The Government of Moldova launched an application for registering online the Moldovans eligible to vote who are abroad in a move to determine the number of voters abroad and the necessary number of polling places. The issue was discussed by representatives of the executive in the program “Politica” on TV7 channel, IPN reports.
Mihai Capatina, secretary-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, said that there was introduced a gratis email-based consular service. “The people will not need to go to the embassy to fill out the forms and pay US$50 for being registered. Today this service is free of charge and they can registrar online on alegator.md,” he stated.
Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Iurie Ciocan said that shortly after the launch of the page, 86 Moldovans have asked for registration in advance. “This application will help us to depoliticize the establishment of polling places abroad. This year, the polling places will be set up based on clear quantitative and territorial criteria. This system will also help us to work with the state register of voters. You will see that thousands of people will make use of online registration,” he stated.
Head of the Bureau for Diaspora Relations Victor Lutenko said that over 100 polling places would be opened abroad for this autumn’s parliamentary elections. “For us, it is important that the polling place be as close to the Moldovans from abroad as possible. That’s why we will continue to make effort to promote this system. This will help us to identify the places with the largest number of co-nationals, while the CEC will be able to bring the electoral rolls in order,” he stated.
On the other hand, Mariana Kalughin, expert of the Center for the Analysis and Prevention of Corruption, considers that the given system is not sufficient for determining the exact number of Moldovans who are abroad and the necessary number of polling places. “I think that besides this information system, there can be used the statistical data and the data possessed by embassies and the CEC,” she said.
