COALITION FOR FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS PROMO-LEX ASSOCIATION
FINAL REPORT ELECTORAL PROCESS MONITORING IN THE TRANSNISTRIAN REGION OF REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS 2009
The project “Monitoring of the electoral process in the Transnistrian region of Moldova” is financially supported by the Eurasia Foundation with funds provided by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida/Asdi) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Eurasia Foundation, Sida/Asdi, USAID or the United States Government. CHISINAU 2009
Final Report I. Foreword II. Executive Summary III. The activity of the electoral bodies IV. The activity of the constitutional bodies and international actors V. The activity of the Transnistrian administration VI. The performance of the electoral candidates VII. The performance of the national and regional mass-media VIII. Conducting parliamentary elections on 5th of April 2009 IX. Verifying the electoral rolls X. Conclusions XI. Recommendations
I. Foreword The Parliament elected by universal, equal, direct, secret and freely expressed suffrage, is deemed the supreme representative body of people of the Republic of Moldova and is the unique legislative authority of the state. The fifth Parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova from its independence (1994, 1998, 2001 and 2005) will take place on April 5, 2009. After the signing of the Moldo-Russian Agreement on July 21 1992, the constitutional authorities from Chisinau lost control over the Transnistrian region. The region is administered by a de facto regime, which has obtained state power for over 20 years by non-democratic, aggressive and military means supported by an exterior power. With the support of the Russian Federation at all levels, there was created an administrative system, which meets all the characteristics and requirements of a state entity, with the exception of international recognition. Beginning with 1994 the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova was elected on the basis of the absolute proportional electoral system, meaning the existence of a single national electoral district for the whole country, represented by 101 mandates on the basis of closed party-lists. The D’Hondt method is applied in the Republic of Moldova in the process of the distribution of Parliamentary deputy mandates, but this method has been criticized during recent years. The most important argument in favour of changes deems the necessity of dividing the country territory into 101 administrative electoral districts to allow the delegation of deputies in the Parliament on the behalf of all administrative-territorial units. Only in such events are citizens deemed to be able to follow the delegated deputy’s activity, and at the same time, the degree of representation and responsibility of the legislative body shall be increased. In the electoral rolls persons domiciled or coming from Transnistrian region were almost always included, but still, the region was never been directly represented in the national legislature since the independence of Republic of Moldova. Right of suffrage, as a basis of democracy, remains unknown, not understood and unrealised by the great majority of citizens of the Republic of Moldova and residents of Transnistria, as a result of regional administrative opposition to the organisation and conduct of electoral campaigns and national suffrage in the territory in question. The Parliamentary elections represent the unique possibility of the citizens from Transnistrian region to exercise their right to vote within the legal constitutional framework. For the purpose of creating proper conditions for participation in Parliamentary elections, the authorities establish special polling stations in the localities under the constitutional jurisdiction. Under the existing conditions, the participation of citizens from Transnistrian region in the elections is a mere formality, which, as a rule, circumscribes the procedure of applying the seal “votat” on the ballot. This is a serious problem for the respect of the majority's fundamental and civil rights. Controlling the territory, the Transnistrian region administration imposes conditions that contravene the democratic principles and constitutional norms, thus restricting their fundamental rights and liberties. However, the right of suffrage is bound not only by the voting procedure, but includes a series of other fundamental rights and liberties such as
the right to freedom of speech, right to information, right of assembly and association, etc. Right of suffrage, as a basis of democracy, remains unknown, not understood and unrealised by the great majority of citizens of the Republic of Moldova and residents of Transnistria, as a result of regional administrative opposition to the organisation and conduct of electoral campaigns and national suffrage in the territory in question. In parliamentary elections conducted on February 27, 1994, 7664 citizens from Transnistrian region4 were observed to have participated, as Transnistrian voters went to common polling stations, a fact that made the calculation of the exact number of voters difficult. In parliamentary elections conducted on March 22, 1998, the number of region citizens who participated in the elections decreased to 3776. Several polling stations were established by the constitutional authorities in the neighbouring localities. In parliamentary elections conducted on February 25, 2001 only 4298 of citizens from the region realized their right of suffrage in the polling stations. In parliamentary elections conducted on March 6, 2006 about 8206 persons participated. Cases of voters refusing to vote because of the crowds in the polling stations were registered. Parliamentary elections in the aforementioned period were characterized by the gradual creation of obstacles by Tiraspol authorities, on the one hand, and the constitutional authorities’ negligence with regard to the enjoyment of right to vote of citizens living in the territory, on the other hand. Thus, the parliamentary elections for the citizens of the Republic of Moldova from the Transnistrian region, take place only in the neighbouring localities under the constitutional authorities’ jurisdiction. Constitutional authorities ensure the right of suffrage only, without guaranteeing and fully ensuring other rights and liberties that are characteristic to the electoral process. In order to observe the situation and the evolution of the 2009 parliamentary elections in the Transnistrian region territory, the Promo-LEX Association monitored the the course of elections. Monitoring Parliamentary elections in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova is a project implemented by Promo-LEX Association within the Civic Coalition for free and fair elections -2009. It is for the first time in the history of elections in the Republic of Moldova that civil society shall monitor the election process in the Transnistrian region, as under the control of the Tiraspol administration from 1992. Monitoring of the electoral process in the Transnistrian region of Moldova is a project implemented by the Promo-LEX Association in the framework of the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections "Coalition 2009". Promo-LEX Association posses the required experience for the electoral monitoring process, with the assistance of colleagues from Coalition-2009. The project's implementation in the Transnistrian region has been made possible due to the complex and miscellaneous support offered by the representatives of the civil society from the area. The report was developed by Ion Manole and Pavel Postica. The monitoring was effectuate within the period: February, 10th – May, 25th by a team consisting of 10 persons, out of which 7 are observers from the region. At the same time, 14 volunteers are also involved within the activities of monitoring the election process in the
Transnistrian region. The data presented in the report is collected by direct observation, and the conclusions and suggestions of the present report are formulated on the principles of fair-mindedness aiming at contributing to the development of a transparent and fair electoral process in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova. The project is financially supported by the Eurasia Foundation with funds provided by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida/Asdi) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
II. Executive Summary The fifth Parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova from its independence (1994, 1998, 2001 and 2005) took place on April 5th, 2009. Parliamentary elections in the aforementioned period were characterized by obstacles gradually created by Tiraspol authorities, on the one hand, and the constitutional authorities’ negligence with regard to the enjoyment of right to vote of the citizens living in the territory, on the other. In the electoral rolls persons domiciled or coming from Transnistrian region were almost always included, but still, the region has never been directly represented in the national legislature since the independence of Republic of Moldova. Under the existing conditions, the participation of citizens from the Transnistrian region in the elections is a mere formality, which, as a rule, circumscribes the procedure of applying the seal “votat” on the ballot. In order to observe the situation and the evolution of the 2009 parliamentary elections in the Transnistrian region territory, the Promo-LEX Association monitored the the course of elections. It is for the first time in the history of elections in the Republic of Moldova that civil society shall monitor the election process in the Transnistrian region, as under the control of the Tiraspol administration from 1992. The constitutional authorities’ initiative to establish 500 polling stations in the Transnistrian region failed. Tiraspol administration promoted the necessity of submitting an official petition to the electoral authorities from the region. The constitutional authorities circumvented this procedure. Both activities performed by the constitutional authorities and international structures were inadequate and we have not observed any efforts in order to resolve these issues in the future. On February 6th, 2009 CEC adopted the Decision No. 2065 regarding the establishment of administrative electoral districts corresponding to Level 2 territorial-administrative units of the Republic of Moldova, thus being established the administrative electoral district No.37 for the localities situated on the left bank of Nistru River and the municipal administrative electoral district No.3 Bender. In the end, these district electoral councils were not constituted. Only ten polling stations were opened to ensure the conduct of the 2009 elections for the inhabitants of the Transnistrian region, these were located in areas under the control of the constitutional bodies which border the region. Only two polling stations, numbers 40 and 41 in Varnita were opened exclusively for Tranistrian region inhabitants, in the other instances the voting process was conducted in the polling stations available also to the inhabitants of those villages in which the polling station was situated. Provisions of Art.29 of the Electoral Code clearly stipulates that each precinct shall have no less than 30 and no more than 3,000 voters. According to data provided to Promo-LEX Association by the Ministry of Informational Development on 27.02.2009, there are 223580 citizens of the Republic of Moldova, enjoying the right to vote, registered in the Transnistrian region.
