double her vote. None of the voters showed signs of needing assistance. After the warning addressed to the voter, no other measures were taken by the PEB members.

PS 11/1 Cimislia, Cimislia. Two persons voted in the same voting booth. The PEB president did not notice that violation or did not intervene accordingly.

PS 9/30 Pitusca, Calarasi. Two persons voted simultaneously in the same voting booth.

PS 01/119, Chisinau, Centru. During the voting process, two voters were talking near the voting booths. A PEB member made an objection to them. As a result, one voter walked away and waited until the other person came out.

PS 01/46, Chisinau, Botanica. Two voters – neighbors – voted in the same voting booth, consulting each other where a certain candidate was and who they should vote for. Having reasoned that one of the voters cannot see well and needed help, they both voted in the same voting booth. The PEB president did not consider it an incident.

PS 01/26, Chisinau, Botanica. Two middle-aged persons voted at the same time in the same voting booth, having argued that they did not know how to vote properly. After the objection made by the PS President, they separated in different booths.

PS 01/57, Chisinau, Botanica. Two voters – mother and daughter – entered the voting booth together, where the mother showed the daughter where to vote.

PS 19/25, Glodeni, Fundurii Vechi. Two voters voted simultaneously in the same voting booth, having reasoned that they were sisters and one cannot see very well. However, any signs that the person was visually impaired were not observed.

PS 01/132, Chisinau, Centru. A voter approached the PS to exercise his right to vote. For reasons of age and health, he requested to be helped. As a result, he was assisted in the voting booth to apply the “Voted” stamp by the representative of a political party.

Problematic situations regarding the use of ballot papers contrary to voting procedures – 10 cases

PS 1/84 Buiucani, Chisinau. A voter, after leaving the voting booth, refused to hand over the ballot papers, having argued that he did not trust. The Buiucani Sector Police was notified.

PS 1/199 Riscani, Chisinau. A voter tried to leave the PS with an unused ballot paper. The PEB president noticed the attempt and solved it.

PS 01/119, Chisinau, Centru. A PEB member identified in the voting booth a ballot paper for councilors with the Voted stamp affixed. The ballot paper was inserted into the ballot box.

PS 1/186 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 13:29, it was found that a voter was offered double ballot papers. The voter went, voted and when he was putting the ballot papers in the ballot box, a PEB representative, who was monitoring, stopped him when he saw that he was throwing by 2 ballot papers. As a result, a ballot paper for the mayor (who failed to insert it into the ballot box) was canceled. According to the PEB members, regarding the ballot paper for councilors, the PEB members spoke to the voter asking who he voted for and made a note, so that they canceled it in the end.

PS 7/55 Cahul, Slobozia Mare. At 12:08, a voter tore up the ballot papers, which were thrown into the ballot box by another voter. The PEB president stated that when the ballot boxes is unsealed, that fact will be properly documented.

PS 2/31 Balti. At 16:30, a voter was registered in the SAIS Elections, but did not vote, signed the list but did not take the ballot papers, turned and left the polling station. PEB members tried to convince him to return, but he ignored the requests.

PS 2/24 Balti. At 17:11, a voter, after voting, placed a ballot paper on which no stamp was applied, on the table of the PEB members. The voter explained that he did not consider it necessary to throw the ballot paper in the ballot box, for the reason that he did not apply the voted stamp. Later, another voter threw the ballot paper into the ballot box, with the permission of the PEB president.

PS 1/106 Buiucani, Chisinau. After receiving the ballot paper, the voter refused to vote and requested its cancellation through protocol. The PEB president refused that initially. The voter was outraged by the PEB president’s response and still did not want to leave the polling station. The police were notified and they removed the unauthorized person from the polling station. In the end, the voter’s ballot paper was canceled and inserted into the ballot box.

PS 1/92 Buiucani, Chisinau. A voter applied the “Voted” stamp on both ballot papers and tore the ballot paper for the mayor, having thought that he must put only that part of the ballot paper with the chosen party in the ballot box. The PEB president noticed that fact and canceled the ballot paper, having given that person another ballot paper.

PS 01/133, Chisinau, Centru. A ballot paper with the “Voted” stamp was found in the voting booth. The ballot paper was inserted into the ballot box by PEB members.

Organized transportation of voters (buses, minibuses, or other transport units that would normally not be around the polling station) – 1 case.

PS 15/3, Dubasari, Corjova. At 14:15, a brown Lada car was observed transporting persons to the PS for the second time. The driver of the vehicle waited until they voted and then left with them. The car was noticed first time around 10:00, when it was parked in front of the PS, and second time it was parked further away from the station. The driver was recognized as a person from Corjova.

Others – 6 cases.

PS 2/32 Balti. At 16:50, when it was necessary to distribute ballot papers to the operators, the PEB president, together with the observers, went to open the safe. Due to a deficiency, the key got stuck in the lock. Consequently, the PEB president called 112. The rescue team came accompanied by a policeman. The lock was removed and the safe with ballot papers was sealed with two seals.

PS 35/31 Ungheni, Condratesti. For 30 min. (the presence of MT in the PS), only one SAIS Elections operator was in the PS, the second one was missing. No queues have been formed.

PS 1/108 Buiucani, Chisinau. Around 10:30, one of the observers noticed that the ballot papers in Russian for the position of mayor were confused with the ballot papers from another station, (station 110). At the intervention of the PEB president, the ballot papers were withdrawn and perforated. By the time that situation was discovered, 13 ballot papers in Russian were used by voters in the voting process, among those belonging to another polling station (110).

PS 36/45 TAUG, Cioc-Maidan. At 13:40, a stamp with the inscription Voted was missing. By 17:00, it was not found.

PS 01/127, Chisinau, Centru. A representative of an electoral competitor (it was not identified which one) distracted the PEB members and got involved with them in discussions, polemics, as well as got involved in the electoral processes. Any warnings from the PEB secretary or president were continuously ignored by it.

PS 15/6, Dubasari, Cosnita, Pohrebea. A voter appeared at the PS with an expired ballot paper. The PEB president informed him that he had to present a valid identity card or a provisional identity card. In the end, the voter was admitted to vote, having been included in the supplementary list.

The release is drafted within the Observation Mission for the General Local Elections of 5 November 2023, carried out by the Promo-LEX Association with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Program “Democracy, Transparency and Responsibility” and of the European Union through the Project “Strengthening the electoral legislative framework and assessing its implementation during the general local elections in 2023”.

The opinions expressed in the reports and public releases of the Promo-LEX OM belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the point of view of financiers or partners. The content hereof may be subject to editorial revisions.

In case of discrepancies between the text in Romanian and its translation into another language, the provisions established by the Romanian text prevail. 




Promo-LEX Observation Mission for the General Local Elections of 5 November 2023: New details on carrying out the elections

The Promo-LEX OM for the General Local Elections of 5 November 2023 notes a total of 659 alerts reported by observers, until 14:00. The central team of the Promo-LEX OM processed 314 cases with incident status, of which 270 incidents are included in this release.

Discontinuation of the shooting of electoral operations during the voting day – 37 cases.

PS 1/269 Chisinau, Vatra. Between 7:40 and 8:50, the video camera was disconnected. According to the observer, it recorded only the PS preparation (sealing of ballot boxes, protocol filling in) and was disconnected for technical reasons.

PS 1/300 Chisinau, Tohatin. At 06:20, the video camera was mounted on the tripod and working. At 06:25, a man approached, took the camera and left. According to the PEB president, it was not operational. At 07:13, the camera was brought in and put back into operation.

PS 19/3 Glodeni, Glodeni. Between 7:15 and 7:40, the video camera was disconnected. It was replaced by another, the shooting process was resumed.

PS 1/99 Chisinau, Buiucani. The video camera was turned on from the start of the electoral operations for opening the polling station. However, the operators noticed at 07:35 that the video camera was not recording the voting process and restarted the recording.

PS 1/101 Chisinau, Buiucani. At 7:40, the Promo-LEX observer was informed by one of the operators that after the process of sealing the ballot boxes was recorded, the video camera was disconnected, because they do not have enough memory to shoot all day long, but they called the CEC and informed thereabout. Later, the camera was connected but not recording. At 08:57, the camera remained disconnected. The recording process will be restarted when the ballot boxes are unsealed and the votes are counted.

PS 21/17 Danceni, Ialoveni. At 8:15, the shooting process was interrupted, the camera was disconnected; the operator argued that the camera shoots only the moment of sealing and unsealing of the ballot boxes.

PS 34/26 Telenesti, Mindresti. At 07:35, the video camera was disabled by the PEB president. The president argued that it will activate when the polling station closes. None of the PEB members, observers or representatives objected or asked for explanations.

PS 2/24, Balti. At 8:16, the video recording process stopped, later it turned out to be because the video camera discharged. At 8:18, they intervened and the camera was rebooted.

