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.