As the electoral campaign intensifies, there have been cases found of intimidation against both electoral candidates and voters, according to a Promo-LEX report. Electoral candidates have been carrying out various electoral activities without hesitating to use administrative resources, and to offer “electoral gifts”.

During the monitoring period the CEC was found to have exercised its powers impartially. By the end of the time allowed, it had registered 40 electoral candidates, and had adopted and modified several instances of legislation, interpreting the law in force to the benefit of the visually impaired. Many and various forms of electoral campaigning have been recorded, though electoral candidates have relied mainly upon rallies, posters, and electoral broadcasts. Several concerts were also organized as part of various electoral campaigns.

The electoral candidates reported to the CEC, within the proper time-frame, on their use of resources from electoral funds. According to Promo-LEX observers, however, not one of the electoral candidates fulfilled the obligation to declare – in public announcements circulated nationally on a weekly basis- their financial resources and their other means of supporting their campaign activities. 12 of the 40 candidates registered in the electoral race were found to be using publicity material lacking in information that legally should be displayed.

Pavel Postica, deputy chief of the monitoring effort, stated: “The electoral campaign is intensifying in terms of the number and variety of campaign activities, a fact testifying to the seriousness of the electoral candidates’ involvement in the electoral race.”

The report found several deviations from the timetable proposed by the CEC with regard to the establishment of the electoral bodies, due to the late registration of the electoral candidates at the lower electoral bodies. Furthermore, the regulations for organizing the elections were not adjusted in line with the provisions of the Electoral code. This has led to shortcomings at the level of the lower territorial bodies when organizing voting for people who have both a visa for domicile and a visa for residence.
During the monitoring period, a series of cases was recorded involving intimidation and pressure against voters and electoral candidates, as well as many more instances where individuals were pressured into attending electoral campaign activities. Cases involving the use of administrative resources for campaigning and the offering of electoral “gifts” by candidates continue.
The report’s principal recommendations refer to the necessity of the CEC’s involvement in mediating conflicts between electoral candidates and members of the electoral bodies, and to starting measures to sensitize the electoral candidates regarding the necessity of conducting their electoral campaigns in a peaceful and civilized manner.
The report covers the period 25 October – November 8 2010, and brings together the findings of 42 long-term observers on the territory of the Republic of Moldova. The monitoring of the early parliamentary elections, scheduled for November 28, 2010, is a project carried out by the Promo-LEX Association as part of The Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections.

The report is available here.

For more information contact Cristina Nicolenco, Promo-LEX press-officer: Tel: (22) 211622, GSM: 069882392, e-mail: [email protected]

October 28, 2010. Promo-LEX Association has released the second pre-electoral Monitoring report on the early parliamentary elections.

This report refers to the October 13 to October 25 period and describes the electoral environment, analyzes the electoral legislation and relevant regulations and presents the review of the findings made by the field observers. The report also formulates recommendations for the electoral stakeholders.

In the monitoring period, the mission found that the election authorities have shown an overall unbiased performance and, with a few exceptions, have met the time limits prescribed by the legislation. The Central Election Commission (CEC) registered new candidates and national observers. Also, the CEC received the first financial statements submitted by the electoral competitors.

The intensity of the election campaign in the first two weeks varied from region to region and depended largely on the activity of the electoral competitors. Observations showed that a small number of electoral competitors held activities of electoral nature. The first electoral incidents and the first instances of misuse by the competitors of administrative resources were recorded in this period.

The negative patterns of the electoral process identified by the observers were related to the conflict situations registered in a number of electoral districts; to the deficient financial reporting on the campaign expenses made by the candidates; to the insufficient number of places for the display of outdoor campaign advertising and violation of the advertising display rules by the electoral competitors; to the inadequate information efforts made by the local authorities concerning the possibility to verify the electoral rolls; and cases of aggressive treatment of voters by certain competitors.

The main recommendations formulated in the report concern the need for the CEC to settle differences within local election bodies, to create conditions for the display of electoral advertising; to carry out information and civic/electoral education campaigns to stimulate a high voter turnout, including on the eastern bank of the Nistru River; to run awarenes campaigns for the candidates about the importance of a peaceful and civilized behavior in the electoral process. The recommendations of the monitoring mission are formulated in good faith and aim to contribute to the improvement of the electoral process.

The report is available here.

The monitoring of the early parliamentary elections, to take place on 28 November 2010, is a project implemented by the Promo-LEX Association within the framework of the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections.
This project is implemented with technical and financial assistance from the United States Embassy in Moldova, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI). The opinions expressed in the report belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the donors.

Contact person: Cristina Nicolenco, Press officer, Promo-LEX GSM: + 373 69882392
E-mail: [email protected]

October 14, 2010. Promo-LEX Association has released the pre-electoral Monitoring report on the early parliamentary elections of 28 November 2010.

The present report refers to the period from September 29 – October 12 and describes the electoral environment, analyzes the electoral legislation and relevant regulations and presents the review of the field findings by observers. In the monitoring period, the mission found that the election authorities have showed an overall unbiased behavior and, with few exceptions, have met the deadlines prescribed by the legislation.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) developed a number of regulations and guidelines meant to clarify and enhance the electoral legal framework. The CEC established the electoral constituencies, approved the estimate of costs, and imposed a cap on the campaign financing. Also, the CEC authorized the first national observers.

The election campaign has so far been proceeding in low gear. The CEC established the place and time for submitting applications for the registration of the candidates in the early parliamentary elections of 28 November 2010. During the monitoring period, twelve political parties obtained registration with the election authority as electoral contenders. Some of the political parties kicked off their campaigns before obtaining formal registration.

