The poll that is to be carried out on the day of presidential elections on November 1 will be conducted between 12:30pm and 9:30pm among citizens aged 18 and up with the right to vote, who are in the Republic of Moldova. The respondents will be chosen at random, said the WatchDog Community and the Institute for Public Policy that, alongside an initiative group of civic activists, initiated the holding of the poll that they call generically “After Poll”.
The margin of sampling error will not exceed 1.55%. It is planned that about 4,000 persons will be surveyed as part of the exit-poll. They will be asked if they voted and who they voted for. The respondents will also specify the age, sex, communication language and area of residence (town or village). Questions about the name and surname, address and other personal data cannot be put.
The organizers of the poll specify that they will not save respondents’ phone numbers in any database.
As to the Central Election Commission’s comment concerning the intention to conduct the poll, the representatives of the initiative group said this is an attempt to intimidate the representatives of civil society involved in the organization and implementation of the project and to intimidate the journalists who are to inform society about the obtained results. There are no provisions in the legislation of the Republic of Moldova, which would require the obtaining of permits or authorizations from any public authorities for conducting any poll.
“We note that the only restrictions existing in the Electoral Code refer to the impossibility of publishing the poll results during five days until the elections and on the election day, before the closure of polling stations (Art. 70 (10)),” says a press statement issued by the initiative group.