PS 27/39 Riscani, Recea. The video camera was not recording the voting process. Although it was connected, the operators were unable to remove the technical problem. The failure was noticed by the PEB president. The video camera has been removed from the stand, and the PEB representatives are waiting for another camera to be brought.

PS 35/59 Pirlita, Ungheni. The camera is damaged, it has not been possible to use it since opening. The PS opening process was shot by a PEB member with a mobile phone camera. At 9:30, the video camera in the PS was not operational and other solutions have not yet been identified.

PS 30/41 Sireti, Straseni At 7:45, the video recording was interrupted for technical reasons. At 9:30, a new camera was installed.

PS 30/13 Straseni, Codreanca. Between 08:35 and 09:00, the video camera was not operational because the battery was low.

PS 11/37 Cimislia, Mihailovca. Between 07:45 and 08:15, the video camera was not operational. The camera was activated later.

PS 1/157 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 09:00, it was noticed that the video camera was not shooting. The observer asked a PEB member and they found that it was disconnected from the power supply. The camera was activated later.

PS 7/17 Cahul, Alexandru Ioan Cuza. At 08:50, the shooting process was ordered to be stopped at the proposal of a PEB member and with the consent of the PEB president. The reason given was that the camera did not have enough memory, and they had no spare memory sticks, respectively, they will prioritize and reconnect the camera when the votes are counted.

PS 2/31 Balti. At 08:40, the observer noticed that the video camera was disconnected, due to the discharged battery. The failure was removed at 08:59, respectively, the camera was not operational for about 20 minutes.

PS 1/186 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 09:01, the camera was disconnected for 3-5 minutes because it discharged. The charger was brought in later and they connected it back.

PS 1/ 150 Chisinau, Ciocana. Due to technical problems, the video camera was disabled at 08:05. According to the PEB president, that camera will be replaced during the day.

PS 2/19 Balti. The video camera was not operational since 7:05, it heats up and disconnects automatically. The PEB president reported that after the discussion with the CEC representatives, they said to “leave it as it was”. Accordingly, the voting process is not video recorded.

PS 2/34 Balti. At 08:50, it was found that the video camera did not record the voting process.

PS 8/1 Cantemir, Cantemir. The shooting process was interrupted for 20 min, during which cameras were replaced (the first one was defective).

PS 22/39 Leova, Tochile-Raducani. Although it was shooting, the video camera was not located in the immediate vicinity of the ballot box.

 

PS 11/36 Cimislia, Mihailovca. Although it was shooting, the video camera was not located in the immediate vicinity of the ballot box.

PS 25/10 Orhei, Orhei. At 9:10, the video camera stopped recording. The PEB president announced that it was not necessary for the camera to record all day long, only the PS opening procedure. Likewise, the PEB president announced that the video camera had to be charged.

PS 1/78 Buiucani, Chisinau. The video camera has disconnected because it has no effective space to record further. It was not operational since 10:03 and is still. That was noticed by observers and PEB members, and the PEB president mentioned that the shooting process will resume when the votes are counted.

PS 01/17, Chisinau, Botanica. The camera that was supposed to record the electoral process all day long was not located in the PS premises (the camera is missing).

PS 22/4, Leova. At 08:53, the video camera was disconnected, with the consent of the PEB president. When asked about the reason for the disconnection, he communicated that that was required by the district council and the camera will be turned on when the votes are counted.

PS 01/124, Chisinau, Centru. The camera was disconnected because it discharged, and only the camera mount was in the PS premises. The PEB president informed that the camera will be connected at the end of the voting process, having reasoned that the camera was only needed at the opening and closing of the PS.

PS 01/34, Chisinau, Botanica. At 11:00, due to full memory, the video camera stopped shooting the voting process.

PS 35/3 Ungheni, Ungheni. At 11:13, the observer noticed that the video camera stopped recording. The PEB operator argued that it did not have enough memory.

PS 1/155 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 9:17, the video camera discharged and was not shooting the voting process for about 40 minutes. The PEB president was notified thereof by an observer and brought the charger to have the camera connected again.

PS 2/54 Balti. From 7:00 to at least 12:00, the video recording camera was not operational. The PEB president announced the responsible persons. Until the given moment, the deficiency has not been removed.

PS 25/61 Orhei, Pohrebeni. At 11:17, it was found that the shooting process was stopped. The PEB president mentioned that the memory card is full.

PS 25/61 Orhei, Pohrebeni. The shooting process has been stopped because the memory card was full.

PS 29/71 Soroca, Visoca. The shooting process has been interrupted because the camera disconnected.

PS 27/14 Riscani, Borosenii Noi. During MT’s stay in the PS, the shooting process was interrupted.

PS 34/18 Telenesti, Codru Nou. During MT’s stay in the PS, the shooting process was interrupted.

Electoral campaigning or adverse promotion in the 100 m perimeter and/or in the polling station to influence voters’ choice – 11 cases.

PS 01/66, Chisinau, Botanica. A voter entered the PS premises with a bag on which the name of a political party was written. The PEB president noticed it and asked him to hide it on election day. The voter had complied with, voted and left the PS.

PS 18/33, Gura Camencii, Floresti. A voter entered the PS premises with electoral materials promoting candidates. The president warned him that this is forbidden, and materials have been removed.

PS 1/101 Chisinau, Buiucani. At 7:52, a voter entered the polling station with the slogan “We are voting European Chisinau”! Be patriots, let’s work for Stefan. The reaction of the PEB president followed immediately, who asked him to stop the campaigning. The incident lasted about 3-4 minutes. The voter exercised his right to vote.

PS 12/3 Criuleni, Criuleni. At 9:04, the representative of a party in the PEB offered consultations for 2 voters. The PEB members had no objections toward him.

PS 25/38 Ivancea, Orhei. At 8:40, members and supporters of a party were at a distance of a little over 100 meters from the polling station. They encouraged persons coming for voting to boycott the elections. The PEB president moved towards those persons, but since she was more than 100 meters away from the polling station, she could not intervene. The police approached and spoke with those persons.

PS 1/297 Chisinau, Stauceni. Before casting his vote, the voter exclaimed that he was voting with a certain party.

PS 35/62 Ungheni, Radenii Vechi. The candidate of a party made electoral campaigning in favor of the party he represents by saying out loud the option he is voting for.

PS 01/28, Chisinau, Botanica. A voter revolted loudly to the “Withdrawn” stamp applied against a party and expressed his desire to vote for it.

PS 01/4, Chisinau, Botanica. A group of 3 persons, two women and a man, distributed leaflets within a radius of 100 m. When it was an attempt to obtain the respective materials, the mentioned persons moved away.

PS 01/48, Chisinau, Botanica A voter asked loudly PEB members to show him where a certain politician was on the list. They did not react, asking him to exercise his right to vote quietly.

PS 2/27 Balti. At 12:15, a voter entered the polling station with electoral leaflets of a party, which he placed on the table. PEB representatives reacted immediately and asked the voter to collect them and not to show them.

 

Deficiencies in voters’ lists (address discrepancies, deceased voters, signatures instead of others) – 22 cases.

PS 01/143, Chisinau, Centru. A voter was not identified in the basic voters’ list. When checking the residence visa registration date, it was found that it is older than 3 months. As a result, he was allowed to vote, being included in the supplementary list.

PS 1/181 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 7:18, a voter was not allowed to vote because he was not included in the list. The voter has not changed his residence visa since 2020 and was not given a reason why he cannot vote. He did not write any appeal, he just left the PS. The PEB president approached the voter and the operator, but the problem was not resolved because the voter wanted to leave.

PS 2/20 Balti. At 7:46, a voter was not found in the voters’ list, although she is registered with the respective polling station according to her residence visa. In the previous elections, she had a similar situation. The voter was included in the supplementary list.

PS 1/95 Buiucani, Chisinau. A voter identified that other persons are registered in the voters’ lists at his home address. Shortly after the exercise of the vote, the man returned to the PS, requesting the list to be presented to him to verify who the persons are. The president refused him, having stated that they are personal data.

PS 2/28 Balti. At 10:10, a voter did not found to have been registered at the respective polling station either in the SAIS Elections or in the basic voters’ lists. At the same time, his residence visa dates back to 2018: In the SAIS Elections, he is registered with the polling station according to the old residence visa. The PEB president made the decision to have him added to the supplementary list.

PS 14/7 Drochia, Drochia. A voter noticed that her husband, who has been deceased for two years, is also in the list of voters. The president recommended the voter to contact the LPA.

PS 1/232 Riscani, Chisinau. At 11:35, the voter was not found in the list for the Riscani sector, he was registered in the Centru sector. At the decision of the PEB president and through a change in the database, voter was allowed to vote.

PS 1/215 Riscani, Chisinau. The voter was not in the basic lists of voters, he was included in the supplementary list.

PS 23/38, Nisporeni, Varzaresti. Two voters were not found in the basic voters’ lists, being included in the supplementary voters’ lists.

PS 01/21, Chisinau, Botanica. At the stage of checking the voter’s identity document, the SAIS Elections operator informed the voter that the information system communicated the restriction of the right to vote for that voter. The voter had the residence (indicated in the identity card) corresponding to the respective PS, where he also voted in the previous elections. The operator said that he did not find such a case in his training. The PEB secretary called the superiors, who informed her that the voter should be given the ballot paper and the opportunity to vote, after signing a declaration on his own responsibility.

PS 01/5, Chisinau, Botanica. A voter who, according to the identity card, had an address in the PS radius, according to the SAIS Elections, had a residence visa in Tiraspol municipality. He was not found in the basic voters’ lists, being included in the supplementary list.

PS 01/36, Chisinau, Botanica. One voter was not found in the basic voters’ list, being included in the supplementary list.

PS 01/119, Chisinau, Centru. A voter refused to vote because she indicated in the voters’ lists that other persons were registered in her apartment. The PEB president explained to her that it is not within the PEB’s competence to remove the respective persons.

PS 01/127, Chisinau, Centru. A voter was notified by the operators of the SAIS Elections that he has special voting restrictions according to art. 160 of the Electoral Code (change of home address). According to PEB members, the street the voter lives on was renamed about a year ago. Respectively, the voter has in the identity card the address with the current name, and in the SAIS – the address with the old name. In the end, the voter voted.

PS 01/128, Chisinau, Centru. One voter was not found in the basic voters’ lists, although he was identified in the SAIS Elections. He voted on the supplementary lists.

PS 01/128, Chisinau, Centru. One voter, with the same address since 1997, was not found in the basic voters’ lists, although he was identified in the SAIS Elections. He voted on the supplementary lists.

PS 23/38, Nisporeni, Varzaresti. One voter was not found in the basic voters’ lists, although the address in the identity document corresponds to the PS. He was included in the supplementary voters’ lists.

PS 01/128, Chisinau, Centru. A party representative voted on the supplementary list, without having a residence visa in the respective PS radius. He wrote a declaration on his own responsibility that he will not vote in another PS.

PS 21/17 Danceni, Ialoveni. The voter could not be identified in the database, the citizen claims that he has had a residence visa in the locality for 4 years and was able to vote in the previous elections. The PEB president recommended the person to go to PSA to get confirmation that he has a residence visa in Danceni.

PS 21/17 Danceni, Ialoveni. The voter with a residence visa in the locality was not found in the list of voters, both in the SAIS Elections and in the basic lists. PEB members redirected him to the Public Services Agency to obtain a residence confirmation certificate. The term since the voter had the residence visa in that locality was not mentioned.

PS 2/45 Balti. At 11:54, a voter entered; she wanted to vote but she was not allowed to because there was a signature next to her name and surname. According to the voter, she had not appeared recently, and it was not indicated in the SAIS Elections that she had voted.

PS 2/39 Balti. At 10:47, a voter approached the operator. The person was not included in the voters’ lists, although she had a residence visa at that address since 2016. It is mentioned that there were similar problems in each election.  The PEB president called this time the PSA (passport office), and they decided to add her to the supplementary list, as her documents are valid. Since the opening of the polling station, there have been 2 similar situations.

Deficiencies in the functioning of the SIAS Elections System (suspension of operation, situations when SIAS Elections System indicates that the voter voted, and s/he claims not to) – 21 cases.

PS 01/70, Chisinau, Botanica. At 08:20, due to Internet connection deficiencies and, respectively, the interrupted operation of the SAIS Elections, a Moldtelecom representative came to the PS premises to solve that problem.

PS 1/133, Chisinau, Centru. A voter who is in the PS radius, has changed his residence from 8 August 2023. That is why, there were discrepancies between the voters’ lists and the SAIS Elections. He was not registered in the basic voters’ lists, and it appeared in the SAIS Elections that he had already voted at the previous PS (where he had initially appeared to vote, but where he was directed to the correct PS). In the end, the voter was allowed to vote on the supplementary voters’ lists.

PS 01/131, Chisinau, Centru. At about 07:50, an elderly voter appeared at the PS. When checking her identity card, the SAIS operator informed her that she was registered to have voted at the nearby PS. The voter denied that she voted, having stated that she presented her identity card at the previous PS, and the SAIS operator informed her that she was not found in the voters’ lists from that PS. The PEB president and the SAIS operator informed her that she was already included in the database as a person who voted and they refused to issue her a ballot paper.

PS 1/250 Chisinau, Codru. Between 7:30 and 7:55, the SAIS Elections was not operational due to the internet disconnection. Voters who were found in the list according to the address in the identity card have voted. The rest of the persons waited for the internet connection to be restored so they could be checked into the system.

PS 36/42 TAUG, Chiriet-Lunga. Between 7:30 and 8:50, the electricity was disconnected at least 3 times for 5 minutes. During the first disconnection, voters could not be verified in the SAIS Elections, but they were allowed to vote. According to the PEB president, the disconnection is due to the rains in the evening of 4 November 2023, as works were being carried out to restore the electricity network.

PS 1/112 Buiucani, Chisinau. At 07:49, a voter approached, when he was checked by the operator, the SAIS system gave an error. PEB members identified him in the list of voters, according to the address, told him to wait until the problem is solved. Then 3 more persons approached, for whom the SAIS also gave an error. Everyone was waiting at that moment inside the polling station. At 08:28, the problem was resolved and persons voted.

PS 25/45 Malaiesti, Orhei. At the opening of the PEB, the SAIS Elections was not operational, there was no internet connection, all voters were registered in a book to be transcribed into the computer. At 8:30, the connection was restored and the data written down by hand were transcribed.

PS 30/32 Panasesti, Straseni. At 8:35, the internet connection was lost for a few minutes. Only one operator connected to a portable Wi-Fi modem. An operator could not connect to the Internet for 15 minutes, the problem was solved later and the electoral process was not affected.

PS 1/112 Buiucani, Chisinau. At 08:47, the operation of the SAIS Elections was suspended due to a technical error. 5 voters gathered in the polling station and were waiting to vote. The problem was solved in about 10 minutes.

PS 1/248 Chisinau, Codru. In the SAIS Elections, no voter was found who, according to the documents, had a residence visa in Codru since 2010.

PS 2/19 Balti. At 8:35, the voter was not identified in the SAIS Elections. However, he was identified in the basic list and allowed to vote.

PS 2/22 Balti. At 8:30, a voter was checked in the SAIS Elections, and the “restricted” status appeared. Following the PEB president’s consultation with the CEC, the voter was included in the supplementary lists and was allowed to vote.

PS 2/39 Balti. Deficiencies with access to the Internet have been found, and operators cannot work with the SAIS Elections. They wrote all the data on paper and compared once an hour whether the number of those who voted coincided with their list. By 9:50, the problem was resolved.

PS 2/19 Balti. At 10:14 am, two voters registered at the same address were not identified in the SAIS Elections, but they were included in the basic list, respectively they were allowed to vote.

PS 1/100 Buiucani, Chisinau. Around 10:50, a voter approached the operator to be checked. According to the SAIS Elections data, the vote was already registered in the voter’s name. The PEB president explained to the voter about the impossibility of voting repeatedly. The person continued to claim that he had never voted. Eventually, the person left the polling station.

PS 1/116, Chisinau, Centru. A voter approached the SAIS Elections operator, who identified that he appears in the database without a domicile/residence address, although according to the identity document the indicated address is within the PS radius. The PEB president recommended him to contact PSA to clarify the situation. The voter did not vote.

PS 30/37 Romanesti, Straseni. When a voter appeared to the operator, he was informed that he had already voted according to the SAIS Elections data. It was found to be a technical error and the voter was allowed to vote.

PS 2/56 Balti. At 12:46, the voter was not identified in the SAIS Elections by the operator. The residence visa had been changed and the data had not been updated. She was not even found in the basic list of voters. The voter was added to the supplementary list and allowed to vote.

PS 18/29 Floresti, Ghindesti. Although they were found in the basic voters’ lists, 5 persons were included in the supplementary voters’ lists on the grounds that they were not found in the SAIS Elections.

PS 7/54 Cahul, Rosu. A voter could not be identified in the SAIS Elections (based on IDNP) nor on the CEC page. Although he has been living within the PS radius for several years, his right to vote was denied.

PS 25/56 Orhei, Peresecina. Between 7:40 and 8:40, the SAIS Elections was not operational because there was no internet connection. The voting process was not stopped.

Unjustified presence of unauthorized persons in the polling station or within 100 m – 15 cases.

