In the Republic of Moldova, an election for the office of President and a national constitutional referendum on European integration are taking place today. Traditionally, polls open at 07:00 a.m. and close at 09:00 p.m. However, the electoral office can decide to extend the voting deadline by no more than two hours to allow electors standing in a line at the polling station to exercise their right to vote, IPN reports.
As many as 2,819,996 ballots were distributed to the country’s polling stations, for each type of ballot. Of these, 2,137,641 ballots are in Romanian. This is the first time that ballot papers were printed not only in Romanian, but also in five languages of ethnic minorities (Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Gagauz, Russian, and the Roma). The polling stations abroad were sent 852,200 ballots for each type of ballot.
Postal voting is piloted for the first time, in six states - the U.S., Canada, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Finland. Almost 1,800 Moldovan voters registered to vote by post.
Voting-eligible citizens, both in the country and abroad, can vote on the basis of the identity card of the citizen of the Republic of Moldova, which confirms the domicile or temporary residence of the voter on the territory of the polling station. Also, the citizens can vote with the temporary identity card with mentions about the citizenship of the Republic of Moldova, domicile or temporary residence of the holder, or with the passport of the citizen of the Republic of Moldova, including with an expired period of validity.
Students eligible to vote, who do not have registration at home or temporary residence in the locality where they study, can vote at any polling station opened in this locality and are obliged to present the identity document and the student card of the educational institution in that locality.
The Public Services Agency announced that on October 20, its multifunctional centers will issue free temporary identity cards to citizens of the Republic of Moldova who do not have identity documents to vote. All the multifunctional centers have special working hours, between 07:00 a.m. and 09:00 p.m..
The voters who cannot go to the polling station, for health reasons or for other sound reasons, can request the mobile ballot box from the electoral office. Voting at the place of residence can also be requested on election day by submitting a written request, but with the presentation of a medical certificate. The electoral office will accept requests by 02:00.
Eleven candidates are running in the presidential race and their order on the ballot paper is as follows:
1. Alexandr Stoianoglo, Party of Socialists;
2. Maia Sandu, Party of Action and Solidarity;
3. Renato Usatyi, Our Party;
4. Vasile Tarlev, Party for the Future of Moldova;
5. Irina Vlah, independent;
6. Ion Chicu, Party for Consolidation and Development;
7. Andrei Năstase, independent;
8. Octavian Țîcu, Electoral Bloc “Together”;
9. Victoria Furtună, independent;
10. Tudor Ulyanovski, independent;
11. Natalia Morari, independent.
In addition to the ballot with the list of presidential election candidates, each voter will also receive, in the polling station, a ballot for the referendum. Citizens must answer YES or NO to the question “Are you for amending the Constitution for enshrining the Republic of Moldova’s accession to the European Union in it?”.
Political campaigning is strictly forbidden on election day. It is not allowed to carry out or cover electoral activities, distribute campaign materials and candidates cannot appear in television or radio shows.
The October 20 ballots are monitored by over 2,000 national and international observers accredited by the Central Election Commission. They will be able to report, online, the violations committed in polling stations, on election day, on www.observator.cec.md page. The notifications will be received and examined by representatives of electoral bodies in an operative manner.
