Independent presidential candidates and those nominated by parties or electoral blocs will have to submit an equal number of signatures to the Central Electoral Commission. There is no difference based on gender either. Endorsement lists from both male and female candidates shall contain at least 15,000 signatures, with 25,000 being the maximum number required.
Signatures must be collected from at least half of the number of second-level administrative units, i.e. districts and the municipalities of Chisinau and Balti. The minimum requirement for each unit is 600 signatures.
For the October 20 presidential election, collecting signatures is also possible through the “Electronic Subscription List” IT System, managed by the Central Electoral Commission. Authentication and signing will only be possible with the help of electronic or mobile signature, through the MPass Authentication and Access Control Service.
Each candidate’s initiative group shall present the endorsement lists on hard copy with the minimum number of 15,000 valid signatures, and the remainder up to 25,000 can be collected through the electronic system.
A voter can support several candidates by signing, but cannot support the same candidate more than once.
The CEC will begin accepting submissions for registration of initiative groups on August 21, with a decision on the registration to be announced within 3 days from submission. Once a group is registered, it can start collecting signatures.