PS 28/04, Singerei. The candidate designated for the position of mayor, entered the PS with his daughter, to bring her as an observer from a party. The PEB president told him to leave the PS and that his daughter could not be an observer, but only a representative of the party. The electoral candidate left the PS, and the representative remained to follow the electoral procedures.

PS 20/15, Hincesti, Caracui. At 06:54, until the opening of the PS, the candidate designated by a party for the position of mayor was in the PS premises talking with the PEB members. Later, around 8 o’clock, for a period of about an hour, he was near the PS, where he talked with the voters who came to vote. He also approached the Promo-LEX observer, asking him who he was, on what basis and if he voted.

PS 1/293 Chisinau, Gratiesti. Between 6:50 and 8:00, the principal of the high school where the PS is located was found in the PS premises.

PS 1/245 Chisinau, Riscani. At 6:57, 2 persons appeared at the polling station, one of whom declared that he was an observer from a party, but did not present any confirmation document, only his identity card. The president informed him that he did not have the right to attend without confirmation or accreditation. Following a telephone conversation between the PEB president and one of the party’s representatives, the president stated that file of the person in question has been submitted to be confirmed as a representative and allowed him to attend the opening of the polling station without handing him an ID card.

PS 1/199 Riscani, Chisinau. At 08:50, 2 persons entered the PS premises, consulted in the same voting booth who to vote for. PEB members did not react to the incident.

PS 25/73 Susleni, Orhei. At 8:53, a candidate for mayor was observed outside the polling station. After some time, the PEB president got involved and asked the person to get away from the polling station. The unauthorized person left immediately.

PS 2/1 Balti. At 9:03, an unauthorized person was detected at the PS 2/1, he was within a radius of less than 100 m and greeted voters, communicated with them.  He was a Russian-speaking person with a bag, he approached practically every voter, especially the elderly under the pretext of driving them to/from the door of the polling station. According to the PEB president, that person was neither an observer nor a representative of a candidate. The PEB president notified the sector policeman, and the person was no longer in the vicinity of the polling station.

PS 1/281 Chisinau, Budesti. At 10:10, the candidate for mayor entered the polling station, having greeted the PEB president, then both went outside to communicate. Afterwards, the candidate left.

PS 35/62 Ungheni, Radenii Vechi. A party’s candidate was present in the PS premises until the voting process was declared open.

PS 1/218 Riscani, Chisinau. At 9:28, the observer saw that a car was parked next to the polling station and a person approached those going to the polling station and spoke to them. The observer notified the president, who called the police. The police arrived in no more than 1 minute.

PS 9/6 Calarasi, Calarasi. 2 persons were talking to the voters who were going to vote within 100 meters from the PS. The respective persons were there for about 30 min (10:10 – 10:40), after objections were made to them by the PEB president, they left.

PS 15/3, Dubasari, Corjova. At a distance of less than 100 meters, outside the PS, during 20 minutes, a representative of the party and a candidate for the position of district councilor discussed with the voters about the activity of the parties.

PS 15/3, Dubasari, Corjova. Outside the polling station within a radius of 100 m, at 10:46, the presence of the party deputy and a candidate running for district councilor was observed. The discussions they had were about politics, in general. The PEB president noticed their presence and alerted them, only after a few minutes.

PS 28/21, Singerei, Chiscareni. At about 9 o’clock, near the PS (approximately 40 meters), during 30 minutes, the candidate designated by the Party for the position of local councilor, and father of another electoral competitor, also designated for the position of local councilor by the respective party, met and discussed with each other.

PS 01/70, Chisinau, Botanica. The party representative had no accreditation and called someone to bring her accreditation. The PEB president recorded it in a notebook.

Presence of advertising materials, posters, electoral boards within the radius of the polling station (100 meters from the station) – 9 cases.

PS 25/45 Malaiesti, Orhei. Within the PS, there is an advertising material, a leaflet with the image of a politician, it is visibly placed on a shelf of a cabinet inside the PS.

PS 18/32 Floresti, Gura Camencii. Electoral materials of several competitors were found within 50 meters of the polling station.

PS 7/46 Cahul, Lebedenco. Electoral materials of a party were found within 100 meters of the polling station.

PS 4/29 Anenii Noi, Mereni. Posters of the independent candidate were found within 100 meters of the PS.

PS 29/56 Soroca, Septelici. A billboard promoting a party was observed near the polling station.

PS 33/3 Taraclia, Taraclia. Near the polling station, on the poles, electoral materials of a party were attached.

PS 21/1 Ialoveni, Ialoveni. Electoral board for posters was uncleaned. Leaflets belonging to about 5 competitors were on it.

PS 01/56, Chisinau, Botanica. Near the PS, a banner promoting the party’s candidates was displayed, placed on a balcony in a residential building, to the right of the sidewalk on which voters were moving towards the PS.

PS 7/18 Cahul, Andrusul de Jos. In the radius of 100 meters from PS, the presence of advertising materials in favor of a party was observed.

Violation of voting secrecy (photographing the ballot papers, presenting the ballot paper with the cast vote, faulty location of the voting booths that allow the voter’s option to be viewed, etc.) – 45 cases.

PS 1/198 Riscani, Chisinau. The Party representative had 2 lists on which she marked by name part of the persons who came to vote.

PS 01/66, Chisinau, Botanica. The Party representative kept record of the persons he knows. He had a notebook in which certain persons were marked by name.

PS 01/26, Chisinau, Botanica. At 08:25, a voter took a photo of the ballot paper, having been warned by PEB members that it was a violation. The picture has not been deleted.

PS 1/184 Chisinau, Ciocana. One of the voters, after exercising her right to vote, was corrected by one of the PEB members, while she was trying to place both ballot papers in the same ballot box, although she was explained preemptively that they had to be placed in separate ballot boxes. Later, the PEB member asked for and took the ballot papers that were put together, and separated them demonstratively, one for each ballot box, thus making the voter’s voting option visible to observers, representatives of political parties and the PEB president. The PEB president made an objection on that incident.

PS 1/243 Riscani, Chisinau. At 8:15, a voter took a photo of the ballot paper in the voting booth. He was not observed by the PEB members.

PS 1/92 Buiucani, Chisinau. Two persons, husband and wife, approached the same voting booth together. The wife voted, then took the husband’s ballot papers and stamped “Voted” on the ballot papers that belonged to him. The PEB president noticed that fact, the man’s ballot papers were canceled and he was offered other ballot papers to vote again.

PS 1/243 Riscani, Chisinau. A voter photographed the ballot paper while in the booth, before and after it was stamped.

PS 29/18 Soroca, Bulboci. A voter took a picture of the ballot paper. The PEB president made an objection to the voter. The voter reasoned that he did not know it was not allowed and left.

PS 1/289 Chisinau, Condrita. A woman photographed the ballot paper.

PS 1/292 Chisinau, Ghidighici. A voter photographed the ballot papers. Upon leaving the voting booth, at the request of the PEB president, the person deleted the photos.

PS 1/249 Chisinau, Codru. At 09:40, a woman photographed the ballot paper with the affixed stamp. At the request of the PEB president, the phone was checked by the police, the pictures were deleted.

PS 32/11 Stefan Voda, Copceac. A man, after casting his vote, when leaving the polling station, shot the voting process with his phone. From the discussion with the PEB president, he communicated that the man would have some objections to a member of the PS, who worked today.

PS 2/57 Balti. At the moment he took the ballot papers, the voter phoned (or was phoned) and went to the voting booth. He was warned by the PEB president and put the phone in his pocket.

PS 2/24 Balti. At 10:38, a voter took a picture of the ballot paper. The PEB president noticed and asked the voter to delete the picture and was convinced that the picture was deleted.

PS1/297, Chisinau, Stauceni. A man photographed the ballot papers, he was noticed by a representative of a party who made an objection to him. The man had an aggressive verbal reaction, when the PEB president intervened, he also showed aggressive language; the police was called later.

PS 25/41, Orhei, Jora de Mijloc. A voter did not fold the ballot papers when leaving the booth and put them in the ballot box so that his options were visible. The PEB president did not react.

PS 27/6 Riscani, Riscani. The voting booths were located next to the window, which would allow a potential viewing of the ballot papers from outside.

PS 35/62 Ungheni, Radenii Vechi. The party’s candidate was photographed with the unfolded ballot paper. He intentionally made his option visible.

PS 1/223 Riscani, Chisinau. A voter, because she did not understand why there were two separate ballot papers, went out and went to ask the PEB president. She expressed her choice by showing the ballot paper, where it was visible who she voted for. Then she went back to the booth and voted on the second ballot as well.

PS 1/102 Buiucani, Chisinau. At 10:32, two voters, from the same family, were talking to each other while casting their vote on the ballot paper, the husband showed to his wife where and which party to vote on the ballot paper. The PEB president made an objection to them and mentioned that that was prohibited.