Thus, each polling station would have an average number of 22.000. Due to imperfections contained within the electoral legislation, electoral lists of Transnistrian region inhabitants were not prepared, a fact which thus led to multiple problems in the exercise of the right to vote for these people (the possibility of jeopardizing the voting place, being issued certificates with the right to vote etc.).The Central Electoral Commission distributed to the 10 polling stations opened for 223,580 Transnistrian region voters with only 14,500 ballots, in this way excluding the participation of 209080 inhabitants of this region from the beginning, which constitutes over 8 percents from the total number of voters from Republic of Moldova. As well, the election offices did not conduct informative activities for the local voters concerning the date, place and manner of exercising vote. The declarations of the separatism regime representatives were contradictory, on the one hand they state the population does not want to participate, and on the other hand they assert that a possible establishment of the polling stations in the region would prove a great number of voters, a fact that would give Chisinau the option to justify the theories about peoples’ opportunities,etc. The representatives of the regional administration pronounced categorically on behalf of all the region people, against participation in elections, thus attempting to determine both people’s attitude and the societal environment. Numerous cases of intimidation and persecution of the Transnistrian region population were registered, to ensure that they do not participate in the elections. Custom structure representatives have strengthened controls, especially with regards to the identification of electoral materials. numerous cases of confiscation of goods and electoral materials were registered. Whilst ”national legislation” does not provide sanctions and do not prohibit such activities, the actions of those representatives at the posts were inappropriate. In some cases, minutes were drawn on behalf of persons holding such materials, and in other cases materials were seized without such “acts".Generally, region voters have invoked three major obstacles for participating at elections:application of the stamp in the identity card’s inset, the serious control and the registration at the posts and the eventual registration by the region secret services at the polling stations. Activities specific to election campaign are absent in Transnistrian region. The voters do not have the possibility to be informed about the 5th April event, about electoral candidates and their electoral programs. Activities of electoral candidates in this territory have been meek, with only a few cases of implication and information of the electorate having been registered. However, some candidates have engaged in clandestine or semiclandestine electoral agitation in Transnistria. Media and civil society in the region, with some minor exceptions, have not addressed issues related to equidistant information of the population during the electoral process in Moldova. On the other hand, within the regional media materials with information and electoral education have not been registered. Very few Moldovan radio and television stations broadcast partially in the Transnistrian region as special equipment is necessary. As a result, the influence of regional media sources prevailed and led to the massive absence of the population at the polling stations. Promo-LEX observers have monitored parliamentary elections conduct in 9 of the 10 electoral precincts, established for Transnistrian voters. (Except for the polling station No.23/10 situated in Copanca village, Căuşeni district).The situation at Corjova polling station No.5/15 has been monitored as well. There have been various encroachments of the electoral legislation ascertained, as a result of monitoring polling stations set up for Transnistrian region voters: the impossibility of establishing Corjova polling station No.
5/15, the lack of indicator plates of the polling stations, the presence of police men in civilian clothes nearby the polling stations, the electoral campaign on the election day, inappropriate appliance of the provisions as regards the application of the seal „Elections 5.02.2009”, acceptance of voters on the basis of other documents than those provided for by the legislation, the inadequate training of electoral officials, inappropriate appliance of legal provisions as regards the concomitant disposal of “domicile” and “residence”, the impossibility of movement of a mobile ballot box on the territory effectively controlled by the secessionist authorities, etc. Therefore, 4042 voters from the Transnistrian region participated in the April 5th Parliamentary elections, which is about 50% of the number of voters who participated at the previous elections. The post-electoral period, especially after the protests conducted in Chişinău, has been marked by the intensification of checking at control points. The observers have not reported case of dismissals of persons who participated at the elections, despite the threats of this kind during the electoral campaign. During the post-electoral period, the mass media depicted strongly the events from the center of the capital. As compared to the pre-electoral period, the post-electoral information was impartially presented. Nevertheless, the conclusions made were aimed at the objectives as follows: impossibility of reunification of Transnistrian region with the rest of the country, necessity of Russian peacekeepers decreasing, re-confirmation of proRussian orientation in the region and the possibility of „conflict” intensification. The electoral bodies with some exceptions, have ignored the provisions of CEC Decision No. 2282 from March 10, 2009: “at numbering the votes, the precinct electoral bureau opens and counts separately the ballots from the boxes marked “Special Ballot Box”. The results are written in a special form for votes numbering and is passed to the electoral council in question. The precinct electoral bureau prepares two copies of a separate minute” According to the Report on the 5th April, 2009 parliamentary elections results, CEC has not specified the number of Transnistrian voters, thus ignoring the provisions of p.3 of the Decision No.2282 from 10.03.2009, increasing the number of voters enlisted on additional voter rolls.
III. The activity of the electoral bodies In accordance with 27 and 74 article of the Electoral Code of the Republic of Moldova, for the purpose of organizing and conducting elections, the Central Electoral Commission shall establish, at least 55 days prior to election day, administrative electoral districts corresponding to Level 2 territorial-administrative units of the Republic of Moldova. With at least 50 day prior to the election day CEC shall establish electoral councils. In accordance with paragraph 4 of Article 4 of the Law nr.764 on “administrativeterritorial organization of the Republic of Moldova", the administrative-territorial organization of the Republic of Moldova shall be carried out on two levels: villages (communes) and towns (municipalities) constitute the first level and the rayons constitute the second. According to article 1 of the Law nr.186 "on local public administration” the authorities of local public administration from the second level are public authorities which are established within these rayons, Chisinau municipality, autonomous territorial units with special status and localities on which they are assigned with special forms of autonomy.
