The draft law to pilot postal voting for the Moldovans citizens in the United States and Canada was given a first reading by Parliament. The opposition didn’t support and criticized the bill, noting that this initiative discriminates against the Moldovans abroad, doesn’t ensure the secrecy of ballot and generates suspicions of electoral fraud, IPN reports.
One of the authors of the bill, PAS MP Vitali Gavrouc in the plenary sitting said that the citizens will have to register for postal voting and will receive a notification from the Central Election Commission about the completion of the registration procedure. The ballot papers will be sent to voters via diplomatic mail or regular postal services.
According to him, if the citizen registered for postal voting and, for some reason, the envelope did not arrive, the citizen is allowed to come to the polling station, pick up a ballot and vote. “In this case, when counting the votes, before this process, the personal data from the envelope is entered in the voter registration system. If it is mentioned that the citizen physically voted at the polling station, the postal vote is canceled, is not taken into account and the envelope is not opened,” said Vitali Gavrouc.
The document also contains provisions on the procedure of counting and tabulating votes by the electoral bureau of the polling station and regarding situations in which the ballot papers are declared invalid. “Here, the procedure is fairly transparent. First, when the votes are counted, voting options are depersonalized. That is the option to vote with the envelope that does not have personal data on it is separate from the envelope with the data that the voter uses to express his voting option,” explained the MP.
In his speech, MP of the Bloc of Communists and Socialists Oleg Reidman said that this draft contains provisions that run counter to the current legislation. The law bans taking the ballot paper out of the polling station and also accessing services, such as postal services, in the absence of a tender contest. Also, the involvement of foreign service providers in the electoral process is illegal. It’s not clear which body will investigate the situation if pressure is being put on a voter.
PAS MP Mariana Lucrețeanu said that thousands of cases were registered in previous elections in which Moldovan citizens traveled hundreds of kilometers to exercise their right to vote. Others returned to the country to be able to vote in elections, assuming all the associated costs. “The opposition will never understand the diaspora. They don’t realize how voters can get involved with their own money for their native country when they are not paid money,” stated the MP.
Socialist MP Adrian Albu said that the government does nothing but divide the citizens into “the good ones” and “those who do not deserve their attention”. “Why should some be more privileged than others? Aren’t we all citizens of this state?” asked the MP.
Nonaffiliated MP Vasile Bolea said that this draft law doesn’t guarantee the secrecy of ballot as those responsible will have the envelope with the person’s data and they will also see who this person voted for. In many states, as a result of the implementation of this method of voting, elections weren’t validated. It’s not clear why the parliamentary majority considers that Moldova has diaspora only in the U.S. and Canada.
Marina Tauber, an independent MP, said that the government misleads the citizens by saying that the opposition is against alternative voting methods. But this is not true because it only insists that these processes take place in a fair way. “This bill is another element of usurpation of state power and falsification of future elections. It’s clear that in a fair and equal competition, this government has no chance to remain in power,” stated Tauber.
Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Socialist Vlad Batrîncea said that this discussion is not about the diaspora, but about the legality of elections and about the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, which says that the suffrage is universal. “Universal suffrage is one of the basic principles of democracy and aims to enable every citizen to exercise their right to vote. All citizens are equal and must have the same guarantees and possibilities, no matter in which corner of the world they live,” said the MP.
The bill is to be given a final reading. Until then the authors plan to hold public consultations.
