Representatives of the Moldovan diaspora in Russia “Bastina” (“Native place”) request the authorities to establish more polling places in Russia for the October 30 presidential elections. The representatives of “Bastina”, which includes 15 regional public organizations, consider the opening of more polling places will ensure the fundamental right to vote of the Moldovan citizens.
Dumitru Pogorea, who heads the National Cultural Center “Luceafarul” of Novosibirsk, in a news conference at IPN said the parliamentary elections of 2014 showed that there are many Moldovans in Russia who want to vote. “We, those from outside the country and those from the country, have a common goal – we want things to be changed and want our country to be managed by a capable President who can ensure changes in the Republic of Moldova so that things go right,” he stated.
“Bastina” submitted an application to the senior administration by which it asks to set up a larger number of polling places for the October 30 elections, especially in the towns where the Moldovans are concentrated, such as Moscow, St Petersburg, Ivanovo, Voronej, Surgut, Kostroma, Kursk, and Tula. They request to establish seven and, respectively, five polling places in Moscow and St Petersburg, and by one polling place in the other towns.
Lidia Selezeni, who heads the Moldovan diaspora in Surgut, said there are about 5,000 Moldovans who want to vote in this town, but they are unable too. In the previous parliamentary elections, she went to vote in Moscow, but there were a lot of Moldovans, who came from all over Russia.
In the same news conference, the leader of the Party ‘Moldova’s Patriots” Mihail Garbuz said the Moldovan citizens who went abroad and who, by transferring money to their relatives in Moldova contribute to the development of the national economy, have the right to vote. According to him, there are about 500,000 Moldovans eligible to vote in Russia and the state must ensure their right to vote.
A number of 95 polling places were established abroad for the parliamentary elections of 2014, five of which in Russia, namely in Moscow, Moscow Region, Novosibirsk, St Petersburg, and Sochi.