PS 1/211 Riscani, Chisinau. A voter, after applying the stamp to one of the ballot papers, exited the voting booth and having held the ballot paper in sight asked what the second ballot paper was for, but it was also visible on the first ballot paper whom he voted for. A PEB member explained to him what the second ballot paper was for without making any objections, then the given person went again to vote on the second ballot paper.

PS 1/105 Buiucani, Chisinau. The voter noted that the stamp was leaking and presented the ballot paper to the PEB president to ask if the vote was valid or not. The PEB president told him that his vote was valid and allowed him to throw the ballot paper into the ballot box.

PS 1/81 Buiucani, Chisinau. In the voting booth, the voter took a picture of the ballot paper. The PEB member warned him. He didn’t want to delete the picture from his phone.

PS 1/90 Buiucani, Chisinau. In the voting booth, the voter took a photo of the ballot paper. The PEB president noticed that and made a remark to that effect.

PS 1/94 Buiucani, Chisinau. In the voting booth, the voter took a photo of the ballot paper. PEB members did not make any remarks in that regard.

PS 1/241 Riscani, Chisinau. At 11:48, inside the polling station, a person was observed who, while voting, took out his phone and photographed his ballot papers. The person put the ballot papers in the ballot box and left. The PEB members and PEB president did not react in any way.

PS 01/17, Chisinau, Botanica. After applying the “Voted” stamp to the ballot paper, a voter showed the ballot paper to those present in the PS premises. The voter was not notified of the violation.

PS 01/29, Chisinau, Botanica. A voter, before putting the ballot paper in the ballot box, took a picture. For that violation, a PEB member made an objection to him.

PS 01/147, Chisinau, Centru. A voter, being in the voting booth, took pictures of the ballot papers, after which he inserted them into the ballot box. PEB members did not notice the incident.

PS 01/147, Chisinau, Centru. A voter, after applying the “Voted” stamp on the ballot paper, did not fold it and at the time of putting it in the ballot box, displayed it so that the chosen candidate was visible, having given a nod to the Party representative.

PS 01/1, Chisinau, Botanica. A video surveillance camera is located behind the voting booths in the PS premises. The PEB president informed that that camera was the installation of the gymnasium and shot only during study hours. However, there was no certainty that the camera was not operational.

PS 01/53, Chisinau, Botanica. A voter went outside with the ballot paper without being noticed by PEB members and returned after 2 minutes. Having been noticed by the PEB president, it was explained to her that such actions were not allowed, after which she was allowed to vote.

PS 25/23 Chiperceni, Orhei. The voter was registered in the SAIS Elections, after the voter passed to the operator, he did not vote immediately. He went outside, discussed with a woman coming out of the PS who told him who to vote for. The voter returned to the PS, took the ballot paper and voted.

PS 31/15 Dobrusa, Soldanesti. The voter took photos of the ballot papers, and PEB members noticed that and forced the person to delete the photos taken. The person concerned complied with.

PS 6/3 Briceni. At 10:10, a voter in the voting booth, after applying the Voted stamp, photographed the ballot papers. The Promo-LEX observer notified the PEB president, and she made an objection to the person who photographed the ballot papers.

PS 36/15 TAUG, Ceadir-Lunga. At 10:41, a voter took a photo of the ballot paper. The PEB president insisted on deleting the picture and verified that fact.

PS 1/163 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 10:24, the AFSM representatives registered the voters present at the voting. The PEB president claimed that she will not prevent this, because the correctness of the vote counting will be checked in this way.

PS 1/149 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 10:04, a voter took a photo of the ballot paper and was noticed by PEB members. Earlier, at the registration, he expressed his indignation regarding the application of the Withdrawn stamp and the impossibility of voting for the chosen candidate.

PS 1/166 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 09:43, a voter took a photo of the ballot paper. Neither the PEB president nor any other member was able to notice that.

PS 2/45 Balti. Between 11:05-11:35, two voters photographed the ballot papers. The PEB president did not notice or intervene.

PS 2/13 Balti. At 11:23, a voter took a photo of the ballot paper. The PEB president noticed him, called the police and his ballot paper was cancelled. The voter voted repeatedly without incident.

PS 2/57 Balti. At 12:28, the voter took a picture, after putting the stamp on the ballot papers, the President notices and asked to delete the picture.

PS 2/32 Balti. In the voting booth, the voter took a photo of the ballot paper. The PEB president reacted immediately and the voter, in the presence of her and the observers, deleted the picture from the phone.

PS 15/10 Dubasari, Molovata. A voter demonstrated to PEB members, after voting, that the stamp on the ballot paper was not clearly visible. Thus his option was also made public.

PS 32/6 Stefan Voda, Antonesti. After exercising the right to vote, towards the exit from PS, the voters discussed among themselves about their option.

Organized transportation of voters (buses, minibuses, or other transport units that would normally not be around the polling station) – 4 cases.

PS 1/218 Riscani, Chisinau. According to the Promo-LEX observer, the PEB president was informed by a representative, with pictures, about a car that brought persons to the PS in an organized manner.

PS 05/11, Basarabeasca, Bascalia. Voters were transported to the PS in an organized manner by a citizen with a Volkswagen car. It was seen carrying three middle-aged persons at least twice.

PS 2/42 Balti. At 10:44, a case of organized transport of voters was observed. 4 elderly women were brought to the polling station in a Toyota car (blue), having been expected to be taken back. That case was reported to the police.

PS 7/31 Cahul, Colibasi. The Baptist Church provided transportation to persons that went to the meeting to get to the PS.

Ballot boxes were not sealed according to legal procedures/ broken/damaged or missing seals on ballot boxes – 6 cases.

PS 01/7, Chisinau, Botanica. Stationary ballot boxes were sealed with only 2 seals.

PS 1/74 Buiucani, Chisinau. At 06:55, when the ballot box sealing procedure took place, the stationary ballot box was sealed with only 3 seals. Later, after the opening, at 08:05, the PEB president applied the last seal to the stationary ballot box.

PS 12/32 Criuleni, Pascani. Between 06:30 and 07:40 (while the mobile team was there), the mobile ballot box was not sealed.

PS 28/8 Singerei, Grigoresti. The ballot box was sealed with a single seal. The STO warned the PEB president, the problem was solved.

PS 29/56 Soroca, Septelici. The mobile ballot box was not sealed.

PS 29/71 Soroca, Visoca. By 12:01, the mobile ballot box was not sealed.

Unjustified group voting (two or more voters) – 60 cases.

PS 1/167 Chisinau, Ciocana. A voter entered another’s voting booth a few times, having commented on the choice they had to make (husband and wife). The PEB president and a representative of an electoral competitor made an objection to him.

PS 11/34 Lipoveni, Cimislia. At 08:45, two persons entered the voting booth, the PEB president intervened, but the persons were already in the voting booth and voted.

PS 12/37, Slobozia-Dusca, Criuleni. 2 persons voted in the same voting booth, and the persons did not react to the PEB president’s intervention.

PS 15/8 Dubasari, Holercani. Two persons voted together. The PEB president’s objection was late and they had already managed to vote.

PS 21/5 Ialoveni, Ialoveni. At 08:50, a mother and her son entered the voting booth. Although the woman appeared to have no impairments, the son insisted that she needed help. Despite the interdiction imposed by the president, the son helped the mother to vote by indicating for whom.

PS 25/52 Orhei, Nicolaieuca. The husband and wife unjustifiably voted together, without having any visible deficiencies and without asking the PEB president’s help or permission.

PS 1/184 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 9:12, a couple of voters entered the same voting booth and began to analyze the ballot paper, having mentioned that they were “choosing the party”. Following the PEB president’s objection, a voter changed his voting booth.

PS 2/55 Balti. At 9:25, two persons were in the voting booth at the same time (husband and wife) without having visual impairments or other problems that required support. The PEB president intervened and the persons complied, voting separately.

PS 2/59 Balti, Elizaveta. At around 8:50 am, the presence of 2 persons (husband and wife) was observed in a voting booth. The PEB president informed him that they were voting one person at a time, to which the voter responded in a brutal way. The reason given was that they cannot manage separately. In the end, they complied and voted separately.

PS 1/251 Chisinau, Cricova. At 10:35, two persons (husband and wife) who showed no signs of locomotor or visual impairments were consulting each other in the same booth. PEB members did not react to that incident.

PS 1/292 Chisinau, Ghidighici. Two persons who could vote unaccompanied were present at 10:19 in the voting booth. The president and members warned the persons, but to no avail.

PS 15/12 Dubasari, Oxentea. Two persons were in the voting booth at the same time, without justifiable reason. The reaction of the PEB members was lacking.

PS 25/34 Orhei, Ghetlova. Two persons voted simultaneously in a voting booth. They had no physical impairments.

