Parliamentary elections begin in Moldova

Parliamentary elections have begun in the Republic of Moldova, which will determine the composition of the legislative body for the next four years, writes Adevarul, reports UNN.

Details

Voting will last from 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM at 2274 polling stations, of which 1973 are open on the territory of the Republic of Moldova. For polling stations in the country, 2,772,255 ballots were printed, including "2,117,039 in Romanian, 649,573 in Russian, 3,400 in Gagauz, 1,827 in Bulgarian, and 416 in Romani." And for those abroad, another 864,300 ballots.

In addition to the 1973 polling stations in the country, 12 will be opened for residents of the separatist Transnistrian region, and another 301 will operate abroad. Moldovans in the diaspora also had the opportunity to vote by mail, a method available in ten countries: Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Korea, Finland, and the USA. Prior registration was required for mail-in voting. According to data provided by the authorities, 2606 voters registered, but only 2055 envelopes were sent. The last day for their receipt was September 26.

The largest number of envelopes was received by the election commission of the polling station in Washington – 1162 envelopes, followed by the commission in Ottawa – 555, the commission in Stockholm – 286, and the commission in Tokyo – 52 envelopes. Envelopes with ballots received by the commission are stored until election day and are opened and counted only after the polling stations in the host country close.

Both paper and electronic voter lists will be used at 30 polling stations in the country and abroad.

Electronic registration is carried out using digital tablets. Voters will present their documents to operators at polling stations, and after verification in the system, they will sign on the tablets, thus confirming their presence at the polling station. Digital tablets will significantly reduce voting time and queues at polling stations, which are usually registered abroad.

The elections are monitored by 3423 observers, of whom 2496 "represent 8 public associations of the country. Most observers were accredited at the request of the Promo-LEX Association and the Union of Lawyers of Moldova."

The ballot will be considered valid if at least one-third of the voters registered in the electoral lists, which is 3,299,396 people, appear at the polling stations. To enter Parliament, parties must overcome an electoral threshold of 5%, electoral blocs – 7%, and independent candidates – 2%.

The Central Election Commission registered the following formations as candidates in the elections:

• Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS);
• Democracy at Home Party (PDA);
• Coalition for Unity and Welfare (CUB);
• Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE);
• European Social Democratic Party (PSDE);
• Moldovan National Party (PNM);
• Movement for Respect for Moldova (MRM);
• League of Cities and Communes (LOC);
• Alliance of Moldova;
• Liberal Party;
• Christian Social Union of Moldova;
• Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR);
• "Our Party";
• New Historical Option Party.

The following electoral blocs were also registered:

Patriotic Bloc of Socialists, Communists, Inima Moldovai and Viitorul Moldovai, Bloc Alternativa, Bloc Unirea Națiunii and Bloc Împreuna.

At the same time, independent candidates Olesea Stamate, Andrei Năstase, Victoria Sanduța, and Tatiana Crețu were also allowed to participate in the race.

Recently, the National Union Bloc (BUN) withdrew from the race in favor of PAS, a pro-European party currently in power. Voting began at 7:00 AM local time with the polling station at the Japanese Embassy being the first to open, where Ana Teisanu, a student at the University of Tsukuba, cast her vote after the national anthem was played.

At 8:00 AM, the head of the Central Election Commission, Angelica Caraman, announced that 23 candidates were participating in the race. Among them was the "Moldova Mare" party led by Victoria Furtună, but it was excluded from the electoral process on September 26.

Caraman clarified that the decision to remove this party from the race is valid until the final court verdict. At 9:00 AM, President Maia Sandu cast her vote at polling station No. 1/084 in the capital's "Petru Rareș" high school. As of 9:37 AM, according to official CEC data, 193,002 voters had already participated in the voting.

Recall

Earlier, UNN wrote that the Moldovan police discovered a warehouse of pre-election materials containing offensive statements and calls for hatred in a church. Law enforcement officers seized 11 packages of leaflets that were intended to be distributed to parishioners.