The chairperson and secretary of a voting office from Anenii Noi town were detained for more than three hours last night at a joint checkpoint in Varnița on the administrative border with the Transnistrian region. The checkpoint’s officers also briefly seized laptop computers holding classified information.
Deputy Police Chief Gheorghe Cavcaliuc told IPN the two electoral officials were refused passage into the Transnistrian region. The interdiction and the seizure of computers were both illegal. After more than three hours, the checkpoint’s officers were convinced to return the computers, which hold personally identifiable information about voters belonging to the respective voting area. The equipment will now be inspected for any breaches.
Cavcaliuc said that he personally cautioned the Central Election Commission three weeks ago to bear in mind such risks, in the light of precedents from previous elections.
The OSCE Mission has been informed about the incident.
The CEC issued a press release to express concern over the “provocation and attempt to destabilize the situation ahead of Election Day”, condemning in particular the potential data breach. The electoral body said the compromised laptops were withdrawn and polling office no.48/10 will use replacements during the voting process.
“We call on the international community and the observer missions accredited to monitor the February 24 elections, the law enforcement, and the Joint Control Commission to react to the detainment of the two electoral officials so as to avoid similar situations that threaten the security of Moldovan citizens and the conducting of the electoral process in an orderly manner”, reads the press release.
