To be registered as an electoral contender in a single-member constituency at the parliamentary elections of February 24, 2019, the applicant must present the subscription lists with the signatures of at least 500 and at most 1,000 supporters with the right to vote from the given constituency to the district electoral council.

To promote the registration of women candidates in elections, Parliament decided that the women can be registered if they present the signatures of at least 250 and at most 500 supporters with the right to vote from the constituency where they intend to run. The persons who want to run in the single-member constituencies intended for the localities from the left side of the Nistru and for Moldovans abroad can collect signatures in support of their candidacy in any of the 51 constituencies.

The subscription lists for collecting signatures in support of a candidate are issued by the district electoral councils. Under the Decision on the approval of the regulations concerning the compilation, authentication, presentation and verification of subscription lists, the collection of signatures in support of candidates begins when the candidates are fielded, starting with 60 days before the parliamentary and presidential elections.

The subscription lists for collecting signatures in support of candidates must mandatorily contain: the type of elections in which the person intends to run, election date, number of the subscription list, name and surname, year of birth, profession (occupation), post held, workplace, political affiliation of the candidate, locality where signatures are collected, name and surname of the person who collects signatures, mentions about the method of compiling the subscription list by supporters and about the consent regarding the processing of the personal data of these, in accordance with the legislation on the protection of personal data.

Under the law to amend and supplement a number of legal acts that was adopted by Parliament on July 21, 2017 and published in the Official Gazette the same day, the members of initiative groups that field or support candidates, persons empowered by these and members of the initiative group for initiating the referendum can also collect signatures in favor of candidates, including independents. The members of the initiative group that collect signatures from voters sign each page of the subscription lists and write a mention that the signatures were collected by them personally and they confirm the authenticity of the signatures.

If the district electoral council identifies false signatures or repeated signatures in a number of subscription lists when checking them, these will be excluded. If it is determined that the necessary number of signatures is not presented or the number of signatures decreases under the minimum ceiling as a result of the exclusion of invalid signatures, the candidate is not registered and the non-registration decision is communicated within 24 hours of the adoption. The submission of additional subscription lists after the district electoral council received and registered the whole set of documents required for registration is not allowed.

The mixed electoral system was adopted by Moldova’s Parliament on July 20, 2017. Thus, 50 MPs will be chosen in the national constituency based on party lists and on the proportional representation vote. Another 51 MPs will be chosen based on the majority vote, by one in each of the 51 single-member constituencies, including in those established for the localities from the left side of the Nistru and for the Moldovans outside the country. At the parliamentary elections, each person can vote with two ballots – one for the national constituency and one for the single-member constituency. Each vote has equal legal power.

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The IPN division “Elections in plain words” is designed to explain notions, terms and practices related to the parliamentary elections based on the mixed electoral system and the consultative referendum that will take place on February 24, 2019.