According to these legal previsions, the Central Election Commission can form only electoral districts for all the 32 districts/rayons of the country, plus territorial election districts for the municipality of Chisinau, UTA Gagauzia and Transnistria, in total maximum of 35 electoral districts. On February 6th, 2009 CEC adopted the Decision No. 2065 regarding the establishment of administrative electoral districts corresponding to Level 2 territorial-administrative units of the Republic of Moldova, thus being established the administrative electoral district No.37 for the localities situated on the left bank of Nistru River and the municipal administrative electoral district No.3 Bender. In this context we consider that the establishment of the electoral districts nr.2 from Balti and nr.3 from Bender do not meet the legal requirements. In order to exclude this legal vacuum we consider it necessary to amend Article 27 and Article 74 of the Electoral Code. In this context, Promo-LEX Association recommends the use of the following expression "Central Election Commission, with at least 55 days prior to the elections, shall establish the electoral districts which are corresponding to the borders of the administrative-territorial units of the second level of the Republic of Moldova: to the autonomous territorial unit with special status or, where appropriate, to the municipalities or towns which they are assigned with special forms of autonomy. In accordance with paragraph 4 Article 27 of the Electoral Cod, the candidatures of 2 members are to be appointed by the District Court, the candidatures of the other members having the deliberative polling right are appointed by parties and other socialpolitical organizations, represented in the Parliament at the date of the establishment of electoral councils, proportionally with the mandates. In accordance with the Law nr. 514XIII from 6.07.1995 “on the judicial organization” district courts for the municipalities Tighina (Bender) and Tiraspol and for the districts Rabnita, Dubasari, Grigiriopol and Slobozia were formed. The inhabitants of Camenca district are redirected to Rabnita Court at first instance. The instance of the II level, the Court of Appeal from Bender is located in Causani and includes under its jurisdiction all territorial courts for the Transnistrian region. If the situation concerning administrative-territorial units of the second level (rayons/districts, some municipalities) is clearly defined in law and one administrative unit is consisted of one district court, the situation of other more complex territorialadministrative units (Chisinau, UTA Gagauzia Transnistria) is getting more complicated. The situation is due to the fact that these units operate in more courts, thus the appointment of two members of the electoral council board becomes non-transparent and suspicious. In order to exclude this legal vacuum we consider it necessary to amend Article 27 of Electoral Code. In this context, Promo-LEX Association recommends to use the following expression “The candidatures of the 2 members of the electoral council shall be proposed by the district court or by the Courts of Appeal that exercise their jurisdiction within the territorial autonomous units with special status, municipalities or localities for which they are assigned to special forms and conditions of autonomy.” In compliance with Art.9 of the Electoral Code, the voting right shall be exercised in the locality where the voter is registered for a permanent residence visa (in the period of its validity). The Electoral Code does not stipulate any exemption or a specific procedure for the state territory that is under foreign control. Art.39 par 1 of the Electoral Code provides that the voter rolls shall be developed by the mayoralty and includes all citizens enjoying right to vote who reside in the radius of the polling station.
The 10 polling stations, open for the participation in the elections of the citizens from the Transnistrian region are the only polling stations in the Republic of Moldova which lack voters’ rolls. This makes difficult the realisation of the right to vote for citizens living in the regions, taking into account the fact that the authorities possess information for each area and locality with regard to the number of Moldovan citizens with right to vote, residing in the region. We consider it and appropriate to amend the Electoral Code to authorize the Ministry of Information Development to develop the voter rolls. Art.39 par 2 of the Electoral Code provides for the rights of Persons who have changed residence to declare their current place of residence at the body of local public administration in order to be included into the list of voters at the respective polling station. The authorities did not provide for the situation of changing residence within the region territory a, fact that will dishearten this category of voters to participate in the elections on April 5th. At the same time, the current situation can lead to the mass violation of their rights as the public administration from the region is not under the constitutional authorities’ jurisdiction. For instance, voter X residing in Camenca district, but working or being student in Bender town will have the possibility to exercise his/her right to vote only at the pooling station No. 59 from Sanatauca, Floresti, open for citizens from Camenca district. Voter X will be discriminated as compared to the citizens from other country regions, as he/she will not have the possibility to vote at the place of his/her last residence. Art.39 par 8 of the Electoral Code Cod stipulates that a voter may be included only in one voter roll. Voters from the Transnistrian region remain out of any voter roll. Art.39 par 9 of the Electoral Code provides the possibility of the voter to get a voting right certificate, in the event that the voter changes his/her residence in the period between the day of determining the rolls and election day. That is, in the event at the day of elections the voter will be in other country region, he/she has the possibility to obtain from the electoral bureau of the polling station a certificate on which ground to vote in any other polling station from the country.It was found that the voting certificates were largely issued to persons who were certain that on election day they would be in another location than their residence: students, observers or other categories than those specified in the law. In the absence of rolls for citizens from Transnistrian region, the voters from this area will not be able to obtain the voting right certificate for voting in another polling station. Therefore, these voters will not be able to vote in other than in one of those 10 polling stations open in the radius of their residence, written on their identity cards.We recommend the use of the phrase "In the case that the voter changes their residence within the period between the date of electoral rolls preparation and election day or other situations, the electoral office of the polling station must issue a certificate for the right to vote upon request and at the presentation of ID or a passport. In our opinion, short and medium term solution could be put into effect by changing the Electoral Code, by authorizing the Ministry of Informational Development to perfect electoral rolls and the implementation of the electronic register of voters could be a longterm solution. Thus, Promo-LEX has recommended that the Moldovan authorities continue efforts on the introduction of electronic voter registration and to initiate partnership with civil society in this regard. Electronic voting system could solve many problems on electoral lists and improve achievement of the guaranteed rights of the citiziens of the Transnistrian region. In these circumstances, the entire responsibility and obligation of drawing up electoral rolls would return on the Ministry of Informational Development.
The constitutional authorities’ initiative to establish polling stations in the Transnistrian region failed. Tiraspol administration promoted the necessity of submitting an official petition to the electoral authorities from the region. The constitutional authorities circumvented this procedure. Thus, on March 10, 2009, CEC of the Republic of Moldova adopted the Decision No. 2282 on the modality of participation in the Parliamentary elections of 5th April of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova residing in some of the localities situated on the left bank of Nistru, in Bender and some localities of Causani district. In compliance with this, for the purpose of assuring region citizens’ right of suffrage, CEC decided that the Transnistrian voters shall participate in Parliamentary elections by reporting themselves at the polling station No.59 SanataucaNo.3 (Rezina), No.4 (Cocieri), No.6 (Doroţcaia), No.40 (Varniţa), No.41 (Varniţa), No.33 (Hagimus), No.23 (Răscăieţi), No.23 (Copanca) and No.27 (Fоrlădeni). Pursuant to the same document, the voting ballots shall be held under particular supervision, the voters being enlisted in additional roll, and the voting ballots shall be dropped in ballot boxes marked “special ballot boxes” Moreover, par 2 of the Decision No.2282 provides that the voting ballots for the mentioned polling stations shall be distributed under particular supervision by the electoral district councils No. 18 Floresti, No.26 Rezina. No.15 Dubassari, No.4 Anenii Noi, No.32 Ştefan Vodă and No.10 Căuşeni. We state the existence of 2 inconsistent Decisions adopted by CEC. One conveys the establishment of 2 administrative electoral districts for the Transnistrian region, the other entrusts the councils of the 6 administrative electoral districts with the distribution of the voting ballots for the additionally established polling stations. However, CEC was to establish electoral councils for the administrative electoral districts No.3 from Bender and 37 from transnistrian region that had the right to establish the stations in question without CEC intervention. Therefore, in line with the same Decision from 10.03.2009 CEC stated that the citizens from the region shall report themselves to the Parliamentary elections from 5 April, 2009 at 10 polling stations only, established in the neighbouring localities under constitutional authorities Provisions of art.29 of the Electoral Code clearly stipulate that each precinct shall have no less than 30 and no more than 3,000 voters. According to data provided to Promo-LEX Association by the Ministry of Informational Development on 27.02.2009, there are 223580 citizens of the Republic of Moldova, enjoying the right to vote, registered in the Transnistrian region. Thus, each polling station would have an average number of 22.000. Moreover, separate polling stations for Transnistrian region voters were not established, with the exception of polling stations nr.40 and 41 of Varnita. The electoral authorities allowed the voting of this category of voters at "special ballot boxes"in the polling stations opened for the residents of the locality of the section. For example, polling station No.4 from Cocieri, Dubasari rayon, presented the voter lists for the parliamentary elections from April, 5th 2009. As only 3166 voters were contained within the lists, this already violates the 2nd provision of Article 29 from the Electoral Code. However, according to the Decision nr. 2282 of the Central Electoral Commission, at the same polling station persons from the Dubasari rayon also voted, which is under the control of the Tiraspol regime (cca. 30000 additional potential voters ). After the closure of the polling station from no. 5 / 15 Corjova village, the Central Election Commission has redirected the voters to the polling station in Cocieri. The formation of the separate electoral offices for the Transnistrian region and the creation of optimal conditions would encourage citizens to participate more actively in promoting their own candidates in elections.
