By 56,000 more ballots will be printed for July 29 early elections

For the July 29 legislative elections, the Central Election Commission (CEC) will print by about 56,000 ballots more than for the April 5 elections, the Commission’s president Eugeniu Stirbu announced at a briefing on July 22, Info-Prim Neo reports. The figure is preliminary. It represents the approximate number of persons that came or will come of age in the period between the two polls. On Thursday, July 23, it is the last day when the voters can check the information in the electoral registers and ask that it be modified, both online and at the offices of the polling places. Over 3,200 applications to correct the electoral rolls have been received so far through the online service on the Chisinau City Hall’s official website www.chisinau.md, which is accessible only to the residents of the capital city. A number of 2 683 553 ballots will be printed by July 25 inclusive. 2 000 840 of the ballots will be in Romanian, while the rest in Russian. The ballots will be sent to the electoral offices of the polling places on July 28. The number of poling stations will be by nine units larger. 1,987 polling places will be set up in Moldova overall. About 20,000 electoral officials will be involved in the organization and holding of the early elections. On the election day, the CEC will provide information about the turnout of voters every three hours. The information will be collected from every electoral districts and broadcast at 9.45, 12.45, 15.45, 18.45 and 21.45. Those that will not be able to see the information on television can access the official website of the CEC. But the information there will be published with slight delay. So far, the Commission has accredited 122 international observers and 2,374 national observers from different nongovernmental organizations and diplomatic missions. Those that want to monitor the elections can file applications by July 24. The election threshold for the July 29 elections was reduced from 6% to 5%, while the voter turnout for validating the elections – from 50%+1 voter to one third. For the first time in Moldova the elections will take place on a Wednesday. The poling places will be open from 7.00 to 21.00.