REPORT No 1 - Promo-LEX · township (Telenesti d.). Report No 1 is an interim report, the general mission of which is to ensure the overall improvement of the electoral process in

Chisinau 2017

Observation Mission

for the local referendum on the dismissal of Chisinau General

Mayor

and the new local elections of 19 November 2017

REPORT No 1

Monitored period: 4 October – 1 November 2017

Published on 2 November 2017

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All rights reserved. The content of the Report may be used and reproduced for not-for-profit purposes and without the preliminary consent of Promo-LEX Association, provided that the source of information is indicated.

The Observation Missions for the local referendum on the dismissal of Chisinau General Mayor and the new local elections of 19 November 2017 are funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The opinions set out in the public reports of Promo-LEX are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the donors’ view.

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Contents INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................... 4

OBSERVATION METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................................... 4

SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................................................... 6

A. LOCAL REFERENDUM ON THE DISMISSAL OF CHISINAU GENERAL MAYOR ........................................... 6

B. NEW LOCAL ELECTIONS OF 19 NOVEMBER 2017 ................................................................................... 7

LEGAL FRAMEWORK ....................................................................................................................................... 9

A. LOCAL REFERENDUM ON THE DISMISSAL OF CHISINAU GENERAL MAYOR ........................................... 9

B. NEW LOCAL ELECTIONS OF 19 NOVEMBER 2017 ................................................................................. 13

II.ELECTORAL BODIES .................................................................................................................................... 17

A. LOCAL REFERENDUM ON THE DISMISSAL OF CHISINAU GENERAL MAYOR ......................................... 17


III. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION ........................................................................................................................ 32

A. LOCAL REFERENDUM ON DISMISSAL OF CHISINAU GENERAL MAYOR ................................................ 32


IV. ELECTION CANDIDATES ............................................................................................................................ 34

A. LOCAL REFERENDUM ON DISMISSAL OF CHISINAU GENERAL MAYOR ................................................ 35


V. FUNDING OF THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN .................................................................................................. 36



VI. CIVIC EDUCATION AND ELECTORAL ENGAGEMENT ................................................................................ 47



RECOMMENDATIONS: .................................................................................................................................. 49

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................................... 50

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INTRODUCTION

Report No 1, drawn up as a result of the activity of the observation missions for the local referendum on the dismissal of Chisinau General Mayor and new local elections of 19 November 2017, covers the activity of long-term observers (LTO) between 4 October and 1 November 2017.

The local referendum will be held on the dismissal of Mr. Dorin Chirtoaca from the position of General Mayor of Chisinau municipality. The new local elections will be held in the following settlements: Singera town (Chisinau mun.), Berlinti township (Briceni d.), Zirnesti township (Cahul d.), Plopi township (Cantemir d.) Stefanesti township (Floresti d.), Fundurii Noi (Glodeni d.), Lapusna township (Hincesti d.), Sarateni township (Leova d.), Capriana village (Straseni d.), Ghiliceni township (Telenesti d.).

Report No 1 is an interim report, the general mission of which is to ensure the overall improvement of the electoral process in progress. This interim report has the following reference objectives: real-time quality diagnosis of procedures for the organisation and conduct of the elections for a predetermined period of time; awareness raising of the electoral stakeholders; identifying the positive and negative trends in the electoral process.

The report is developed by the central team of the Promo-LEX OM, is based on the findings of long-term observers (LTO) from the Observation Mission and describes the activity of all stakeholders involved in the organization and conduct of elections: public authorities, electoral bodies, political parties, citizens who file their candidacy for the position of mayor, as well as civil society.

This report makes reference to the international standards developed by UN, OSCE, European Commission for Democracy through Law, European Union and Council of Europe. The preliminary recommendations for public and electoral authorities, election candidates/participants in referendum and other stakeholders are made at the end of this report in order to improve the electoral process.

OBSERVATION METHODOLOGY

The Promo-LEX Association’s Observation Mission for the local referendum on the dismissal of Chisinau General Mayor and the new local elections of 19 November 2017 are projects carried out by Promo-LEX Association under the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections. Promo-LEX Association is a Non-Government Organization that aims at developing the democracy in the Republic of Moldova (RM), including the Transnistrian region, by promoting and defending the human rights, monitoring the democratic processes, and strengthening the civil society.