On March 20, 2009, in compliance with CEC Decision No 2355 “on printing and distribution of electoral ballots for Parliamentary Elections of the Republic of Moldova from 5 April 2009” the ballots shall be printed and delivered to electoral district councils from the left bank of Nistru River as follows: Anenii Noi, electoral district (ED) No. 4 – 6000 ballots, Rezina ED No. 26 – 2500 ballots. On March 24, 2009, in compliance with CEC Decision No 2371 “on distribution of electoral ballots for Parliamentary Elections of the Republic of Moldova from 5 April 2009” the ballots shall be printed and delivered to electoral district councils from the left bank of Nistru River as follows: Căuşeni ED No. 10 – 2300 ballots, Dubăsari ED No. 15 – 1900 ballots, Floreşti ED No. 18 – 1500 ballots, Ştefan Vodă ED No. 32 – 300 ballots. 14500 electoral ballots have been printed and distributed in the localities from the left bank of Nistru River. The first Monitoring Report elaborated by Promo-LEX, acquainted the electoral bodies with the exact number of citizens enjoying the suffrage right domiciled in the localities under Tiraspol administration control, which is 223580. The above mentioned CEC decisions shut out ab initio the possibility of participation in the elections of 209080 people from the region that is in fact 8 per cent from the total number of Moldovan voters. Being provided with the necessary financial means and facilities for opening 500 polling stations for the Transnistrian region, we consider the ignorance of the legal provisions as inexplicable, including the provision of an insufficient number of ballots. In accordance with Art.30 of the Electoral Code of the Republic of Moldova, the electoral office of the polling station has to inform the population about the date and place of elections. The observers have recorded no constant efforts on the behalf of electoral bodies in the territory (polling stations No.59 Sănătăuca village, No.3 Rezina, No.4 Cocieri village, No.6 Doroţcaia village, No.40 and 41 Varniţa village, No.33 Hagimus village, No.23 Răscăieţi village, No.23 s.Copanca village and No.27 Firladeni village) aimed at information of people enjoying the suffrage right about the place and date of election. In compliance with art.51 par.1 of Electoral Code, in cases of the impossibility of voting, the chairperson of the precinct electoral bureau shall put the electoral precinct into its proper condition or move it to other place, having notified the voters of this fact. The electoral bodies knew about the possible dangers for the normal activity of Corjova polling station. Despite the fact the authorities undertook measures of informing public opinion and decision making factors at national and international level, and MIA guaranteed the security to voters at the polling station, finally the authorities were not capable to ensure the exert of suffrage right in compliance with the legislation provisions (preparation of an alternative place, e.g. in the neighboring locality Cocieri and notifying the voters about this). Therefore, par.1 of art.51 of the Electoral Code provides for finding another place for the electoral precinct and the continuation of the process. However, on April 5, 2009, CEC arranged the voting at other polling stations (No.4 Cocieri and No.13 Ustia) on the grounds of additional electoral rolls, fact which contravenes the legal provisions, and the voters of Corjova village were not adequately notified about these changes. As a result, only 91 voters came to the two polling stations (62 to the polling station No.4 Cocieri and to the polling station No.13 Ustia, out of the total number of 1350 voters enlisted in the rolls. In spite of the Central Electoral Commission's constant efforts to organize and conduct the elections in Corjova (Dubasari), no voting took place at the polling station nr.5/15 in Corjova. We believe that the efforts of Central Electoral Commission were not supported by other state structures.
On April 8, 2009, by the Decision No 2501, CEC ordered electoral competitors’ access to electoral documents (electoral roll, including additional ones, having the opportunity to make copies), lately the Decision was partly canceled by the court. Thus, it was forbidden to make any copies of the electoral rolls. In accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 8 of the Law nr. 982 from May, 11th 2000 “regarding access to information" within the meaning of this Act, the data related exclusively to the identification of individuals (data are contained in the ID card) does not represent confidential information. In our opinion, the decision is an inexplicable one, as electoral rolls contains only data that are contained in ID and do not constitute confidential information. On April 11, 2009 CEC prepared the Report on the 5th April, 2009 parliamentary elections results, approved by CEC Decision No. 2509. Despite the fact that Transnistrian voters voted at “special ballot boxes” on separate electoral rolls, the electoral bodies with some exceptions, have ignored the provisions of CEC Decision No. 2282 from March 10, 2009: “at numbering the votes, the precinct electoral bureau opens and counts separately the ballots from the boxes marked “Special Ballot Box”. The results are written in a special form for votes numbering and is passed to the electoral council in question. The precinct electoral bureau prepares two copies of a separate minute”. According to the Report on the 5th April, 2009 parliamentary elections results, CEC has not specified the number of Transnistrian voters, thus ignoring the provisions of p.3 of the Decision No.2282 from 10.03.2009, increasing the number of voters enlisted on additional voter rolls.
IV. The activity of the constitutional bodies and international actors At present, the Transnistrian problem settlement process takes place in a „5+2” negotiation format, which asserts the participation of constitutional authorities and Tiraspol administration, OSCE as a mediator, with the Russian Federation and Ukraine as guarantor states, and in 2006 the European Union and the United States of America began in the capacity of observers. The current format is a equilibrated one, although the situation became uncertain due to the signing of documents within the period of 1997-2001, and the Tiraspol administration, as supported by the Russian Federation, insisting upon the “parties’ equality” ignoring the basic principles of the 1992 MoldoRussian Agreement. Under such conditions, fuel tension was established between constitutional authorities and separatist administration, and the negotiations often take place in a spontaneous, unforeseeable manner, dependant on certain conditions. Under such conditions the “negotiations” appear to be a perfect way of maintaining the current situation without positive changes and the region population suffers the consequences being precluded from the decision taking process. Moreover, the population is denied the possibility to inform themselves from various sources and the possibility to freely and actively participate in the country’s and region’s public life. Negotiations regarding Transnistrian voters’ participation in 2009 Parliamentary elections were officially resumed in summer of 2008. The constitutional authorities touched upon the problem of the establishment of polling stations and participation of the Transnistrian citizens in the elections. In this respect, the press called upon the declarations made by the Ministry of Reintegration Vasile Şova, who recommended the making of an agreement with the separatist administration, offering the Tiraspol region administration representatives a number of seats in the Parliament.The president of the Republic of Moldova accused the Tiraspol administration of creating obstacles for the exercising the
right of suffrage by Moldovan citizens who are residents of the region, in an interview given to Russian radio station „Echo Moskvy”. On December, 3rd, 2008, the president of the Republic of Moldova declared that constitutional authorities created required conditions for Moldovan citizens, residents of the region at all times, giving them the possibility to vote at any polling station. On January 28, 2009, within a bilateral meeting, the Ministry of Reintegration Vasile Şova and the Head of OSCE Mission in the Republic of Moldova Philip Remler focussed on the problem of Parliamentary elections preparation and organization in the localities from Transnistrian region, mentioning the need of ensuring the participation in the elections of Moldovan citizens, residents of the region. At the same time the Delegation of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly discussed during the visit to Chisinau and Tiraspol the necessity of electoral competitors’ access into the Transnistrian region for the purpose of conducting the electoral campaign in the event that the polling stations would not be established in the territory. The visit of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs S. Lavrov on 24.02.2009 to Chisinau was considered by the region public opinion as indirect support to the governing party on behalf of Russian authorities, that could have an impact on voters’ decision, especially from the left bank of Nistru River. The representatives of constitutional authorities of the Republic of Moldova at the Joint Control Commission (JCC) pronounced the provisions of CEC Decision No. 2282 from March 10, 2009 “the modality of participation in the Parliamentary elections of 5th April of citizens of the Republic of Moldova residing in some of the localities situated on the left bank of Nistru River, in Bender and some localities of Causani district, asking for the monitoring of electoral process in the security zone. Tiraspol administration representatives refused to include this issue on discussions agenda, specifying that the establishment of this polling station represents a provocation on the behalf of constitutional authorities. Serghei Gorlov, the JCC representative of Russian Federation supported in fact Tiraspol’ s position declaring that the establishment of a polling station in Corjova can aggravate the situation in the security zone and recommended the village people to vote in the polling station established in Cocieri village. The Ministry of Reintegration issued a declaration by which expressed its perplexity as regards these statements. Both the intake as well as the reactions of the constitutional authorities and international structures were inadequate and we do not register any efforts in resolving these issues in the future.
