The new Election Code provides that the elections can be held during two consecutive days and this provision could be applied starting with the local general elections of this autumn, if there is an exceptional situation, said the deputy chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Pavel Postica. According to him, if it is the case, the electoral authority will take such a decision not later than 25 days before election day, IPN reports.
The new Election Code stipulates that elections can be held during two consecutive days (Saturday and Sunday) at particular polling stations. Such a decision is taken by the Central Election Commission in such cases as pandemics, exceptional situations, ensuring of the right to vote in unordinary conditions, etc.
“Currently, we do not have such signals. The period we have is of 25 days before election day and the criteria must be objective, which is there should be something unordinary situations that would require to hold the elections during two days, like a state of emergency, an exceptional situation, but only on the territory of one locality. An exceptional situation can be a landslide that affected the whole locality and led to the transfer of the polling station to a place that is several kilometers away. In the Republic of Moldova, we had such situations, but not during the electoral period,” Pavel Postica stated in the program “Reflection Points” on Vocea Basarabiei station.
According to the deputy head of the CEC, the electoral authority successfully organized elections under states of emergency. The state of emergency that was extended by Parliament on July 31 will not affect the proper conduct of the local elections.
“The law on the declaring of the state of emergency, siege or war specifies that if Parliament considers the holding of elections during such an interval is necessary and reasonable, they can be held this way even if there is a state of emergency. We already have experience of holding elections during states of emergency. We organized elections also during pandemics and offered protective equipment to electoral functionaries, to voters. I’m sure that we will be able to cope with the current state of emergency that is influenced by other factors, such as the war in Ukraine, which we hope will not reach us,” noted Pavel Postica.
The local general elections will take place on November 5. A number of 898 mayors and 11,058 local councilors are to be elected in these.
