Ombudswoman Maia Bănărescu welcomed the June 22 decision by which the Supreme Court of Justice upheld the Chisinau City Appeals Court’s decision to revoke the CEC’s decisions on polling stations abroad. She noted this will lead to the ensuring of the right to vote of all the citizens, especially those who are outside the country and who expressed their wish to exercise this fundamental right. The official voiced hope the CEC will take the most judicious decision that will enable to fulfill the constitutional right to vote of the Moldovans abroad.

The ombudswoman stated her position in letters addressed to the Chisinau City Appeals Court and then to Supreme Court of Justice, noting that the results of the last elections showed the inefficiency of the state’s efforts to ensure the conditions needed for exercising the right to vote. The main cause of the violations is the lack of access to the electoral bodies established outside the country owing the insufficient number of polling stations and of ballots. This way, in the annual report on the human rights situation in the Republic of Moldova in 2020, the ombudsman recommended increasing the number of polling stations outside the country and of ballots so as to ensure the right to vote of all the Moldovan citizens.

The Supreme Court of Justice rejected the Central Election Commission’s appeal and upheld the Chisinau City Appeals Court’s judgment by which the CEC’s decisions to establish 139 and, respectively, 146 polling stations abroad were revoked. The Chisinau City Appeals Court obliged the CEC to review the decisions and to establish at least 190 polling stations outside Moldova’s borders for the July 11 snap parliamentary elections, as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration recommended.