The persons who hold Soviet-type passports with the mention about the nationality of Moldova will no longer be able to take part in elections. The members of the ruling alliance passed a bill with relevant amendments to the Election Code in the first reading. The Communist faction did not vote for the bill proposed by the Liberal faction, Info-Prim Neo reports. Bill author Ana Gutu said the Republic of Moldova is the only state in the former Soviet Union that accepts Soviet-type passports. About 270,000 Moldovans have such passports. According to the lawmaker, the Moldovans must hold documents of the independent state, not of a state that does not exist. The same bill says the legislative elections and the referendums will be held abroad during two consecutive days – on Saturday and Sunday – or on other days indicated in the relevant documents. Ana Gutu said that this amendment comes to help the diaspora. The plausibility of this amendments derives from the experience of the four elections that took place over the last two years, when the many people who went to vote found the polling places established abroad unprepared to deal with a large number of voters. Democratic MP Valeriu Guma expressed his concern that a person may vote two times, once with the passport abroad and once with the national identity card. “We must take steps to prevent electoral tourism,” he stated. Speaker Marian Lupu said the Democratic Party will support this bill in the second reading if the amendment about two days of elections abroad is excluded.