The exit poll that will be conducted in the second round of general local elections in Chișinău will not influence in any way the results of the elections, because interviewees are asked about their choice while exiting the polling stations, not while entering. The only problem of the poll would be the interviewees' degree of honesty. The opinion was expressed for IPN by Arcadie Barbăroșie, the executive director of the Institute for Public Policies, the entity that carried out the first exit poll in Moldova, at the 2005 parliamentary elections.
Another issue is, according to Arcadie Barbăroșie, who is funding this survey. "This question must be answered by both companies authorized to carry out the survey, namely IMAS and FOP-STAR", said the IPP director.
The political commentator Ion Tăbârță said that carrying out an exit poll is "unexpected", although in most developed countries conducting such a poll, including by political parties, is a common practice. According to Ion Tăbârță, exit polls in Moldova are not popular because, until now, their results did not coincide with the actual results of the elections. Ion Tăbârță said that it is important to establish who funds the exit poll and whether the survey is biased.
During the second round of general local elections set for November 3, two sociological companies will carry out opinion polls at the exit of polling stations. According to CEC, two specialized companies were contracted for the exit poll: the Sociological Research and Marketing Company "FOP-STAR" and the Institute for Marketing and Surveys "IMAS INVENT". The research will be carried out at the request of the Association for Equitable Development from Moldova in cooperation with the political consulting company "POLIEXPERT".
Last exit poll was conducted in Moldova in 2011.
