New elections with old problems

A number of irregularities were identified during the new local elections held in 15 settlements on May 16, the association Promo-Lex that monitored the polls announced, Info-Prim Neo reports. The association's monitors said the polling stations were planned for more than 3,000 voters, which is the highest number allowed by law. Two parties represented in the Parliament - the European Action Movement and the United Moldova Party – were not represented in the electoral bodies. “As the electoral rolls are kept in the offices of the authorities, the voters have limited access to them and cannot freely check their names on the register before the elections. Most of the electoral bodies did not organize civic education campaigns to familiarize the people with the voting procedure,” Promo-Lex's report says. The association expressed its concern about the voters' indifference to the quality of the electoral lists and the fact that the voters profit from the possibility of casting their votes at home as this procedure is too liberal. “The quality of the electoral lists continues to be a problem. Cases were reported when eligible voters could not find their names in the lists or their identification data were incorrect. Many polling places received a lower number of ballots than the number of voters included in their lists,” said the monitors. Also, the electoral opponents placed election posters in unauthorized places. The association has monitored the electoral campaigns in five of the 15 settlements during May 10-15 – Sangera town of Chisinau municipality, Rusestii Noi village of Ialoveni district, Carpineni village of Hancesti district and Congaz and Copceac of the Autonomous Territorial Unit. On May 16, mobile teams of the association monitored the voting process in all the polling places. Promo-Lex forms part of the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections.