On November 1, the citizens of the Republic of Moldova will be invited to elect the next President, for a four-year term. IPN News Agency asked passersby: “How should voting be organized in times of pandemic and what is your opinion about the rules that must be obeyed when voting?” The answers can be found below:
Nadejda Nunu, 34, educator:
“It’s known that each person has access to the Internet and has email and it is the case to vote electronically so that we do not crowd around polling stations to vote. This is my opinion. All the candidates should be listed and we should vote one of them. I think this will be more visible and transparent as all the data will appear on the Internet. Those who vote will be included in the database immediately after voting and the candidate with the largest score will be presented automatically. It will be harder to falsify and will be faster so that the people do not wait for the election outcome until 1am-2am”.
Svetlana Tcaciuc, 33, accountant:
“We should wear a mask and should not have temperature, be in good health and should also have gloves. I consider the elections should be held in open places, in tents or pavilions. It is better than in closed places.”
Ecaterina Cojocari, 25, sales manager:
“To my mind, the elections should be held by keeping distance between people, at least 1.5 meters. There should not be many people and everyone should wear masks inside polling stations. There should be hand sanitizer dispensers inside and everything will be fine then”.
Ana Odobescu, 29, shop assistant:
“I do not plan to go and vote. Until now I voted regularly, but I’m disappointed already and don’t believe in this system. I can look selfish as I must struggle for my country, but I trust no one now. Given the pandemic, we will most probably not go to the polls. They impose a lot of rules, banning the people from going somewhere, but organize themselves concerts on the City’s Day. The person who will win the elections should solve the problem of roads. When it rains, there are a lot of problems with the drainage system in Chisinau. They should at least solve the problem in Moldova’s capital. There is chaos in villages. I think they will ultimately buy votes and will rig the elections”.
Igor Morcov, 22, consultant in agriculture
“I believe caution measures should be taken to ensure proper voting given the existing danger. The coronavirus pandemic is a threat to everyone. We should wear protective masks and gloves and maintain social distancing. I don’t think this is sufficient, but these are the rules. Additional costs are incurred and these will affect us all. Voting should be held online, but I’m not sure as the elections could be fixed. They have been fixed until now and will be yet fixed… We will go to vote as we need to change something. The message to the future President is to do so that the young people stay in the country in which they were born to struggle for the future as the future depends a lot on them”.
Marina Florea, IPN