“Are you for dismissing Dorin Chirtoaca from the post of mayor general of Chisinau municipality?” is the question that the inhabitants of Chisinau municipality who will take part in the referendum today, November 19, will have to answer. Polling places work from 7am to 9pm, IPN reports.
The referendum will be validated if the turnout is of at least one third of the voters put on electoral registers. There were printed 632 104 ballots, 413 282 of which are in the Romanian, while 218 822 are in Russian. The Central Election Commission (CEC) ordered to establish 307 polling places, by five fewer than in the last elections. The voters can see at what polling place they can vote at www.verific.cec.md.
Under Article 198 of the Election Code, the decision to dismiss the mayor is considered adopted by local referendum if it is voted by a number that is equal to or higher than the number of voters who chose the mayor, but not less than half of the voters who take part in the referendum.
The plebiscite will be monitored by over 900 observers accredited by the CEC. Most of these, 465, represent “Promo-LEX” Association. In the course of the day, information about the voter turnout, generated by the State Register of Voters, could be seen on a screen in office 15 of the Chisinau City Hall. The Chisinau District Electoral Council scheduled press briefings for 8am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm and 9:30pm. The preliminary referendum results will be announced at midnight.
The plebiscite was organized after an initiative group of the Party of Socialists, which was registered by the court, collected 80,000 signatures in favor of holding the referendum. Almost 9 million lei was allocated for organizing the plebiscite.
The Chisinau District Electoral Council rejected Dorin Chirtoaca’s request to be registered as an election runner for being able to defend his position, arguing the law provides that only sociopolitical organizations can be registered as participants in the referendum. A week ago, after Dorin Chirtoaca was released from house arrest under judicial control, being investigated for influence peddling and passive corruption, the Liberal Party, whose deputy chairman Chirtoaca is, announced that the suspended mayor will not take part in electoral debates because he does not recognize the plebiscite.
Today, local mayoral elections are held in Sangera town of Chisinau municipality, Berlinti village of Briceni district, Zarnesti commune of Cahul, Plopi commune of Cantemir, Stefanesti commune of Floresti, Fundurii Noi village of Glodeni, Lapusna village of Hancesti, Sarateni commune of Leova, Capriana commune of Straseni and Ghiliceni commune of Telenesti. The longest ballot, of 216 mm, is in Sangera town of Chisinau municipality, where six candidates run for mayoralty.