V. The activity of the Transnistrian administration Within the bilateral meeting (Voronin-Smirnov) form December 24th, 2008, Smirnov declared in the presence of President Voronin that he knew nothing about elections “you have elections, we do not have any”. At the same time, on February 12th, 2009, Smirnov declared in an interview given in Moskow that “Transnistrian citizens will be free to vote in the 5th April Parliamentary elections”. Later, Smirnov, announced CEC5 that Tiraspol refuses to allow the establishment of polling stations in the region. “Ministry of External Affairs” from Tiraspol, Vladimir Yastrebciak declared on December 11, 2008 that the polling stations will be established in the region with the status of
foreign electoral districts, mentioning the previous experience of the region with electoral bodies from both the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Oleg Beleakov, the Tiraspol representative in the JCC declared that region citizens “did not decide whether Moldovan elections should be conducted on their territory, and that the CEC incentive to establish 500 polling stations is pathetic. At present Transnistria has no need to participate in Parliamentary elections of the Republic of Moldova. I believe this opinion is shared by the majority of the region people”. The declarations of leaders of the region were contradictory as well; on the one hand they state the population doest not want to participate, and on the other hand they assert that a possible establishment of the polling stations in the region would prove a great number of voters, a fact that would give Chisinau the option to justify the theories about peoples’ opportunities, etc. The representatives of the regional administration pronounced categorically on behalf of all the region people, against participation in elections, thus attempting to determine both people’s attitude and the societal environment. On March 19th, 2009 at „Pohrebea-Coşniţa” check point, the ballot boxes designed for polling station No.5 Corjova were seized. The regional administration did not return the electoral inventory. On April 3rd, 2009, with reference to the establishment of the polling station in Corjova village, Dubăsari district, Tiraspol “ministry of foreign affairs” issued a release in which asked the constitutional authorities to refrain from any non coordinated actions with the Tiraspol administration. Numerous cases of intimidation and persecution of the transnistrian region population were registered, so that they do not participate in the elections. Representatives of custom structures have strengthened controls, especially with regard to identification of electoral materials. Numerous cases of goods and electoral materials confiscation were registered. While ”the national legislation” does not provide sanctions and do not prohibit such activities, the actions of those post representatives were inappropriate. In some cases, minutes on behalf of persons holding such materials were drawn, and in other cases the materials were seized without such “acts". On March 31st, 2009, „Varniţa” point head Diacenco, declared for a regional television channel, that “the control at the “border” crossing will be intensified with respect to people detained for the transportation of electoral materials. There are no sanctions provided for these citizens, we seize the materials and pass them to hierarchically superior bodies. We talk to people and explain them that the electoral agitation is prohibited and they continue their itinerary”. This declaration proves the abusive actions of the control bodies and the fact that they are applied on a selective basis. Such actions are presented and negatively commented in the regional press, thus aiming at disheartening the voters to distribute or transport electoral materials in the Transnistrian region. The mass-media has broadcasted a complex program about the detaining of several persons who transported electoral material and being treated correspondingly. The news was accompanied by an appeal on a scrolling text on the behalf of regional security services asking the viewers to present information about any electoral agitation on the territory. After President’s refusal to travel to Tiraspol, they observed a strengthening of the actions aimed at impeding the conduct of electoral campaign and participation of region people in the 5th April Parliamentary elections. Some regional structures of local government have convened meetings with various categories of citizens, in which the people were required to abstain from participation in the voting, including not to organize the transport of the citizens to the polling stations, opened in areas under the jurisdiction of
constitutional authorities. In general, during the pre-electoral monitoring period and election day, the regional administration continued to spread panic information, to intimidate and threat with reprisals and dismissals from work, in the case that they will show up a the polling station or will facilitate in one way or another the elections. Examples of intimidations: On March 22nd, 2009 at about 00.00, a patrol of traffic militia from the region detained Gangaliuc Dumitru and Jmacov Alexandru in the center of Grigoriopol town. These persons were hanging electoral posters of EAM (European Action Movement), thus being detained for about 3 hours and materials being seized. The next day they were examined again but after a long period of uncertainty they were set free with the proper excuses. In the same time they were asked not to disclose publicly the case’s circumstances. The following persons were detained at check points: Anatol Brînză (holding LDPM materials), Ivan Separa (having 50 music CDs and other CPRM materials) and Anatol Uzunov (holding OMA materials). Ion Mutilica, citizen of Bender municipality was detained in a town market by militiamen on the grounds of distribution of LDPM materials. On March 31st, 2009 Grigoriopol district administration summoned a meeting with the majority of teachers, schools’ headmasters and mayors of the localities of Grigoriopol district. Within the event, the participants were asked to abstain from participation in elections and from the organization of people’s displacement to polling stations established in the localities under constitutional authorities’ jurisdiction. On March 31st and April 1st, 2009 directors of different enterprises and institutions of Bender municipium were summoned. They were also asked not to participate in the elections and to abstain form any electoral activities. On March 26th, 2009, other two persons were detained in Bender municipium. They were transporting materials of LP in their vehicle. Generally, region voters have invoked three major obstacles for participating at elections: application of the stamp in the identity card’s inset, the serious control and the registration at the posts and the eventual registration by the region secret services at the polling stations. In some companies, the employees were warned that on 6th April 2009, the administration will verify the identity cards of its employees, those to be found with the stamp “Elections 5.04.2009” shall be dismissed. The post-election period, particularly after the protests in Chisinau, was marked by an intensified control of the check points. During the post-election period cases of dismissal from work of people who have participated in the elections have not been reported, although within the electoral campaign several threats concerning this matter were registered.
VI. The performance of the electoral candidates Activities specific to election campaign were practically absent in Transnistrian region. The voters do not have the possibility to be informed about the 5th April event, about electoral candidates and their electoral programs. Over the past 17 years, the electoral candidates have ignored this region. The activities of the electoral candidates in this region have been meek. Few cases of political engagement and dissemination of information were registered. However, some electoral candidates have engaged in clandestine or semi-clandestine political agitation in Transnistria.
In the morning of 25th March, 2009, the president of the Republic of Moldova, leader of the Communist Party and the candidate No 1 on electoral rolls of this party, was going to pay a visit to Tiraspol to meet Smirnov. Electoral posters of CPRM competitor were hung on majority of the pillars situated on Bender – Tiraspol route. The posters contained the symbol of the Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova and the slogan written in Romanian and Russian. The electoral posters were hung at a 2 meters height that proves they were placed by means of using special equipment. They were placed nearby the peacekeeping points and regional militia stations, fact that shows the coordination with Tiraspol administration.Ulterior, were reported this kind of situations, but CPRM denies this fact. Although very small, and only sporadically in some areas, the representatives of the election candidates were present in the Transnistrian region. Mostly, they carried out their electoral activities in urban areas dicsreetly such as: Bender, Tiraspol, Ribnita, and Grigoriopol Dubosari. In rural areas no political agitation was conducted. Candidates who have conducted electoral campaigns in Transnistria are: LDPM, OMA, LP, CUM, EAM, CP and CPRM. The parties did not make attempts to organize meetings with the voters from the region, with the exception of several localities and institutions subordinated to constitutional authorities. Leaders of some electoral competitors organized meetings with Transnistrian voters in the neighboring localities subordinated to constitutional authorities. Leaders of some electoral candidates have held meetings with voters from the Transnistrian region, which are under the control of constitutional authorities, and in some cases informal meetings of some political leaders with the representatives of local public administration were registered. Although there have been cases of poster and other materials confiscation at the check posts from Transnistrian region recorded, Promo-LEX observers reported the presence of election posters in different localities of the region. In the absence of special places where the electoral posters have to be displayed, some electoral candidates have placed them in locations where placement is usually prohibited (pillars, road signs, etc.). In most of the cases, the posters have not been damaged. Generally, the representatives of other electoral competitors chosen to distribute individually electoral material, i.e. pass them to relatives, colleagues or other authorized representatives (LDPM, OMA, EAM, CUM).
VII. The performance of the national and regional mass-media The information delivered by regional public mass-media continues to have a pronounced negative character, often ambiguous and confusing, giving the impression of a centralized leading. For instance, on the one hand, some actors declare that region people are not interested in participating in election (fostering the idea of people being forced to execute Moldovan passports only for free movement outwards the region), on the other hand, they claim that the citizens’ participation in elections guarantees a great number of suffrages to the governing party. Civil society from the region had the same confusing and apparently conducted behaviour. Media and civil society from the region, with some minor exceptions, have not addressed issues related to the electoral process in Moldova in order to inform the local
population . On the other hand the regional media have not registered any informational materials about electoral education. The representatives of various regional socialpolitical organizations, in particular of the patriotic and military kind have issued a call encouraging people to come and protest against the opening of a polling station in Corjova. Accordingly, so-called civil society was practically not involved in this process, and a part of it was used in actions to sabotage the electoral process. Few Moldovan radio and television stations broadcasted partially in the Transnistrian region as special equipment is necessary. The subscription offered by the specialized enterprise does not include their transmission. Under such conditions, the region voters do not have the opportunity to watch the electoral debates organized within the electoral campaign in the Republic of Moldova. In the same time the regional television and radio stations have not organized and do not retransmit electoral debates. National TV and Radio stations broadcast in some of the Transnistrian region localities, but there is no record of the cases of dissemination of information for the Transnistrian region voters about the date and location of the elections on these stations. As a result, the regional media sources influence is prevailing and may lead to the absence of the local inhabitants in the polling stations. “Pridnestrovie” (Transnistria) daily newspaper - “by involving Transnistrian people in Parliamentary elections and indirectly in the elections of the President of Moldova, in an official manner Chisinau attempts to prove to Russia and the European Union the fact “making peace” has occured between the two banks of Nistru River, to provide the impression of existence of premises to bring to an end negotiations and sign documents regulating the transfer of Transnistria under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Moldova” Valerian Tulgara, the leader of “The Union of Moldavians in Transnistria”, has qualified the CEC incentives as a “provocation and attempt to injure the image of Transnistrian government”. He declared also that “the region people were not active during the previous elections, and this time Transnistrian inhabitants will ignore Parliamentary elections, as a result of provocative policy for the region fostered by Chisinau”. In another interview, he declared that “for the moment there is no sense for the participation of Transnistrian population in 5th April elections”. Patriotic or military Civic organizations declared in local mass-media that the participation of region inhabitants in the elections should not be allowed. Grigorii Agre, president of “The Union of Defenders of Transnistria” stated that “there are no real pro- Russian forces in the Republic of Moldova, thus there is nobody to sustain Transnistria”.Victor Arestov, leader of “The Union of Russian Communities in Transnistria” claimed that “we must not support several forces from Moldova. Moreover, we must not allow the participation of Transnistrian candidates in the Parliamentary elections”. The president of “The Union of Officers in Transnistria”, Serghei Zaicenco, declared that “Transnistria cannot participate in the elections. This is the political domain of another state, a state which destroys the social and state structure of Transnistria”. Leaders of Union of Labour Communities (OSTK) from Tiraspol consider that participation in the elections will create dependence from Moldova to Transnistria, offering Chisinau the possibility to pretend that the Transnistrian territory is ready to come under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Moldova. Alexandr Porojan, former representative of Tiraspol at JCC declared that active participation of the voters in elections is convenient firstly to Communist Party of Moldova as it would obtain the majority of suffrages.
The term “special ballot boxes” raised criticism on behalf of numerous administrative institutions and representatives of various organizations from the region. For instance, Piotr Denisenko, president of the socalled CEC from Tiraspol declared that “the establishment of the “special ballot boxes” reveals the real attitude of Moldovan authorities towards Transnistrian people, as our people are considered of a inferior category on the right bank of Nistru River” Moreover, Oleg Beleakov, Tiraspol representative in the JCC considers the establishment of “special ballot boxes” a serious violation of human rights. The same is the opinion of Valerian Tulgara, deputy in the regional legislative, leader of „The Union of Moldavians in Transnistria”, considering this procedure infringes secret suffrage. Piotr Denisenko president of the so-called CEC from Tiraspol declared the absence of meetings or common actions with the electoral bodies of the Republic of Moldova. In his opinion “Transnistrian inhabitants who have the citizenship of the Republic of Moldova are first of all Transnistrian citizens. For this reason, observers of the Transnistrian party should be present at polling stations, in order not to allow humiliating or offending actions of our citizen…” Vasilii Kaliko, region “ombudsman” declared that “no-one has ever created obstacles for Moldovan citizens to travel and to vote at polling stations and nobody intends to do it”. The leader of the branch of Association of Orthodox political scientists from Russia, Vladimir Bukarski declared that “Transnistrian authorities must be interested in promoting friendly forces into the Parliament of Chisinau. Respectful of the fact that if the electoral bodies of the Republic of Moldova will address, for the purpose of establishment of polling stations in Transnistria, Tiraspol must undertake all measures that the vote of each inhabitant of the region shall influence the structure of the future legislative of the Republic of Moldova. The refusal to establish polling stations in Transnistria will be the worst decision ever taken.” Generally, the mass-media reflected the 5th April, 2009 parliamentary elections mostly on Election Day, having ignored the debates, electoral campaign and advertising. The panic launched by Tiraspol administration was maintained, supported and broadcast by region mass-media, fact that persuaded the decreased presence of voters at polling stations. During the post-electoral period, the mass media depicted strongly the events from the center of the capital. As compared to the pre-electoral period, the post-electoral information was impartially presented. Nevertheless, the conclusions made were aimed at the objectives as follows: impossibility of reunification of Transnistrian region with the rest of the country, necessity of Russian peacekeepers decreasing, re-confirmation of proRussian orientation in the region and the possibility of „conflict” intensification.
VIII. Conducting parliamentary elections on 5th of April 2009 Promo-LEX observers have monitored parliamentary elections conduct in 9 of the 10 electoral precincts, established for Transnistrian voters. (Except for the poling station No.23/10 situated in Copanca village, Căuşeni district).The situation at Corjova polling station No.5/15 has been monitored as well. Generally, the monitored polling stations were open on time (at 7.00), in compliance with legislation preventions conform, except for the poling station No. 5/15 situated in Corjova village, Dubăsari district. Starting at 06.35 siege was laid to the station in question by a group of about 300
persons, representatives of various military and patriotic organizations from the Transnistrian region, among whom representatives of Transnistrian decision making factors. At about 06.40 a group of 5 persons entered the polling station and withdrawn the ballot box. Law enforcement bodies, responsible for the polling station security and the security of electoral documents, have not exerted their commitments, despite the fact that MIA notified the public opinion several days before the event. At the moment of entrance into the premise and withdrawal of the ballot box (at 6.45), constitutional bodies’ representative did not interfere, leaving the polling station, electoral documents and the persons from the building without defense. The polling station No.5/15 has not been open. There were not noticed clear indicators guiding region voters to electoral precincts, except for Rezina poling station No.3/26. This very fact could have influenced voters’ participation at elections, as the great majority of region voters did not know the locality in which the polling stations were established. At a distance shorter than that provided for by the law, there has been recorded the presence of law enforcement collaborators (in civilian clothes) in the neighborhood of polling stations No.40/4, 41/4 Varniţa and 5/15 Corjova. Moreover, there were at least two militia men in uniform staying permanently at Corjova polling station No. 5/15. At polling station No.6/15 Doroţcaia, the observers have recorded the presence of a Ukrainian military person accompanied by several persons in civilian clothes. They did not introduce themselves to electoral officers and did not address to observers. The electoral agitation has been recorded at some electoral precincts (3/26 Rezina, 6/15 Doroţcaia, 40/4 Varniţa, 27/10 Fârlădeni) as well the presence of local representatives of electoral competitors (6/15 Doroţcaia and 4/15 Cocieri (CPRM)). No electoral posters were noticed on Election Day at the monitored electoral precincts. Many of these were present in some localities (Fârlădeni village (CPRM) Rezina (CPRM, OMA, CUM, EAM) in Tighina and Tiraspol municipia (PCRM) etc.). Application of stamp „Elections.02.2009” in the identity card’s inset. At the majority of electoral precincts there have been recorded cases when the voters refused to vote because of the application of the mentioned stamp. In the same time, the procedure in question was applied inequitably as there have been recorded cases of voting without the application of the stamp, or its optional application. There have been recorded cases when the voting was allowed on the basis of other documents than those provided for by the legislation. At polling station No.40/4 Varniţa voting on the basis of passport was allowed, and in some other cases transport was provided to the Evidence and Documentation of Population Department situated in Varniţa village for the purpose of obtaining F-9 blank. There have been recorded cases of voting on the basis of soviet type passport, which lacked the information about Moldovan citizenship and personal code. At the polling station No..6/15 Doroţcaia, there have been recorded cases of voting on the basis of certificate of birth. Visiting the Evidence and Documentation of Population Department situated in Varniţa village (Ministry of Informational Development) Promo LEX observers have noted many new identity cards on the desk of the head of the department in question. The official mentioned that they were issuing new identity card in the exchange of the old ones, on that day.We believe that the activity of the stations in questions on the Election Day is favorable exclusively for issuing of F-9 blank in order to not admit the multiple votes. Under conditions of non existence of voter rolls for Transnistrian region, the procedure in
questions offers the possibility of multiple votes. The inadequate information of voters about electoral competitors, the procedures and necessary documents for the exert of right of suffrage. Some voters were not notified about the documents on the basis of which they can exert their right of suffrage, and there have been recorded cases of presenting “identity documents” issued by Tiraspol unconstitutional administration. Numerous voters did not know the electoral competitors, notifying themselves and making the decision in the polling station. Cases of influencing the voters, indicating the place of voting have been recorded. Generally, some polling stations have not been arranged in an adequate manner to allow accredited persons to assist all the electoral procedures and to supervise all the aspects of the voting procedure (polling station No.6/15 Dorotcaia, polling station No.41/4 Varnita, 27/10 Farladeni). The ballot boxes (3/26 Rezina) and voting booth were arranged in red color, the color of an electoral competitor, and there was a poor lighting (polling station No.6/15 Dorotcaia and No. 23/32 Rascaieti). The independent observers have been obstructed at some polling stations (3/26 Rezina, 40/4 Varnita, 33/10 Hagimus and 23/32 Rascaieti). The electoral officers did not possess adequate information and knowledge for the exert of their responsibilities. In the same time, there were recorded situations when they have suggested voting options. Generally, there was insufficient number of electoral officers as to the number of potential voters. For instance, at Dorotcaia polling station No. 6/15, 2 out of 11 members of the polling station were ministering to Transnistrian voters, and other 2 were missing as they went on with the mobile ballot box. Electoral officers proved incompetent as to voting in the event of concomitant presence of stamps “residence” and “domicile” in the identity card’s inset. Therefore, the procedure in question has been applied inequitably, as there have been registered cases when citizens voted on the basis of “domicile” in the region (polling stations 40/4 and 41/4 Varnita, in other similar cases they were refused the suffrage right(polling stations 23/32 Răscaieti and 3/26 Rezina). The majority of independent observers and electoral competitors' representatives were inadequately informed as well, being inattentive and passive. Although, there were noted numerous problems, appeals have not been submitted by electoral competitors’ representatives. The representatives of „Varnita” control point have not allowed the displacement of the mobile box of polling station No.40/4 Varnita to the penitentiaries situated in Tighina. A similar situation has been recorded in Cocieri village, secessionist law enforcement bodies prevented the members of electoral bureau to go to Corjova Rehabilitation Center. It was possible to enter the asylum premise after 20.00 o’clock, when the road was almost unblocked. On Election Day, the roads to the localities in which the polling stations were established have been intensely patrolled by numerous road militia teams, and there were recorded cases of withdrawal of driving licenses or vehicles’ number plates from persons who were transporting voters to polling stations (Grigoriopol). Some of the roads to localities in which the polling stations were established have been blocked. These are as follows: Corjova, Cocieri and Molovata Noua, Dubasari district. For the purpose of limiting voters’ access to these localities, separatist administration representatives have banned transport circulation.