We will monitor the electoral process in all the constituencies established for the elections of 19 November 2017, including in Chisinau constituency, in the context of the local referendum. On the referendum and local elections day, Promo-LEX will delegate a short-term observer (STO) in each of those 307 and 24 opened polling stations (PS), respectively. All the observers involved in the monitoring process are trained during the seminars organized by the Promo-LEX Mission and sign the Code of Conduct1 of the Promo-LEX Independent National Observer, undertaking to act quickly, in good faith and in a non-partisan manner. The activity of all the observers is coordinated by the central team of the Association.

The official and public information, including the observers’ standardized reports, drawn up according to the Promo-LEX Methodology, based on the visits planned in each settlement in the area of responsibility, visits to electoral bodies and reports of events worked out outside the visits planned, in cases when the observers notice electoral events, served as source for the drafting of public reports by the Observation Mission. During the planned visits, observers collect the information from discussions, meetings with interlocutors and review of the official documents.

1https://promolex.md/4689-codul-de-conduita-al-observatorilor-electorali-promo-lex/

https://promolex.md/4689-codul-de-conduita-al-observatorilor-electorali-promo-lex/

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The Promo-LEX Observation Mission is not a political opponent for the participants in referendum and/or for the election candidates involved in the electoral process, it is not an investigation body and does not assume the express obligation to support its findings by evidence. However, the observers’ reports are accompanied, as much as possible, by photo and video evidence, that can be made available only to law enforcement bodies upon proper requests and never to election candidates. Promo-LEX Mission manages the web platform www.monitor.md, where each citizen can report on the electoral activities. The Mission’s observers verify them during the next visit planned in the settlement, where such activities were reported.

Promo-LEX OM is carried out under the ‘Democracy, Transparency and Accountability Program’ is supported financially by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The opinions presented in the public reports of Promo-LEX belong to authors and do not necessarily reflect the donors’ view.

http://www.monitor.md/

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SUMMARY

A. LOCAL REFERENDUM ON THE DISMISSAL OF CHISINAU GENERAL MAYOR

During 4 October – 1 November 2017, the Observation Mission for the local referendum on the dismissal of Chisinau General Mayor, with the help of five long-term observers, one medium-term observer and one regional coordinator, carried out a plenary monitoring of election procedures and participants. The Report is drafted on the basis of the analysis of the templates filled in by Promo-LEX observers and namely: 39 visit templates, 92 event templates, 3 visit templates for the visit at the Chisinau Municipality Electoral Constituency Council (CMECC).

The referendum is to be held in Chisinau municipality and aims at deciding on whether to dismiss or not the mayor of the city. CMECC registered 2 participants in the local referendum of 19 November 2017: the Socialist Party of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM) and the Liberal Party (PL). At the same time, CMECC rejected Dorin Chirtoaca’s application to be registered as a participant in the local referendum for the following reasons: the applicant violated the provisions of Article 41 of the Electoral Code (submission of the registration file in person, by the applicant) and failed to comply with the provisions of CEC Decision No 1145 of 3 October 2017 (lack of individuals in the list of potential participants in the local referendum).

The existing legal framework on local referendums is still underdeveloped, though there is a separate chapter in the Electoral Code on it. As the direct consultation practice shows, there is a number of procedures that are regulated insufficiently or are not regulated at all. In this context, Promo-LEX Association underscores that there are aspects that are not clearly regulated or live room for interpretation, i.e.: the status of the participant in referendum is regulated insufficiently, it is not defined in the Electoral Code; the categories of participants in referendum are too restrictive; the concept of election campaign for a referendum can be misinterpreted; participation of active duty servicemen, etc.

The local referendum on the dismissal of the mayor is organised and held by CEC and MECC. During the monitored period, CEC adopted 15 decisions, relevant for the specified process. In addition, CEC accredited 263 national observers of Promo-LEX Association. Except for the election of the CMECC chairperson, who was not elected as of the date when the Report was published, the lower-level electoral bodies were established and their management was elected in line with the legal terms. This year, 307 PSs were established, which is by 5 PSs fewer than in 2016 Presidential Elections. According to gender statistics, CMECC has a balanced membership: 45% – women and 55% – men, unlike EOPS, where the share of women is higher – 75% and 25%, respectively.

We found low compliance of LPAs with the legal provisions regarding the communication of information on the electoral process organization. Thus, according to Promo-LEX observers, 23 level-one LPAs took decisions on the establishment of the minimum number of special places for electoral posters, however, the respective decision was displayed at the offices of only 2 authorities (Bacioi and Cruzesti LPAs). In the same context, all of these 23 LPAs took/issued decisions on the provision of special venues for the meeting of the candidates with the voters, but only 2 LPAs made the respective information public (Cruzesti and Vatra LPAs).

According to Promo-LEX observers, at least 58 electioneering activities related to the local referendum were organised during the monitored period, of which 50 were organised by PSRM and 8 by PL. Meetings with voters are the most frequent types of activities identified – 29 cases. In addition, a case was reported that can be regarded as use of administrative resources by a PSRM representative.

Besides these, we identified at least 86 cases where participants in the local referendum used outdoor/promotional/online advertising in their electioneering activity, of which 81 cases – PSRM and 5 cases – PL. In case of PSRM, the most used promotional materials were posters, leaflets,

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placards and newspapers. They were distributed by people wearing visible symbol of PSRM and of the local referendum (coat, bag). PL used posters, leaflets and flyers.

Promo-LEX OM appreciates the harmonisation of the Regulation on the Election Campaigns Funding with the new provisions of the Electoral Code, in the light of a few recommendations drafted previously by the Association not only in its electoral reports, but also in those not referring to the election campaign. A particular consideration was given to the possibility to transfer the existing funds on the account of the party, election candidate, at the same time with the possibility to reflect primary donors in the financial statement submitted to CEC, at the beginning of the election campaign.

Although two parties (PL and PSRM) were registered as participants in the referendum, however, only PSRM reported revenue amounting to MDL 377,000 and expenses amounting to MDL 374,211.77, while PL reported MDL 0. Promo-LEX observers noted additional electioneering activities, which, according to estimates, required additional expenses that were not reported, which proves a low level of transparency in reflecting all the funds used. PSRM did not report expenses for outdoor advertising – MDL 101,861, promotional advertising – MDL 260,550, and for the remuneration of volunteers – MDL 41,706, the expenses for whose services, according to the new provisions, should be reported in the financial statements for election campaigns.

B. NEW LOCAL ELECTIONS OF 19 NOVEMBER 2017

During 4 October-1 November 2017, the Promo-LEX Observation Mission (OM) for the new local elections of 19 November 2017 had five long-term observers and one national coordinator. The Report is drafted on the basis of the analysis of the templates filled in by Promo-LEX observers and namely: 28 visit templates, 4 event templates, 11 visit templates for the visit at the level-one CMECC.

The elections are organised in 10 level-one constituencies. Level-one ECC registered 29 election candidates, of which 4 are independent candidates, whereas 25 are nominated by 8 political parties, as follows: PDM – 10 candidates, PSRM - 7 candidates, PN – 2 candidates, PPRM – 2 candidates, PCRM – 1 candidate, PL – 1 candidate, PNL – 1 candidate and PPEM – 1 candidate. PDM is the party that nominated its candidates in all constituencies. Most candidates were registered for the position of mayor in Singera t. (Chisinau mun.) – 6 candidates, fewest candidates – Lapusna v. (Hincesti d.) – 1 candidate.

The new local elections have a more precise legal framework and fewer procedures and phenomena that live room for interpretation, if compared to the legal framework for local referendums. We can conclude that this is because of a more persistent practice in this area. However, Promo-LEX OM warns about some aspects which clarification, in our opinion, would improve considerably the quality of the following procedures: submission of the certificate of integrity in the process of registration without any delays; legal and explicit regulation of the way the citizens with domicile and residence vote, by removing interpretable notions and situations; voting of the active duty servicemen deployed in the settlement in which they have their domicile, where the elections are held, respectively, etc. We warn that, unfortunately, a part of the issues related to the legal framework of the new local elections are of a repetitive nature, being mentioned in our previous monitoring reports.

The elections are held due to the existing circumstance and the legal terms. We note that out of 10 mayors, whose position became vacant, 6 mayors submitted resignation letters, 1 mayor is unable to perform the duties due to sickness, for a period over 4 consecutive months and 3 mayors passed away.

To organise and hold the new local elections of 19 November 2017, over the monitored period, CEC adopted 51 decisions related to: approval of the Timetable, establishment of 10 ECs; accreditation of 16 Promo-LEX observers, etc. The lower-level electoral bodies, consisting of 10 level-one ECCs and

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24 EOPSs, were established in line with the terms provided for in the electoral legislation. In 4 out of 29 cases (EOPS No 20/38, 20/39, 20/40 and 20/41 from Lapusna twp.), EOPSs did not elect the management by the legally established deadlines. In addition, Promo-LEX observers reported 11 cases when EOPSs did not publish the information on their membership and working hours, respectively. Gender statistics on their membership show an overwhelming presence of women in the membership of the lower-level electoral bodies, i.e.: level-one ECCs – 72.41%, while in EOPSs – 81%.

The local public administration (LPA) was involved in organisation of the election (identification of EOPS offices, regulation of the electoral posters, etc.). Under the conditions when the mayor's duties are performed by a person ensuring the interim functions, Promo-LEX OM found that, in principle, the LPA performed its duties in the field. The matters to be improved include a case when LPA failed to approve a decision on the establishment of places for electoral posters and for meetings with voters (Lapusna twp.), as well as failure of an LPA to display the electoral posters (Fundurii Noi v.).

During the monitored period, Promo-LEX noted a low level of activism among the election candidates. According to the information provided by Promo-LEX observers, at least two cases of electioneering activities were registered, both of them implied online candidate promotion via social networks (PL and PN). In addition, at least one case, which can be qualified as service provision during election campaign (PL), was reported. All these cases were found in Singera EC.

Promo-LEX OM noted the decrease in the level of financial reporting to CEC and level-one ECC. Thus, of 12 election candidates registered with CEC, only 2 (PDM, PSRM) submitted their financial statements for the first week of election campaign (20-27 October 2017). Of these, only PSRM reflected revenues and expenses for the first week of campaign. No independent candidate submitted to level-one ECC the financial statement or the document proving that expenses were not incurred.

During the reporting period, only one EC (PSRM) reported revenue and expenses. Its revenue amounted to MDL 3,000, while the expenses - MDL 2,739.50. The expenses also included promotional advertising (MDL 2,702.50) and banking services (MDL 37). According to the findings of Promo-LEX observers, during 17 October — 27 October 2017, none of the election candidate held any electoral events implying costs.

Under the ‘Democracy, Transparency and Accountability’ Program, as part of the civic and electoral education component, Promo-LEX Association organises the ‘COME TO VOTE!’ campaign in the settlements where the new local elections will be held. The purpose of the campaign is to encourage people to vote and to promote informed and conscious voting among Moldovan citizens with a right to vote, in the settlements where the new local elections will be held. In the first round of election, public electoral debates will be organised in three settlements that will be chosen subsequently.

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LEGAL FRAMEWORK

Local referendum. Although the Electoral Code contains a separate chapter for the local referendum, a number of procedures that should be followed by all the election stakeholders are not described sufficiently or are even missing. Other regulatory acts, that would extend the Code’s provision, are also insufficient in terms of their number and regulatory scope. In this context, Promo-LEX Association underscores that there are a plenty of aspects that are not clearly regulated or live room for interpretation, i.e.: the status of the participant in referendum is regulated insufficiently, it is defined in the Electoral Code; the categories of participants in referendum are too restrictive; the concept of election campaign for a referendum can be misinterpreted; participation of active duty servicemen, etc.

The new local elections have a more precise legal framework and fewer procedures and phenomena that live room for interpretation, if compared to the legal framework for local referendums. We can conclude that this is so because of a more persistent practice in the area. However, Promo-LEX OM warns about some aspects, the clarification of which, in our opinion, would improve considerably the quality of the following procedures: submission of the certificate of integrity in the process of registration without any delays; legal and explicit regulation of the way the citizens with domicile and residence shall vote, by removing interpretable notions and situations; voting of the active duty servicemen deployed in the settlement in which they have their domicile, where the elections are held, respectively, etc. We warn that, unfortunately, a part of the issues related to the legal framework of the new local elections are of a repetitive nature, being mentioned in our previous monitoring reports.


1.1. Legal Framework

Broadly, the referendum is the vote of the people on the most important problems in state’s and society’s life. As a form of referendum, the local referendum is the vote of the people on issues of special interest for the village (township), town, city (municipality), district, special status administrative-territorial unit. Mayors of villages (townships), towns and cities (municipalities) are dismissed through local referendum.

In this respect, Article 177 from the Electoral Code reiterates that besides the problems of particular significance for the settlement, the local referendum may also be held on the dismissal of the mayor, when he or she does not comply with the interests of local community, fails to fulfil appropriately the duties falling under the mandate of locally elected person, provided by law, violates the moral and ethical norms.

The electoral law establishes the following as subjects that may initiate a local referendum:

1/2 of the number of elected counselors; in case of dismissal of mayor by secret vote – 2/3 of the number of elected counselors;

mayor of the village (township), town, city (municipality), except for the case when the purpose of the referendum is to dismiss the mayor;

representative authority of administrative-territorial units with special status; 10% of the citizens eligible to vote, residents of the respective administrative-territorial unit.

It is the will of 10% of the citizens eligible to vote, residents of the Chisinau municipality that served as grounds for organising the referendum of 19 November 2017 on dismissal of Chisinau General Mayor.

Thus, on 27 April 2017, the Chisinau Court of Appeal accepted the application submitted by Ion Ceban, Vlad Batrincea and Vasile Bolea and registered the Initiative Group, consisting of 460 persons, for the collection of signatures to hold the local referendum on dismissal of the Chisinau

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General Mayor, Dorin Chirtoaca. Through its decision, the Court of Appeal overturned the judgement of 3 April 2017 of Buiucani Court of Law, that fully rejected the application for registration of the initiative group. On 11 May 2017, the members of the Initiative Group were handed the service cards and 3,000 signature sheets, with which the members could collected 90,000 signatures.

Meeting the 60 day deadline, established by the Decision of Chisinau Court of Appeal, on 7 July 2017, through the administrative office of the Buiucani Court of Law, the Initiative Group submitted the request to: ascertain the collection of 77,299 valid signatures for the conduct of the local referendum on dismissal of the Chisinau General Mayor, Dorin Chirtoaca; accept the proposal on conducting the local referendum; draw up and submit a briefing note on the results of signature lists verification, submitted for the initiation of the referendum, to the Chisinau Municipal Council in order to issue a decision in line with Article 186(2) of the Electoral Code, and communicate it to the Central Electoral Commission; draw up and submit the minutes on the total number of signatures collected by the Initiative Group.

The Buiucani Court of Law resolution of 21 July 2017 accepted partially the request on checking the authenticity of signatures from signature sheets, submitted the Initiative Group for the collection of signatures to hold the local referendum on the dismissal of the Chisinau General Mayor. It ascertained the collection of 75,442 valid signatures, accepted the proposal to hold the local referendum on dismissal of the Chisinau General Mayor, Dorin Chirtoaca, and submitted the briefing note on the results of signature lists verification to the Chisinau Municipal Council and Central Electoral Commission.

Note that the Mayor’s representative appealed the Buiucani Court of Law resolution requesting the admission of the appeal and overturn of the court resolution that admitted partially the request of the Initiative Group. Then, on 11 September 2017, the Chisinau Court of Appeal rejected the appeal and upheld the resolution of the Buiucani Court of Law.

On the basis of the aforementioned resolution, on 12 September 2017, the Chisinau Municipal Council adopted the Decision No 8/2, by which it proposed to the Central Electoral Commission to hold the local referendum on the dismissal on the Chisinau General Mayor, Dorin Chirtoaca, on 19 November 2017. The following question was decided to be the object of the referendum: ‘Susțineți revocarea primarului general al municipiului Chișinău, dl Dorin Chirtoacă?’ and Russian version: ‘Поддерживаете ли вы отзыв генерального примара Муниципия Кишинэу, г-на Дорина Киртоакэ?’ (eng. ‘Do you support the dismissal of the General Mayor of Chisinau municipality, Dorin Chirtoaca?’).

Note that the duty of the Chisinau Municipal Council to decide on conducting the local referendum is provided for both in the Electoral Code and in the Law No 136 of 17 June 2016 on the Status of the Chisinau Municipality.

Thus, Article 186(1) of the Code establishes that within 15 days after submitting the signature lists or after the adoption of the decision by the local council, the executive body of the administrative-territorial unit with a special status or the mayor, the local council concerned or the representative bodies of the administrative-territorial unit with a special status shall either approve or reject the proposal to hold the local referendum.

In addition, the Law on the Status of Chisinau Municipality envisages in Article 6(4)d) that the Municipal Council, among other basic competences, initiates and decides to hold a local referendum, if needed.

As a result, on the basis of the duty provided for in Article 179 of the Electoral Code, the superior electoral body adopted the Decision No 1122 of 19 September 2017 establishing that the local referendum on the dismissal of Dorin Chirtoaca from the position of General Mayor of Chisinau will be hold on 19 November 2017.

1.2. Problematic Issues on Implementing the Legal Framework

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1.2.1. Registration of Participants in the Referendum

Neither the Electoral Code, nor other relevant laws from the electoral area regulate the procedure, conditions and subjects that can promote one option or another in a republican or local referendum.

In order to improve the electoral procedures on participation of subjects in the republican referendum, as well as on appropriate exercise of rights and obligations of the referendum subjects during the referendum, on 18 July 2017, CEC adopted the Instruction on the way of participation of political parties and other social-political parties in election campaign for the republican referendum.

The draft Instruction was subject to public consultations and, at that time, Promo-LEX Association issued some recommendations and opinions on it. Given that the Commission did not take into account all the recommendations, we want to reiterate certain aspects mentioned previously.

Thus, the definitions of ‘election campaign’ (found in both the text of the Regulation and in the title) and ‘electioneering’ (found in the text of the Instruction), deriving from the definitions set out in the Electoral Code (Article 1), refer particularly to the ‘persuasion of the voters to cast their votes for one or another election candidate’ and cannot be used to regulate only the involvement of political parties in organisation and conducting of the referendum. The term of ‘election candidate’ from the Code refers to the subjects that can run in the Parliamentary, presidential and local elections. Further we will bring arguments for the need to broaden the meaning and apply it on referendums, too.

In the same train of thoughts, note that Title VI of the Electoral Code – Referendum – does not contain the words ‘election campaign’, whereas the ‘electioneering’ is replaced with ‘agitation’ (Article 163, for example).

As regards the subjects that may be registered to promote an option in the referendums, Promo-LEX Association expresses its concern that this right is limited literally only to political parties.

The definition of ‘participant in the referendum’ suggested by CEC in the aforementioned Instruction, which is not found in the Electoral Code and is not defined clearly in the law, should be given a broader meaning that would include other stakeholders than political parties.

Within the meaning of Article 1 of the Electoral Code, elections refer to the Parliamentary elections, Presidential elections, the local elections, and referendums. It also covers the actions of citizens, parties, other socio-political organisations, electoral blocs, electoral and other state bodies connected with the preparation of lists of voters, the nomination and registration of candidates, electioneering, voting and the tabulation of results, as well as for other election-related activities under the current law.

The definition of ‘election’ given by the legislators implies that referendums have all the specific operations like the other types of elections. Developing this idea further, we believe it is relevant to have the term of ‘election candidate’ – that CEC uses indirectly in its Instruction, applied to referendums too, when it comes to the registration of participants.