PS 23/21 Nisporeni, Seliste. One voter helped another to vote. There was no justifiable reason for the group voting. The PEB president did not intervene.

PS 20/65 Hincesti, Sofia. A couple stood together in the voting booth for a few moments. The PEB president did not react. There was no reasonable ground for group voting.

PS 10/24 Copanca, Causeni. Two voters voted in the same voting booth, the PEB president intervened later, after they had already voted.

PS 11/25 Gura Galbenii, Cimislia. Within a few minutes, 2 groups of 2 persons voted together in the same booth subsequently. The PEB president warned the voters.

PS 21/42 Tipala, Ialoveni. Unjustified group voting was observed at 09:13. Specifically, two voters who showed no signs of special needs or vision problems entered a booth, having voted together. PEB members did not react to that situation.

PS 1/112 Buiucani, Chisinau. At 10:13, a visually impaired voter needed assistance, and the PEB president urged a representative or observer to accompany him to the voting booth. The voter was accompanied by a representative.

PS 1/74 Buiucani, Chisinau. Two voters entered the voting booth. The person who voted for the accompanied person also submitted the ballot papers in the ballot box for him. Neither member nor PEB president reacted and the given persons were left to vote together.

PS 1/211 Riscani, Chisinau. A voter entered the near polling booth, where there was another voter with whom they came together (husband and wife). PEB members warned about the violation.

PS 1/214 Riscani, Chisinau. At 11:45, two voters were in the same voting booth having discussed who to vote for. PEB members did not notice the given case and did not intervene.

PS 1/225 Riscani, Chisinau. At 11:39, in the polling station, unjustified group voting took place, the participants being the husband and the wife. The PEB intervened by making an objection to them.

PS 1/218 Riscani, Chisinau. Two persons entered the same voting booth. A representative from a party made an objection to them, but the PEB members did not notice the given moment.

PS 1/220 Riscani, Chisinau. Two persons voted in the group. PEB members did not notice the incident.

PS 1/229 Riscani, Chisinau. Two persons entered the voting booth, they did not react to the PEB president’s request and continued voting in the group.

PS 1/202 Riscani, Chisinau. At 10:18, two persons were in the voting booth, without one of them needing supplementary help for health reasons.

PS 1/244 Riscani, Chisinau. Two voters voted in the group in the same voting booth. The PEB president was not present in the PS.

PS 1/225 Riscani, Chisinau. Two persons entered the voting booth and voted. The PEB president did not notice the incident.

PS 1/229 Riscani, Chisinau. Two persons entered the voting booth, they did not react to the PEB president’s request and continued voting in the group.

PS 01/50, Chisinau, Botanica. 2 persons entered the voting booth at the same time, one of them giving directions to the other. As a result of the PEB president’s intervention, the person left the voting booth having shown aggressive behavior.

PS 01/50, Chisinau, Botanica. In the voting booth, there were two voters (father and son) having discussed the candidates on the ballot paper. Following the objections of the PEB member, the person explained that he was not giving instructions to influence the vote, but only helped a misunderstanding of the other voter.

PS 20/11, Hincesti, Bozieni. In the voting booth, a voter, after voting, talked/consulted with another voter in the adjacent voting booth. PEB members made an objection, but without any reaction from the voter.

PS 18/53, Floresti, Putinesti. Two voters, who were not relatives, were in the voting booth at the same time. Apparently, one of them was not clear about the lists and the companion explained to him which list and what it contained.

PS 01/20, Chisinau, Botanica. While having been in the voting booth, a voter approached another voter and asked him a question. That voter saw the ballot papers of the other voter in the booth.

PS 01/56, Chisinau, Botanica. A couple entered the PS. The husband entered the voting booth and the wife was by his side giving him directions. After the husband voted, he left the booth and then the wife entered the same booth. PEB members did not react.

PS 01/41, Chisinau, Botanica. Two voters were in the same voting booth. One of them reproached the other in a nasty way for not applying the “Voted” stamp where it should be. The president intervened and separated them.

PS 01/8, Chisinau, Botanica. Two voters – husband and wife – were together behind the ballot box, having discussed the choice. The PEB members made an objection to them. The woman stated that he was her husband and they have to make a joint decision. At the intervention of the PEB president, the woman left her husband’s voting booth.

PS 01/40, Chisinau, Botanica. An old woman accompanied by a man came to the PS around 08:34. The man entered the voting booth with the woman. The PEB president intervened and forbade them to vote as a group. The man refused to comply, having argued that the woman could not see well. When it was an attempt to give the voter a magnifying glass, they refused to apply it. As a result, the policeman was called who explained calmly the procedure to them. The man got angry and tore up the ballot papers, having left them on the ballot box. The torn ballot papers were put into a file and placed in the ballot box.

PS 01/25, Chisinau, Botanica. A young couple was together in the voting booth. After objections were made to them, they refused to vote separately, having reasoned that they would be husband and wife. In the end, they voted together.

PS 01/130, Chisinau, Centru. Two persons voted in the same voting booth (mother and daughter). One of the PEB members made an objection to them, but the mother reasoned that her daughter was voting for the first time and did not know the voting procedure. The PEB president allowed group voting.

PS 01/130, Chisinau, Centru. Two voters, husband and wife, voted simultaneously in one voting booth. PEB members did not react to that situation.

PS 01/148, Chisinau, Centru. Two voters entered a single voting booth at the same time to vote in the group. At the intervention of the PEB members, they separated.

PS 01/133, Chisinau, Centru. Two voters voted simultaneously in one voting booth. PEB members did not react to that situation.

PS 01/28, Chisinau, Botanica. Two voters, husband and wife, voted simultaneously in one voting booth. PEB members did not notice that situation (due to crowding in the PS premises).

PS 01/41, Chisinau, Botanica. Two voters in the same voting booth initially discussed, after which one of them voted. Afterwards, the PEB president intervened and separated them.

PS 01/53, Chisinau, Botanica. Two persons voted in the same voting booth. PEB members warned them, but to no avail.

PS 01/12, Chisinau, Botanica. Having been in the voting booths, two voters were talking to each other. After the intervention of the PEB members, they voted separately.

PS 01/12, Chisinau, Botanica. Two persons at the voting booth were talking to each other and finally voted together. The PEB members made no objection to them.

PS 17/58, Falesti, Risipeni. Two persons voted in the same voting booth. When the PEB members were notified, the voters did not react, having argued that they were part of the same family.

PS 9/30 Pitusca, Calarasi. Two voters voted in the same voting booth. None of those persons needed help. The incident was not noticed by PEB members.

PS 25/10 Orhei, Orhei. 2 persons were in the voting booth. The PEB president intervened and explained that they cannot vote in the same voting booth, afterwards the persons voted separately.

PS 35/57 Petresti, Ungheni. In the same voting booth, 2 voters voted simultaneously. The PEB president intervened and warned persons that they cannot vote in the same voting booth.

PS 4/26 Anenii Noi, Hirbovat. At 10:10, a man applied the stamp in place of the person who came to vote, and it was noted that they were either relatives or acquaintances. He offered his help, thus applying the stamp instead of another. No member of the PEB noticed the incident.

PS 1/162 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 10:57, two voters consulted each other in the voting booths. PEB members reacted and forbade the entry of two persons into the booth as well as the consultation between them. Those persons complied with the objections made.

PS 1/178 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 10:45, a voter came to vote and started to express his opinion and talk to a woman voter about the voting option. PEB members repeatedly tried to stop him from such action, but the voter continued the discussions.

PS 1/181 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 11:13, a voter was at the voting booth and another voter passed behind him and suggested which option to choose.

PS 1/186 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 11:15, a voter voted for herself and her mother. She stamped all the ballot papers herself. PEB members noticed the incident, but did not react in any way.

PS 2/9 Balti. At 10:37, the voter consulted with his daughter in the voting booth. At the PEB president’s objection, he reacted aggressively but complied, with difficulty.

PS 2/9 Balti. At 10:55, it was found that a voter was consulting with his mother regarding the voting option. The PEB president and secretary asked them to stop, and the voters complied.

Problematic situations regarding the use of ballot papers contrary to voting procedures – 19 cases

PS 1/164 Chisinau, Ciocana. At 09:15, a voter accompanied by a child, wanted to remove the ballot from the polling station, having tried to put the ballot paper in her child’s bag. The PS members made an objection in that regard to the voter. Thus, she put the ballot paper in the ballot box and left.

PS 2/51 Balti. At 9:30, after the ballot paper was handed to the voter, he refused to vote and tore up the ballot paper because he could not vote for the Party.

PS 2/17 Balti. At 9:02, a voter went outside, having left the ballot papers in the voting booth. The PEB president took the ballot papers and threw them into the ballot box, but the voter came back asking for the ballot papers to cast his vote, but he was refused on the grounds that he had abandoned his ballot papers in the booth.

PS 2/51 Balti. At 10:30, one of the PEB members found a ballot paper without a stamp in the ballot box. The ballot paper has been cancelled.

PS 2/11 Balti. At 8:44, the PEB president found a clean ballot paper in the voting booth, presented it to the observers and PEB members and declared that it had to be cancelled.

PS 1/292 Chisinau, Ghidighici. A vote was found in the voting booth at 09:02. The PEB president notified the PEB members and, with the permission of all members, put it in the ballot box.

PS 1/295 Chisinau, Ciorescu. A voter found a ballot paper without a stamp in the voting booth. One of the PEB members put the ballot paper in the ballot box.

PS 1/283 Chisinau, Ciorescu. At 10:00, a voter notified the PEB president that he found 2 unstamped ballot papers in the voting booth. The PEB president took the ballot papers and inserted them into the ballot box, having mentioned that they would be considered invalid upon counting.

PS 01/131, Chisinau, Centru. At 07:40, one of the PEB members in charge of voter registration and distribution of ballot papers was observed holding and removing ballot papers from the adjacent chair, practically under the table. Upon the request of the observer to place them on the table to see the distribution of the ballot papers, she refused, having stated that there was not enough space on the table and she did not see a problem in such a way of placing the ballot papers, as the record of the ballot papers was kept anyway.

PS 1/246 Chisinau, Codru. In the voting booth, a voter found a ballot paper forgotten by the previous voter. The ballot paper was sent to the PEB secretary. The PEB president and secretary in the presence of all persons decided to put it in the ballot box.

PS 1/230 Riscani, Chisinau. A woman and her 15-year-old child appeared at the polling station. The woman mentioned that the child had autism and he was forced to stay next to her. She entered with the child the voting booth, the president noticed and made an objection to her. The woman got into a conflict with the president, then the woman tore up the ballot paper and left the PS. The PEB president drew up minutes for the cancellation of the ballot papers.

PS 26/23, Rezina, Mateuti. A voter threw 4 ballot papers into the ballot box, although voting was based on only 3 ballot papers. It was not possible to identify the cause – either another voter forgot a ballot paper in the voting booth, or it was an error of the PEB members when issuing the ballot papers.

PS 01/66, Chisinau, Botanica. For unknown reasons, an elderly voter tore up the ballot papers and managed to insert them into the ballot box.

PS 01/117, Chisinau, Centru. A voter, after applying the stamp to the ballot paper, demonstratively tore it and tried to insert it into the ballot box, but was stopped by the PEB members. According to the PEB president, a protocol had to be drawn up thereby that ballot paper had to be cancelled.

PS 01/63, Chisinau, Botanica. Due to the fact that it was very crowded in the PS premises, two persons – after being registered in the SAIS Elections and taking the ballot papers – went outside. They returned after space was freed up in the PS. Voters were warned that that was not allowed.

PS 01/32, Chisinau, Botanica. A voter forgot a ballot paper in the voting booth, the PEB president found out, and it was decided to cancel it.

PS 2/18 Balti. At 10:23, a voter tore up the ballot papers and threw them down. That happened after he asked where the Party was in the ballot paper and received the answer that it was withdrawn. He also asked if he was an independent candidate from that party and was told no. The PEB president notified the police, they drew up a report on the deterioration of the ballot papers.

PS 2/22 Balti. At 12:43, a voter, after her ballot papers were issued, tore them up publicly and aggressively, having been angry that her party had left the PS, later a report was drawn up for the damaged ballot papers.

PS 2/52 Balti. At 12:20, a voter wanted to vote together with his wife, unjustifiably. He was not allowed to do so and showed himself aggressively in the polling station. He wanted to go outside with the ballot papers, but was stopped by the PEB member.

Violence or intimidation of voters or other people – 3 cases.

PS 18/2 Floresti, Floresti. A voter intimidated PEB members, having been dissatisfied with the exclusion of the Party from the contest. After about 10 minutes, the police officer intervened and calmed him down.

PS 32/11 Stefan Voda, Copceac. The voting process in the PS was disturbed by a woman about 45 years old, who behaved aggressively, insulted one of the SAIS operators with shouts. The PEB president made an objection and informed the police officer about that case. The voter did not vote, having been led to the exit by the PEB president.

PS 2/8 Balti. At 9:49, a man approached the voting booth where a woman was and initiated a discussion with her. The PEB president intervened, the man reacted aggressively. The PEB president warned that he would call the police and the man left.

Unjustified cessation/suspension of voting in the polling station – 2 cases.

PS 25/15 Orhei, Orhei. Between 07:03 and 07:45, the internet disappeared. About 40 voters had to wait over 40 minutes until the “Moldtelecom” team removed the malfunction.

PS 8/2 Cantemir, Cantemir. On the grounds that the wrong printing of the ballot papers for the District Councilors was identified for the PS 8/2, the voting was suspended. At 10:10, the electoral activity of the PS resumed. Voting for the District Council is done on ballot papers printed in Russian. As a temporary solution, in order not to disrupt the activity of the PS 8/2, the president of DEC II gave instructions to the president of the PS 8/1 to send 100 ballot papers to the PS 8/2.

Ballot papers not distributed to PEB members are not kept in a safe place – 1 case.

PS 25/43, Orhei, Jora de Mijloc. The unused ballot papers are kept inside the precinct, next to the president. The reason given was the lack of a safe, it was located at the City Hall. The PEB president stated that this has been done in all the years and they had no other solution.

Others – 5 cases.

PS 36/17 TAUG, Ceadir-Lunga. At 9:00, the PEB president handed out the vote counting minutes to the observers and representatives of the electoral contestants for filling in.

PS 30/16 Straseni, Cojusna. The SAIS Elections operator working in the polling station was running for the councilor from a party.

PS 25/23 Chiperceni, Orhei. The voter was denied the right to vote by the operator because he did not have the accompanying card of the new type of identity card.

PS 01/17, Chisinau, Botanica. Although there is an access ramp for persons with special needs, it turned out to be non-compliant. A voter traveling in a wheelchair had to be helped to move physically, thus creating difficulties in the voting process.

PS 01/116, Chisinau, Centru. A visually impaired voter received the ballot paper. Having difficulties in reading it, his  wife intervened with the request of the PEB members’ permission to help him. PEB members refused the request, not offering the voter any supplementary light or special magnifying glass. One of the members offered the voter his own glasses, but he refused. In the end, the voter put the ballot paper in the ballot box without stamping it.

The release is drafted within the Observation Mission for the General Local Elections of 5 November 2023, carried out by the Promo-LEX Association with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Program “Democracy, Transparency and Responsibility” and of the European Union through the Project “Strengthening the electoral legislative framework and assessing its implementation during the general local elections in 2023”.

The opinions expressed in the reports and public releases of the Promo-LEX OM belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the point of view of financiers or partners. The content hereof may be subject to editorial revisions.

In case of discrepancies between the text in Romanian and its translation into another language, the provisions established by the Romanian text prevail. 




Promo-LEX Observation Mission for the General Local Elections of 5 November 2023 | Opening of Polling Stations

The Promo-LEX OM for the General Local Elections of 5 November 2023 received, until 9:00, 141 reports of incidents from observers. This release includes 44 incidents processed by the central team of the Promo-LEX OM up to specific hour.

We specify that, on election day, the Promo-LEX OM delegated 602 static observers, including in all polling stations in Balti and Chisinau municipalities, as well as in 237 polling stations in the rest of the country, selected based on a representative sample. Furthermore, the electoral process in the rest of the polling stations, in their immediate vicinity and access routes thereto, is also monitored by another 142 observers grouped in 71 mobile teams.

According to observers, of the total of 436 stations monitored at the opening, 97 were opened a little earlier or after 7:00.

Incidents reported at the opening of polling stations:

Restricted access for observers or obstruction of the free observation process in the polling station – 4 cases.

PS 7/1 Cahul, Cahul. The observer was allowed to enter the polling station only at 6:50, even though he had come at 6:30.

PS 1/202 Chisinau, Riscani. At 6:40, upon entering the polling station, the PEB president informed the Promo-LEX observer that he had to appear two days before the election day in order to register in the list of observers. After the PEB president made a phone call to clarify, the observer’s access was allowed.

PS 01/58, Chisinau, Botanica. At 6:30, when the observer tried to enter the PS to observe the preparation for the opening, his access was restricted and he was informed that the PS opens at 7:00. Later, at 6:54, the observer’s access to the PS premises was allowed.

PS 01/32, Chisinau, Botanica. At 6:30, the observer’s access to the PS to observe the preparation for the opening was denied. Later, at 6:45, the observer’s access to the PS premises was allowed.

Deficiencies in the operation of the SAIS Elections (technical errors, problems related to voter registration, etc.) – 7 cases.