The main findings formulated in the report concern the need to revise the Timetable with a view to bringing it in line with the provisions of the electoral legislation; to monitor how candidates observe the requirement to step aside from certain posts and warn those who fail to do so; to carry out information and electoral education campaigns to stimulate a high voter turnout, including on the eastern side of the Nistru River.

To exclude abuses of administrative resources in electoral purposes, the observation mission encourages the electoral contenders to ensure that the candidates on their lists step aside temporarily from their public posts for the duration of the electoral period.

Promo-LEX is conducting a long-term monitoring of the electoral period preceding the early parliamentary elections on 28 November 2010 within the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections. Promo-LEX will employ in the monitoring process 42 long-term observers deployed in all the districts of the country. The Promo-LEX observers received training on electoral procedures and instructions regarding the impartial and independent character of the monitoring effort. The recommendations of the monitoring mission are developed in good faith and aim to contribute to the improvement of the electoral process.

“We are expecting the campaign to be diverse and active,” said Ion Manole, the Chief of the Promo-LEX Monitoring Effort. “Promo-LEX observers will pay close attention to the fairness of the electoral process and the behavior of the competitors.”

This project is implemented with technical and financial assistance from the United States Embassy in Moldova, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The opinions expressed in the report belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the donors.

The report is available here.

Contact person Pavel Postica, Legal Department Promo-LEX, Tel. +373 22 211-622.

Chisinau, August 25, 2009. Promo-LEX Association launched the final report on the monitoring of the campaign for the July 29, 2009. The monitoring was done in 7 electoral constituencies. Monitored period: June 16 – July 29, 2009

The Promo-LEX monitoring effort is pleased to note an increased interest shown by voters from the monitored area for the 29 July 2009 election. At the same time, certain disturbing trends and patterns were noted, which affected the quality of the electoral process in the monitored region.

In the monitored area, the election largely failed to meet the exigencies of a competitive process that would be comparable with the electoral practices in countries with longstanding democratic traditions, due to a tense atmosphere, unlevel field, and violations and discretional interpretation of procedures by electoral bodies and contestants. Voter lists constitute the basis of properly organized elections. In the monitored area, it was noted that the compilation, verification, use and storage of voter lists constituted a faulty practice, and affected the credibility of the entire process.

A selective accreditation of international observation missions and a systematic harassment of accredited international observers are clear derogations from Moldova’s international commitments, particularly to the OSCE. Intimidation of voters and national observers by the local authorities and electoral bodies leaves an unfavorable mark of suspicion with regard to the transparency of the authorities’ actions. Disrupting the operation of an international observation mission only confirms such suspicions.

Approximately nine percent of the total of Moldovan voters, residents of the Transnistrian region, continued to be isolated from the electoral process in the country. Electoral contestants did not conduct campaigning activities in the breakaway region, and the authorities did not use all the possible means to fully enfranchise this group of voters.

The use of public offices and resources for electoral purposes blurs the line between the activity of the state and that of the ruling party, which is in contradiction with the fundamental norms of democratic rule and violates the principle of equal opportunities. To a lesser extent, the same lack of a clear delimitation between the activities of public authorities and the campaign activities of electoral contestants is noted at a local level.

The Promo-LEX Association monitored, in the period between 16 June and 29 July 2009, the early parliamentary elections of 29 July 2009 – including the pre-electoral period, the legal framework and the Election Day – in the Transnistrian region of Moldova and the neighboring rayons (territorial districts): Floresti, Rezina, Dubasari, Anenii Noi, Causeni, and Stefan Voda. The Promo-LEX monitoring effort deployed observers to 249 polling stations of the total of 1987 polling stations opened across the country. The monitored area is populated by approximately 530 thousand voters, which accounts for approximately 20 percent of the total number of voters in Moldova, and includes the Transnistrian region.

The Promo-LEX monitoring effort would like to acknowledge the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the financial support and technical assistance provided for the good implementation of this effort.

DOC – FINAL REPORT MONITORING EARLY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS 29 JULY 2009

July 30th 2009. Moldovan citizens residing in the Transnistrian region showed an increased interest for the election, notes Promo-LEX.

Although the separatist administration posed numerous obstacles, and the Moldovan constitutional authorities made insufficient efforts to provide proper information to the electorate of the region, approximately 1,500 more people voted in the early 29 July 2009 election compared to the previous time.

Representatives of the secessionist authorities blocked the roads and thoroughly checked the units of transport at every control post, limiting the free movement of the people. “The constitutional authorities failed to ensure the right to vote of the inhabitants of Corjova village of Dubasari district, on the territory of the poling station opened there,” Igor Guzun said.

Promo-LEX Association is concerned about the attempts to intimidate independent observers, thus intervening in the process of monitoring the elections. Observers were threatened and in some cases even even sworn at. Representatives of local authorities and police were seen repeatedly in 100 meters range from the polling stations.

Voter lists have not been compiled in a qualitative manner. There were many cases noted of presence in the lists of deceased persons, or of non-inclusion in the list of the ID card information. Also, a part of the electoral registers disappeared, while some of the voting certificates were issued on the basis of invalid or inexistent identification papers.

“During the voting process, voting with dubious F-9 form documents was noted: the forms either had the photo attached with scotch tape, the photo was not stamped or the form lacked a proper identification number, declared Ion Manole, president of the Promo-LEX. At the same time, issuance of voter certificates on the basis of invalid or inexistent ID documents was also noted.
Observers noted a differentiated approach at different EBPSs toward accepting or rejecting requests to vote at home. There were registered cases of negligence and irresponsibility of behalf of election bodies with regard to their attributions.

The full versions of the report attached

Contact person:
Ion Manole, president of Promo-LEX Association,
GSM: 69 07 08 00
e-mail: [email protected].

Inna Guleac, PR manager, Promo-LEX,
GSM: 69 33 78 41
e-mail: [email protected].