According to the findings of Promo-LEX observers submitted by 20.00 hours, the following irregularities were found:
Polling Station Arrangements
At the PS no. 47 in Congaz (UTAG), PS no. 17 in Ciadir Lunga, and PS no. 12 in Orhei, voting booths were arranged in a way contrary to legal provisions to ensure secrecy of the vote.
At the PS no. 35 in Noroceni and PS no. 77 in Curchi, the PSEB members sat in one room, and the voting booths were set in another room, and the two rooms were separated by an open door. PS no. 26 in Clisova had no heating. Persons with disabilities had no access to PS no. 66 in Seliste, PS no. 77 in Curchi, and PS no. 49 in Morozeni (all in Orhei). At the PS no. 36 and 66 in Svetlii (UTAG), two stamps had no inkpads.
Two polling stations encountered issues with electricity supply. Thus, there was no lighting before the entrance to PS no. 215 in Chisinau, and the power went off at the PS no. 12 in Bravicea between 17.45 and 18.13 hours, which caused the station to suspend the voting, and caused a line outside the station.
Ballots and Taking Photos of the Ballots
At the PS no. 128 in Centru sector, Chisinau, a person with impaired vision could not cast their vote.
At the PS nos. 8 and 18 (Leova), there were 300 and, respectively, 200 more ballots than needed.
The ballots at the PS no. 42 in Leuseni (Hincesti) did not have “withdrawn” stamps next to the name of the candidate that was eliminated from the race.
Several people photographed their ballots at the PS no. 36 in Sadova (Calarasi), PS no. 26 in Mincenii de Sus (Rezina), and PS no. 299 in Stauceni (Chisinau).
Failure to Apply the “Elections 30.11.2014” Stamp
At the PS no. 30 in Crasnoarmeiscoe (Hincesti), one person refused to have their ID inserted stamped “Elections 30.11.2014”, band was still allowed to vote.
Voting with Inadequate Documents
In at least 5 polling stations in Floresti, 2 PSs in Briceni, one polling station in Rezina, PS no. 39 n Tribisauti (Briceni), and PS no.13 in Bulboaca, voters were allowed to vote with foreign passports.
At the PS no.10 in Ciniseuti (Rezina), 4 persons voted without inserts to their IDs.
Transportation of Voters
At the PS no. 29 in Paulesti (Calarasi), local councilor C.I. transported 3 to the polling station using his personal car.
At the PS no. 7 in Ciorna (Rezina), M.G., driving an Opel car, registration number RZAG 663, brought at least 4 persons, and at least twice, to the polling station.
At the PS no. 26 in Mileştii Mici (Ialoveni), the owner of a Dacia Logan car, registration plate KVL 162, was observed driving to the station 5-6 times, and transporting 3-4 people to the station each time.
At the PS no. 29 in Nimoreni and PS no. 24 in Malcoci (both in Ialoveni), a van with registration plates ILBK 343 was seen transporting people to the polling stations.
At the PS no. 14 in Buteni (Hincesti), three care transported persons to the polling station. A BMW car with registration plates RMA 027 was seen near PS no. 44 in Tanatarii Noi (Causeni) every two hours.
Electoral Campaigning
Promo-LEX observers recorded multiple cases of electoral campaigning at PS no. 38 in Grozasca (Ungheni), PS no. 49 in Vasieni (Ialoveni), PS no. 2 in Drochia, PS no. 292 in Cruzesti, PS no. 5 in Straseni, PS no. 18 in Cisla (Cantemir), and PS no. 13 in Albina (Cimislia).
Corrupting Voters
At the PS no. 22 in Lipceni, a party member bought groceries for citizen N.T. and called him to vote for a certain candidate.
At the PS no. 40 in Țareuca (Rezina), the head of the Rezina Gaz company served alcohol to people at approximately 60 m from the polling station.
Incidents
At the PS no. 67 in Sinesti (Ungheni) observers from several candidates were noisy, threw ballot papers on the floor, and required police intervention.
At the PS no. 231 in Chisinau, a voter tore the ballot in pieces and stuffed them into the ballot box.
At the PS no. 111 in Buiucani, Chisinau, a voter received the ballot and ran towards the door with it. PSEB members managed to stop him.
At the PS no. 231 in Chisinau, a woman wanted to vote with a Soviet passport, and when she was not allowed to do so, she started a scandal, which required the intervention of the police.
Preventing Students for Exercising Their Right to Vote
A group of 5 students were not allowed to vote at PS no. 54 in Chisinau despite the fact that they presented their student cards and IDs.
Persons Remaining in Polling Stations
An activist of an electoral candidate was present at the PS no. 3 in Causeni between 15.30 and 16:20 hours.
At the PS no. 11 in Bozieni, a representative of a candidate came in and out of the polling station and spent a total of 3 hours there, talking to voters. He did not react in any way to the warnings and remarks of the PSEB chair, and the later was forced to call the police and take the person out the PS.
Cancellation of Ballots
On 29 November 2014, contrary to legal provisions, PSEB no. 115 (m. Chisinau) cancelled approximately 1,300 ballot papers by applying the “cancelled” stamp instead of the “withdrawn” stamp next to the candidate that was withdrawn from the race. This issue was found on Election Day, and the PSEB was instructed by the CEC to issue voter certificates to the voters and redirect them to another polling station to cast their votes.
At the PS no. 42 in Leuseni (Hincesti), the “withdrawn” stamp was not applied next to the name of the candidate that withdrew from the poll.
At the PS no. 11 in Cotiujenii Mari (Soldanesti), o person was caught photographing their ballot, and the electoral bureau took the decision to withdraw the ballot.
Transnistrian Region
At approximately 14.20 hours, at the customs post in Varnita, members of the electoral bureau of PS no. 42 who were travelling to Bender with the mobile ballot box were turned back by the local militsia.
Ensuring the Safety of Voting by the PSEB Chair
In the proximity of PS no. 26 in Micauti (Straseni), there was a barbecue joint, and some voters were served alcohol.
in PS no. 13 in Bulboaca (Briceni), approximately10 persons who do not live or have their domicile in the village submitted written requests to vote on standard A4 sheets and all voted at the respectve polling station.
Voter Lists
In PSs nos. 3, 5, and 8 in Leova, approximately 70 persons were not included in voter lists, while deceased persons were found on the respective lists.
Observers’ Performance
An observer on behalf of a candidate at PS no. 5 in Taraclia showed a voter where on the ballot to apply the voting stamp.
The Election Monitoring Effort is part of the activities conducted by the civil society under the aegis of the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections.
The Monitoring Effort for the Parliamentary Election on 30 November 2014 has received technical assistance from the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) and is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the Council of Europe, and the Stefan Batory Foundation from the funds provided by the Solidarity Fund as part of the “Support for Democracy” Programme of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For additional information, please contact:
Galina Sanduta, Press Officer of the Promo-LEX Election Monitoring Effort
GSM: 069 95 82 89, email: [email protected].