PS 2/21 Balti. The SAIS Elections was not operational for 8 minutes from 7:20. During that time, 2 voters waited until the deficiency was resolved. Operators intervened and the problem was removed.

PS 01/56, Chisinau, Botanica. Between 07:14 and 07:42, the SAIS Elections was not operational, and the Internet connection was interrupted. In that interval, the voters voted without registration in the system, they were enlisted on a sheet of paper by the PS president to be registered after removal of deficiencies.

PS 22/26, Leova, Filipeni. Since the opening of the PS, the SAIS Elections was not operational due to the lack of internet connection, therefore the voters voted without registration in the system, they were enlisted on a sheet of paper to be registered after removal of deficiencies.

PS 1/289 Chisinau, Condrita. Between 08:20 and 08:27, it was found that SAIS Elections stopped operating (internet connection disappeared). The voter who appeared at the PS during that time was allowed to vote.

PS 01/144, Chisinau, Botanica. At 07:20, a voter with a residence visa in the identity card at str. Miorita 1, was identified in SAIS Elections with the address at str. Miorita 1/1. SAIS Elections operators claim that it is an error, since only Casa Radio is located at str. Miorita 1. The voter was allowed to vote, but showed signs of dissatisfaction with the situation. The PEB president advised him to find time to correct the error in documents.

PS 1/276 Chisinau, Bubuieci. At 07:26, one of the SAIS Elections operators noted the PEB president that he could not enter the system. The president became aware of what happened and called the specialized bodies for assistance. Only one of the operators continued the verification of voters in SAIS Elections. The deficiency lasted for at least 50 minutes.

PS 14/2 Drochia, Drochia. Since the opening of the PS, SAIS Elections was not operational at an operator, the voting process was not interrupted, the PEB president announced about that incident. By 08:45, the problem had not been resolved.

Deficiencies in voters’ lists – 1 case.

PS 23/38, Nisporeni, Varzaresti. One voter was not found in voters’ lists and he was stating that he voted permanently in that section. He was entered in the supplementary lists.

Discontinuation of the shooting of electoral operations during the voting day – 10 cases.

PS 11/4 Cimislia, Cimislia. From the opening of the polling station and until 7:30 (departure of the Mobile Team from the polling station), the video camera was not operational.

PS 21/1 Ialoveni, Ialoveni. Between 06:45 and 7:30 (departure of the Mobile Team from the polling station), the video camera was not operational.

PS 27/39 Riscani, Recea. At 7:05, it was found that the video camera was not operational. The PEB president and an operator intervened in the camera’s settings to connect it. The technical failure lasted about 15 minutes.

PS 1/219 Chisinau, Riscani. At 7:25, the shooting process was interrupted due to a technical failure of the camera. The failure was removed after about 10 minutes.

PS 20/13, Hincesti, Bujor. At 07:30, the video camera did not record for a period of about 5 minutes, due to its discharge. The failure was removed and the shooting process was resumed.

PS 26/3 Rezina, Rezina. Between 7:30 and 8:15, the video camera was disconnected. According to the observer, it only recorded the PS preparation for the opening and was disconnected due to lack of memory. The PEB representatives stated that they will connect the camera when the counting of votes begins.

PS 25/37 Orhei, Isacova. Between 07:40 and 08:10 (departure of the Mobile Team from the polling station), the video camera was not operational.

PS 12/32 Criuleni, Pascani. The video camera was turned on at 7:20 after more than 20 citizens voted. It was disconnected for technical reasons later again.

PS 25/37 Orhei, Isacova. Between 07:40 and 08:10 (departure of the MT from the PS), the video camera was not operational.

PS 1/70, Chisinau, Botanica. At 8:00, the electricity was disconnected for about 10 minutes. As a result, the video camera did not record. The problem was promptly removed and the shooting process was resumed.

Presence of advertising materials, posters, electoral boards within the radius of the polling station (100 meters from the station) – 3 cases.

PS 01/70, Chisinau, Botanica. In the morning, before the opening of the section, electoral materials (posters) of a political party were observed in front of the PS, on an information board.

PS 33/3 Taraclia, Taraclia. Near the polling station, advertising posters with photos of candidates from a political party are attached on two poles.

PS 1/109 Chisinau, Buiucani. Near the polling station, a banner with electoral message in favor of the electoral competitor of a political party was not removed. The banner is located opposite the entrance to the polling station.

Unjustified presence of unauthorized persons in the polling station or within 100 m – 3 cases.

PS 8/38 Cantemir, Porumbesti. Between 06:45 and 7:20 (departure of the Mobile Team from the polling station), the police representative was present in the polling station.

PS 01/52, Chisinau, Botanica. Between 07:52 and 08.05, a voter, under the pretext that his phone is discharged and needs to be charged, was in the PS entrance more time than necessary. He tried to vote in the section, although he resides in another locality. The operators explained to him that he could not vote.

PS 1/100 Chisinau, Buiucani. At 7:02, the unjustified presence of 3 unauthorized persons was found in the polling station. One of three persons had the capacity to represent a political party and came with a request to the PEB president to issue him the observer ID card. Later, in about 15 minutes, the situation was clarified, the person in question was registered as a representative of the electoral competitor, and his ID card was issued.

Ballot boxes were not sealed according to legal procedures/ broken/damaged or missing seals on ballot boxes – 7 cases.

PS 2/28 Balti. One of the static ballot boxes has a defect, so the PEB president could not apply the fourth seal

PS 2/30 Balti. Ballot boxes were sealed after announcing the opening of the polling station, at an interval of 10 minutes.

PS 01/137, Chisinau, Botanica. Stationary ballot boxes were sealed with only 3 seals.

PS 01/59, Chisinau, Botanica. Stationary ballot boxes were sealed with only 2 seals. The PEB president communicated that two seals are enough.

PS 21/42 Tipala, Ialoveni. At 7:00, stationary ballot boxes were sealed with 2 seals.

PS 1/218 Chisinau, Riscani. At 6:53, stationary ballot boxes were sealed with 2 seals. The PEB president commented that it would be easier to unseal, all PEB members agreed to be sealed with only two seals.

PS 1/124 Chisinau, Gratiesti. Stationary ballot boxes were initially sealed (time: 6:53) with a single seal. The extra seals were added by 7:35 so they would be properly sealed.

Violations of voting secrecy (photographing ballot papers, etc.) – 5 cases.

PS 36/10 TAUG, Comrat. At 7:20, a young man photographed the ballot paper with the option already expressed. When representatives objected, the PEB president intervened and the picture was deleted.

PS 01/56, Chisinau, Botanica. A voter was observed taking a photo of his ballot in the booth.  The PEB president warned him on the way out that he did not have the right to take photographs.

PS 01/17, Chisinau, Botanica. A voter showed everyone present in the PS the ballot paper after applying the ‘Voted’ stamp, having asked if it would be validated if it got dirty with ink.

PS 01/15, Chisinau, Botanica. A voter took a photo of the ballot paper. At the request of the PEB president, the photo was deleted.

PS 1/167 Chisinau, Ciocana. A voter asked if it was possible to exchange a new ballot paper and showed the stamped ballot to the PEB president and a political party representative to see if the stamp was legible. Later, he inserted it into the ballot box and left, and the PEB president replaced another stamp in the voting booth. The PEB president told him that she could not give him a new ballot paper.

Ballot papers not distributed to PEB members are not kept in a safe/closet inside the polling station – 1 case.

PS 01/60, Chisinau, Botanica. There is no safe or other secure place to keep unused ballot papers in the PS premises. All are kept on the table.

Unjustified group voting – 1 case.

PS 1/269 Chisinau, Vatra. At 07:45, the PEB secretary entered the voting booth to help a voter who did not have any deficiencies.

Others – 2 cases.

PS 1/110 Chisinau, Buiucani. At 7:43, at the time of voting, the PEB president noticed that the ballot papers in Russian were from another polling station, more precisely for PS 108. The president communicated about that and showed the box where the ballot papers were located to the observers and representatives of the political parties on which PS 110 was indicated. The PEB president said later that she would make a public act following that incident. At that moment, ballot papers in Russian have been withdrawn and ballot papers in Romanian will be offered.

PS 23/38, Nisporeni, Varzaresti. PEB members found a ballot paper in a voting booth, probably forgotten by a voter. It was introduced into the ballot box by the PEB president.

The release is drafted within the Observation Mission for the General Local Elections of 5 November 2023, carried out by the Promo-LEX Association with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Program “Democracy, Transparency and Responsibility” and of the European Union through the Project “Strengthening the electoral legislative framework and assessing its implementation during the general local elections in 2023”.

The opinions expressed in the reports and public releases of the Promo-LEX OM belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the point of view of financiers or partners. The content hereof may be subject to editorial revisions.

In case of discrepancies between the text in Romanian and its translation into another language, the provisions established by the Romanian text prevail.