Moldova elects mayors and councilors

Over 2,600 persons with the right to vote are expected at the polling places today to elect their mayors and local councilors for a new, four-year term. The polling places will work from 7.00 until 21.00, Info-Prim Neo reports. More than 2,000 polling places were established in Moldova, 300 of which in the municipality of Chisinau. Two polling places were set up in Cocieri – one for the local voters and the other one for the Corjova voters. There were printed about 7.4 million ballots, over 5.7 million of which in Romanian, while more than 1.7 million in Russian. The money for printing the ballots was allocated from the budget for elections, which totals 58 million lei. The voters in Comrat will receive the longest ballot for electing the local councilors. It is 2 meters and 12 centimeters long. The shortest ballot, with a list of only two candidates, is 10 centimeters long. In Chisinau, the ballot for electing the mayor is almost half a meter long, while for electing the councilors – 80 centimeters long. Today, there will be elected 4,300 mayors and over 120,000 councilors. The Moldovan citizens can vote using the identity card, the Soviet-type passport or form No. 9, which is a temporary identification paper. The students will vote at the place of residence. They can no more go to any polling place in the settlement were they study, as in the parliamentary elections. The persons with disabilities can ask for a mobile ballot box at home, while those with visual impairments can vote with the help of a third person. The exit poll in Chisinau will be conducted by the Center for Sociological Investigations and Marketing CBS-AXA, the Public Policy Institute and the European Institute for Political Studies of Moldova. It was commissioned by Publika TV. 190 persons will be involved in it. The first results will be announced immediately after the polling places are closed. In Chisinau, the voters will elect the mayor general out of 13 candidates. There are 14 candidates in the list, but Valentin Krylov withdrew his candidacy and the stamp “withdrawn” was put near his name in the ballot. [The ballot for electing the mayor of Chisinau municipality includes the following candidates:] 1. Sergiu Coropceanu (the Social Democratic Party) 2. Radu Busila (the Christian Democratic People’s Party) 3. Valentin Krylov (the Party of Socialist of Moldova) – Withdrawn 4. Oleg Onishchenko (the political party “Our Home - Moldova”) 5. Igor Dodon (the Communist Party of Moldova) 6. Valery Klimenko (the Sociopolitical Movement “Ravnopravie”) 7. Vitalia Pavlichenko (the National Liberal Party) 8. Maia Laguta (the Moldova’s Patriots Party) 9. Valentina Buliga (the Democratic Party) 10. Valeriu Plesca (the Electoral Bloc “Third Force”) 11. Mihail Manoli (the Democratic People’s Party of Moldova) 12. Marcel Darie (the Law and Justice Party) 13. Dorin Chirtoacă (the Liberal Party) 14. Mihai Godea (independent) [Thirty-three candidates run for seats on the Chisinau Municipal Council:] 1. The Communist Party of Moldova 2. The Liberal Party 3. The Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova 4. The Christian Democratic People’s Party 5. The National Liberal Party 6. The Sociopolitical Movement “Ravnopravie” 7. The political party “Our Home - Moldova” 8. The Moldova’s Patriots Party 9. Serghei Dubalari (independent) 10. The Democratic Party 11. Partidul Social Democrat 12. Maxim Braila (independent) 13. Fiodor Negru (independent) 14. Oleg Beregoi (independent) 15. The Political Party for Moldova’s Union 16. Pavel Rosca (independent) 17. Serghei Podubnyi (independent) 18. The Party of Socialists of Moldova “Patria Rodina” 19. Alexandru Lomachin (independent) 20. Anatolii Soloviov (independent) 21. Dumitru Nemtanu (independent) 22. Gheorghe Gaibu (independent) 23. The Electoral Bloc “Third Force” 24. Veaceslav Marsejnyi (independent) 25. The Democratic People’s Party of Moldova 26. The Law and Justice Party 27. Fiodor Ghelici (independent) 28. Vasile Dumitras (independent) 29. Mihai Severovan (independent) 30. Olga Goncearova (independent) 31. Constantin Batir (independent) 32. Alexandru Stucalov (independent) 33. Dumitru Vengher (independent)