The Moldovan citizens abroad, who want to vote in the October 20 elections by mail, must register in advance. The voting period begins for each voter upon the receipt of the materials and ends when these are returned to the electoral bureau, no later than 06:00 p.m., the local time of the host country, on Thursday before election day. The provisions are contained in the Regulation on the Particularities of Organization and Implementation of Postal Voting, approved by the Central Electoral Commission, IPN reports.
The regulations apply to the citizens of the Republic of Moldova who are in the United States of America, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland, and refer to the presidential election and the constitutional referendum of October 20.
The Moldovans from the six countries must register on the online “Preregistration” platform by accessing inregistrare.cec.md. Registration is already available and can be made up to 45 days before election day. In case of presidential runoffs, the initial registrations are maintained. The voter has the right to cancel the registration no later than 25 days before election day, if he/she renounces his/her intention to vote by mail.
After the period of registration for postal voting ends, based on the information provided in the application, the CEC draws up voter lists by polling stations for postal voting and include at least 30 and no more than 2,500 voters. The printing of ballot papers is ensured by the CEC. The CEC also determines the model and the necessary quantity of envelopes for postal voting depending on the type of ballot organized.
The dispatch of ballot papers to the electoral bureaus, together with the necessary envelopes and electoral materials, including the compiled electoral lists, shall begin no later than 20 days before election day. Immediately after the completion of the procedures for receiving and verifying the materials, the electoral bureau of the polling station starts systematizing and packaging them to send them to the voters. The envelopes shall be sent to the voters to the postal address indicated in the voter list for postal voting.
The ballot paper shall be filled in by the voter so that secrecy is ensured. The persons who vote by postal voting from the same postal address as other voters, including family members, are responsible for ensuring the secrecy of their vote and must refrain from influencing the will of the other voters. If it is found that the inner envelope is not properly sealed, is damaged in such a way that the secrecy of the vote is not ensured or the security label is missing, the vote is cancelled by the electoral bureau.
The voter shall also fill in and sign the blank of the declaration on refraining from multiple voting and confirmation of the exercise of the right to vote in secret. If the blank of the declaration was not filled in or signed or was not inserted in the returned outer envelope or was inserted in the depersonalized inner envelope, the vote shall also be annulled.
An elector can only vote for a single electoral contestant or for one of the options in the referendum. When filling in the ballot paper for postal voting, the voter writes with a pen a tick (V-shaped sign) inside a single circle of the ballot. After going through the voting procedure, the voter sends the envelope with the ballot paper to the electoral bureau of the polling station, namely through the post office or courier.
The receipt of outer envelopes by the electoral bureaus of the polling stations for postal voting shall end three days before election day, i.e. on Thursday before election day, by 06:00 p.m., the local time of the host country. The electoral bureau decides to extend, by no more than two hours, the deadline for receiving ballot envelopes if the postal or courier service providers informed that the electoral materials are to be delivered. The district electoral council for polling stations abroad and the Central Election Commission shall be informed about the extension.
