In the case of parliamentary and presidential elections and the national referendum, one or several polling places are set up at the embassies and consular offices of the Republic of Moldova for Moldovan voters who will be abroad on the election day. The polling places abroad are established at the proposal of the Government in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, while the Central Election Commission organizes the elections there. The polling places, including those situated outside the country’s borders, are formed at least 35 days before the election day. In the case of parliamentary elections, three uninominal constituencies are formed abroad.
The heads of Moldova’s embassies and consular offices will make sure the citizens who are on the territory of the respective states are informed about the voting date, hour and place by posting information at their head offices and on their official websites or by disseminating it through the mass media.
The electoral offices of polling places abroad consist of a chairman who is named by the head of the embassy or consular offices or of other institutions of the diplomatic services and of six-ten representatives of parties and other sociopolitical organizations represented in Parliament, by one assigned by each party or another sociopolitical organization. The voter rolls for polling places abroad are compiled based on data collected from Moldova’s embassies and consular offices. The lists include the personnel of embassies and consular offices and the members of their families. The voters who weren’t put on the electoral registers, but come to vote on the election or referendum day are put on an additional list after they present identification papers based on which voting is allowed.
Voting takes place during one day, between 7:00am and 9:00am local hour of the country where the polling place is located. The electoral office of the polling place can decide to extend the voting period by at most two hours to enable the people who are waiting at the given polling place to vote, informing the district electoral and the Central Election Commission about the extension.
The monitoring of elections and referendum at polling places abroad is ensured by national and international observers accredited by the Central Election Commission. The security of the polling place is ensured by the competent bodies of the host country at the request of the electoral office of the polling place, by mutual agreement with the embassy or consular office.
The proceedings written at the electoral offices of polling places, accompanied by all the challenges concerning the electoral operations of the electoral office of the polling place, are sent electronically to the district electoral council within 24 hours of the closing of polling places or in the original by diplomatic mail within 48 hours of the closing of polling places.
The Government of the Republic of Moldova decided to establish 125 polling places abroad for the parliamentary elections of February 24. The largest number of polling places will be opened in Italy (29), Romania and the U.S (by 12), the Russian Federation (11), France (seven), Portugal and Spain (by five). Four polling places will be established in the UK, by three in Ukraine, Canada and Turkey and by two in Israel, Belgium, Czech Republic, Belarus, Ireland, and Germany. By one polling place will be set up in Greece, China, Azerbaijan, Poland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Austria, Bulgaria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Qatar, Japan, Croatia, Georgia, the United Arab Emirates, and Norway.
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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.
