The registration beforehand is an optional procedure by which electors can announce their intention to vote. The procedure is intended for Moldovans with the right to vote who are abroad or have the domicile in localities on the left side of the Nistru. For the parliamentary elections and national consultative referendum of February 24, the registration in advance started 45 days before the election day and ended on January 9.
The goal of registration beforehand is to determine the approximate number of people who will vote abroad and at polling places established for voters from the left side of the Nistru on the territory of the Republic of Moldova that is controlled by the central public constitutional authorities. The determination of the approximate number of voters is one of the criteria used to decide the number of polling places and their location abroad and for the Transnistrian region.
The given voters can register beforehand by two ways: online, by accessing inregistrare.cec.md, and by a written individual or group application to the Central Election Commission or Moldova’s embassies and consular offices. Registration in advance does not imply the removal of people from the voter rolls at the place of domicile. If the person who registered in advance is in Moldova on the election day, this could vote according to the domicile.
According to the Central Election Commission, over 24,000 citizens from the diaspora registered beforehand for the parliamentary elections of February 24, 2019. The figure is much higher than in the presidential elections of November 2016, when over 3,500 Moldovans who settled abroad registered in advance. The Moldovans of constituency No. 50 were the most active ones. These are the citizens who settled in countries situated westward Moldova, especially those who live in Italy. The Moldovans in the UK, Romania, the U.S. and Canada were also active.
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The IPN division “Elections in plain words” is designed to explain notions, terms and practices related to the parliamentary elections based on the mixed electoral system and the consultative referendum that will take place on February 24, 2019.
