Promo-LEX: At the half-way point, elections are marked by various deviations from electoral norms

28.11.2010

Promo-LEX observers, reporting on the period up to 15.00, have found new problems in the electoral process, such as: inadequate equipment at voting stations, failures in the performance of members of the Precinct Electoral Bureau (PEB), violations of voting procedures, unauthorised electoral campaigning, irregularities in cases where people have voted at home, and problems with the transportation of voters to the voting stations.

Inadequate equipping of voting stations:

Observers throughout the country continue to note the improper state of certain voting stations, which are not equipped as they should be according to the relevant legal framework. The following cases may be mentioned:

Voting Station (VS) nr.133 in Chişinău, where the voting booths are screened with a transparent material, thus not permitting voters to vote in secret;
VS nr.22 in Ciuteşti (under the Nisporeni District Electoral Commission (DEC)), which is without lighting;
VS nr.108 in the Botanica district of Chişinău, where the electricity supply was disconnected for two minutes;
The unfit state and inadequate equipping of the locations used by the PEB and of the areas designated as voting stations was one of the concerns mentioned in previous Promo-LEX reports.

The performance of members of the Precinct Electoral Bureau (PEB):

The performance of PEB members at some voting stations has deficient in certain respects:

At VS nr.22 in Ciuteşti (Nisporeni DEC), PEB members registered only 4 observers on their lists, while 9 observers were present at the voting station;
At VS nr.17 in Corjeuţi (Briceni DEC), a voting slip was handed out after a voter had shown only a passport for foreign travel;
At VS nr.22. in Pohrebea (Dubăsari DEC), the president and vice-president of the PEB were absent for two hours;
VS nr.34 in Bălţi (Bălţi DEC), was closed from 10.05 to 10.25, because an ambulance had been called for a voter who felt unwell.

Voting procedure:

In many localities in the country, functionaries have allowed deviations from correct voting procedure. In particular, there have been cases in which more people have been admitted into the voting booths than is allowed, and in which people with visual disabilities have encountered difficulties voting. Promo-LEX observers have also reported cases in which the ballot boxes had already been filled, thus forcing to functionaries to extemporise a solution, be it more or less legitimate:

At VS nr.12 in Dubăsarii Vechi (Criuleni DEC), married couples were allowed to enter the voting booths together;
At VS nr.37 in Scorţeni (Teleneşti DEC), a person with a visual impairment was not allowed to be accompanied into the voting booth by another person;
At VS nr.19 in Bursuceni (Sîngerei DEC), many voters made their voting slips visible, thus showing whom they had voted for;
At VS nr.289 in Grătieşti (Chişinău DEC), one voter who had been given their voting slip returned the slip to a Bureau member and went outside of the voting station to speak on their mobile. The returned voting slip was cancelled and the voter was refused another slip upon their return;
At VS nr.41 in Varnița (Anenii Noi DEC) was closed for 10 minutes, during which time a second ballot box was prepared, the first having already been filled. The second ballot box was fashioned out of cardboard, without a verbal process being inserted. The same situation was recorded at VS nr.40 in Varnița (Anenii Noi DEC), which was closed for 7 minutes.

Electoral lists:

The electoral lists in some voting stations were reported as being incomplete:

At VS nr.5 in Comrat (Autonomous Territorial Unit of Găgăuzia (ATUG) DEC) 28 people were missing from the lists, and were subsequently added onto supplementary lists;
At VS nr.4 in Comrat (ATUG DEC), 33 people could not find themselves on the basic list.

Electoral campaigning:

Many electoral candidates continue to conduct campaign activities, contrary to the provisions of the relevant legislation. Such cases were found in the Ungheni rayon (where there were cases of text messages being sent bearing the message “Vote for VICTORY, vote for LUPU”) and around VS nr.3 in Taracalia (ATUG DEC) (where the mayor of Taraclia – Gaidarji Vasilii – was campaigning on behalf of one of the electoral candidates.)

Voting with the mobile ballot box:

Requests to vote at home should be made in person or by relatives or social assistants. Promo-LEX observers found deviations from the voting procedure in cases where the mobile ballot box was requested, in at least two voting stations in two electoral districts. For example, in VS nr.36 in Cazaclia (ATUG DEC), 6 requests to vote at home were recorded which had been drawn up by medical assistants, while at VS nr.33 in Hagimus (Căuşeni DEC), 80 requests to vote at home were submitted, 47 of which had been submitted by monks.

Transportation of voters:

In many localities, cases were noted in which voters were transported to voting stations by electoral candidates. In the Anenii Noi rayon, one candidate organised for voters to be taken from Bender to Varniţa, using two buses. The same thing was noted in the Criuleni rayon, where another candidate transported voters from the village of Zolonceni to voting station nr.12/3 in Criuleni, with a bus bearing an electoral poster of the candidate in question.

Transnistrian region:

At the entrance to the city of Bender, on the Chişinău-Bender road, the Transnistrian checkpoint has effectively doubled its checks. In the village of Corjova, near the Mihai Eminescu highschool, the presence of 100 people with posters bearing the slogan “No to the election in Transnistria, No to Romanisation of the PMR” was recorded. A similar situation was found at a school in the village of Corjova. Those protesting were reported as being in a state of inebriation.

The Promo-LEX monitoring effort is being carried out as part of the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections. For the election day, 2500 observers recruited from all over the country have been trained, and deployed to all the voting sections in the Republic of Moldova.

For further details contact: Cristina Nicolenco, Promo-LEX press officer, Tel: (22) 211622, GSM: 069882392, email: pr@promolex.md