IX. Verifying the electoral rolls CEC Decision No 2371 from March 24th, 2009 ordered printing and distribution of voting ballots according to the number of voters enlisted on electoral rolls for electoral precinct No. 15 Dubăsari in number of 23036 voting ballots for district localities in accordance with the voter rolls and 1900 additional ballots for Transnistrian voters. According to the voter rolls drawn up for the electoral precinct, 23710 voters were registered (including Corjova. We ascertain from the very beginning an insufficiency of 674 voting ballots(23710-23036=674)for electoral precinct No. 1, i.e: polling station 1/15 Coanita -1 ballot shortage, 2/15 Cosnita – 75 ballots shortage, 7/15 Holercani –162 ballots shortage, 8/15 Marcăuţi –22 ballots shortage,, 9/15 Molovata-Noua –80 ballots shortage,, 11/15 Oxentea –42 ballots shortage,, 13/15 Ustia – 3 ballots shortage. This fact demonstrates the deficiency of the drawn up voter rolls. On the other hand, polling station nr.6/15 Dorotcaia received 3150 voting ballots for 2160 voters enlisted on basic voter rolls and 990 eventually for Transnistrian voters. Polling station No.4/15 Cocieri received 4511voting ballots for 3890 voters enlisted on basic voter rolls and 621 eventually for Transnistrian voters. Under such conditions, we ascertain a deficiency of 289 voting ballots for 2 polling stations.In the same time, 23586 voting ballots received, out of the total number of 22360 voting ballots distributed in accordance with CEC Decision No. 2371, are recorded in the minute on the pool result drafted by Council electoral precinct No. 15 Dubăsari. Promo-Lex acquired CEC agreement to verify the rolls at the 10 electoral precincts established for the voters from the Transnistrian region, but the access to rolls was ensured only to six polling stations from three district electoral precincts. We did not have access to voter rolls from electoral precincts No. 18 Floreşti, No.26 Rezina and No.3 Anenii Noi. As a result of verification of voter rolls to which access was allowed, the following has been stated: Polling station No. 4/15 Cocieri, Dubăsari. As an examination of voter rolls, there were 2334 signatures recorded, and there were 2325 voters recorded in the polling station minutes. Thus, polling station members have issued 9 voting ballots less than the signatures put by voters in voter rolls (number of voters who took the certificate of suffrage right was taken into consideration). No separate minute for the region voters’ special rolls has been drafted. There were 374 voters from the Transnistrian region. Polling station No. nr.5/15 Corjova, Dubăsari. Under conditions of non establishment of the polling station in question on the grounds called upon in the present report, there were 10 signatures recorded in the voter rolls, without specifying the issuing of certificates of suffrage right and a signature with the mentioning in question. One of the signatures was put but the head of Council electoral precinct No.15. No minute on the polling results has been drafted, and there is not clear what happened with about 1350 voting ballots. Polling station No. nr.6/15 Doroţcaia, Dubăsari. There were 2199 signatures recorded, 2205 voting ballots issues, i.e. 6 voting ballots more than signatures put on the rolls. In the same time, there were 135 voting ballots issued to people whose residence or domicile was not written up in the electoral rolls. No separate minute for the region voters’ special rolls has been drafted. There were 316 voters from the Transnistrian region.
Polling station No. 23/32 Răscăieţi, Stefan Vodă. No serious infringements have been recorded as a result of verification of voter rolls. Separate minute for the region voters’ special rolls has been drafted. There were 83 voters from the Transnistrian region. Polling station No. 33/10 Hagimus, Căuşeni. One page was missing from the voter rolls. Nevertheless, there were 1248 signatures recorded in the voter rolls. According to the minute on the pool result drafted by Council electoral precinct No.10 Căuşeni there have been 1226 voting ballots issued, i.e. at least 22 voting ballots less than signatures put on voter rolls. Separate minute for the region voters’ special rolls has been drafted. There were 121 voters from the Transnistrian region. Polling station No. 23/10 Copanca, Căuşeni. There were 630 signatures recorded in the voter rolls, and 635 voting ballots, i.e. 5 voting ballots more than signatures on voters’ rolls. No separate minute for the region voters’ special rolls has been drafted. There were 76 voters from the Transnistrian region. Polling station No. 27/10 Fîrlădeni, Căuşeni. There were 1245 signatures recorded in the voter rolls; 1250 voting ballots issued, i.e. 5 voting ballots more than signatures on voters’ rolls. Separate minute for the region voters’ special rolls has been drafted. There were 25 voters from the Transnistrian region. Polling station No. 3/26 Rezina. No access to voter rolls was granted. There were 123 voters from the Transnistrian region. Polling station No. 59/18 Sănătăuca, Floreşti. No access to voter rolls was granted. There were 94 voters from the Transnistrian region. Polling station No. 40/4 Varniţa, Anenii Noi. No access to voter rolls was granted. There were 1556 voters from the Transnistrian region. Polling station No. 41/4 Varniţa, Anenii Noi. No access to voter rolls was granted. There were 840 voters from the Transnistrian region. Therefore, only 4042 Transnistrian voters participated at 5th April, 2009 parliamentary elections, this being about 50% of participants number at previous elections. The decrease of voters’ number can be explained by the actions of intimidation, prosecution and control over region voters. In the same time the constitutional authorities have not ensured a necessary minimum of electoral information to voters for their participation at elections.
XI. Conclusions A code of good practice in electoral matters, adopted by the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) in 2002 established that the conduct of democratic elections is not possible without respect for human rights, particularly freedom of expression and of press, freedom to move within the country, freedom of assembly and freedom of association for political purposes, including the creation of political parties. As a result of all legal gaps, abuse and intimidation, superficial organization of the electoral process for residents of the Transnistrian region, and multiple violations of election legislation in the course of monitoring, allows us to find that the parliamentary elections held on 5th April 2009 in the 10 polling stations for people from Transnistrian region were neither free nor fair.
XII. Recommendations
To modify the 27 and 74 article of the Electoral Code of the Republic of Moldova. Promo-LEX Association recommends the use of the phrase “For organizing and conducting elections, the Central Electoral Commission shall establish with at least 55 days prior to election day, the administrative electoral districts corresponding to the territorial-administrative units of the second level from the Republic of Moldova: autonomous territorial units with special statute, or municipals or localities which are attributed with special forms and conditions of autonomy;
To modify the previsions of the Article 27 of the Electoral Cod. Promo-LEX Association recommends the use of the phrase “ The candidatures of 2 members of the electoral council are to be appointed by the District Court, or by the cases by Courts of Appeal, which are exercising its competence on the autonomous territorial units with special status, such as municipals or localities which are attributed with special form and conditions of autonomy.
Amend the electoral code by authorising the Ministry of Information Development to compile electoral lists;
Amend paragraph 9. Art. 39, we recommend including the phrase “If the voter changes residence during the period between the date of the preparation of electoral lists and the election day or other situations the request and on the basis of the identification card, passport, or other identification, they issue a certificate for the right to vote.”
CEC to declare void the election on the formation of electoral districts No.3 from Bender and Nr.37 from Transnistrian region unless they opened for electoral district councils;
To constitute separate electoral offices for transnistrian region and to create optimal conditions which would encourage citizens to participate more actively to promote candidates or their election competitors;
Being provided the financial means necessary for the facilities and opening of 500 polling for the Transnistrian region, we believe that the ignorance of legal provisions, including the editing of an insufficient number of ballots for voters in the Transnistrian region to be inexplicable;
We consider necessary the Central Electoral Commission efforts to organize and conduct of elections in Transnistria and support by the other state structures;
We consider that the actions of the international structures were inadequate and we do not report efforts to resolve these issues in future, thus we request in particular those involved in the negotiation format 5 +2 and Joint Control Commission to strive for consistent organization of the elections in the Transnistrian region;
Polling outfit open to residents of the Transnistrian region with clear and visible signs, this fact could influence voters to express their vote, because the vast majority of voters in the region do not know the place where are located the polling stations;
In order to prevent the multiple voting, it is necessary to prohibit the release of ID cards or the change of the accompanying sheet of the ID document during the election day. We believe that the work of Sections of Evidence and Documentation of Population subordinated to Ministry of Informational Development is required only to release the form F-9;
The authorities and the electoral candidates are to actively conduct information campaigns and involvement of citizens from the region;
Ensuring security of all polling stations, including those open to voters from the Transnistrian region;
Provision of qualified legal assistance, free from state and / or from electoral candidates for those detained or persecuted by the representatives of force structures in the Transnistrian region;
Investigation of all cases which have created obstacles to the exercise the electoral rights in the Transnistrian region and punish under the law in force of guilty persons. Investigation of all cases of violation of electoral rights by the competent and appropriate application of sanctions;
Intensify diplomatic efforts to raise public opinion and national and international awareness and make the Tiraspol administration to ensure minimum conditions for exercising the right to vote;
Preparation and training of election officials; Intensify efforts on changing the electoral system, which would ensure nondiscriminatory conditions and rights for voters in the Transnistrian region.