In a broad meaning, Article 38 of the Constitution guarantees to all citizens the right to vote and be elected. In our opinion, it is absolutely obvious and natural that, during a referendum, the parties, electoral blocks, citizens and citizen groups/associations, and particularly, the ones affected directly by the referendums on the dismissal of mayors of settlements, promote the option to solve the most important problems in the state’s and society’s live.

An example to illustrate the inefficiency of the current formula can be the situation when even a non-attached MP or an independent local councilor, in their position of elected officials, let alone the affected groups of citizens, social classes or minorities, cannot register as participants in a referendum initiated to solve a problem of broader interest. In the same context, we can also refer to the role of the initiative group that collects signatures and, in fact, initiates the referendum, but

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during the campaign, it cannot promote an option unless the initiators are members of a political party.

This inefficiency is equally obvious in the case of the referendums to dismiss mayors. Leaving aside the situation and the conjuncture of the referendum set for 19 November 2017, we give the example of a mayor who was voted as a party exponent, but after a certain period of time, for various reasons, the mayor left that party and declared himself non-attached. If the party manages to initiate a referendum to dismiss the mayor, the latter will not be able to defend his/her own position and promote a defensive campaign.

Generally speaking, given that the dismissal of the mayor may be initiated when ‘a mayor does not act in the interests of the local community, does not exercise adequately his/her powers of an local elect envisaged by law or breaches moral and ethical norms’, it means that the mayor is accused of something that, normally, he or she can bring arguments against.

1.2.2. Amendments and addenda to the electoral legislation for purposes of being adjusted for a better organisation and conducting of referendums

Monitoring the activity of electoral bodies (CEC and CMECC No 1) during the organisation of the local referendum of 19 November 2017 on the dismissal of the Chisinau General Mayor and analysing the electoral legislation, Promo-LEX OM found that the procedures related to organisation and conduct of the local referendum are poorly regulated.

Although the Electoral Code contains a separate chapter for the local referendum, the plenty of procedures that should be followed by all the election stakeholders involved are not sufficiently described or are simply missing in the relevant regulatory acts.

Here we refer, particularly, to the rules of appointment and registration of subjects interested to participate in electioneering activities for one or another option in the referendum. Unlike the Titles from the Code, regulating the Parliamentary, presidential and local elections, the ‘Referendum’ Title, which covers the republican and local elections, does not contain any articles referring to the registration and does not make any references to the general rules. Since it is a special and different type of election, it needs to be regulated in details.

This also refers to terminology. We found that the Electoral Code provides for some definitions that do not refer to the local referendum. Although specific terms are missing, CEC already works with them.

First, we refer to the definition of ‘participant in the referendum’, introduced by CEC in the Instruction on the way of participation of political parties and other social-political parties in the election campaign for the republican referendum, which grants them a status in the organisation and conducting of a republican referendum.

This Instruction was adopted due to the insufficient regulation of referendum organisation in the Electoral Code. Moreover, even the aforementioned Instruction refers only to the republican referendum. Although they seem to be similar, the current Instruction should be amended for the local referendum or a new instruction should be adopted.

Similarly, the definitions of ‘electioneering’, ‘election campaign’, ‘election candidates’ and others should be adjusted and adapted to the local referendum.

We recommend the Parliament and CEC to adjust the legal framework and, respectively, to adopt the required Instructions and Regulations in order to solve the issues identified and presented in this Report and to avoid creating difficulties in the organisation of next local referendums.

1.2.3. Participation of Active Duty Servicemen in the Local Referendum

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We would like to note that, although the local referendums and local elections are similar in terms of their organisation and conduct, however there is a difference: the Electoral Code does not expressly prohibit the military to cast their votes, in case of local referendum, unlike the local elections.

In the context of the local referendum of 19 November 2017, note that 9 military units are located on the territory of Chisinau municipality. The number of active duty servicemen who serve in these units and whose domicile is on the territory of Chisinau municipality is significant and they risk being excluded from a democratic process, that is going to publicly determine the continuity of the mandate of the General Mayor of the municipality.

Given the aforementioned, we express our concerns that although Chapter 14 – ‘Local referendum’ – of the Electoral Code does not expressly prohibit the participation of the military and stipulates that the list shall be prepared according to the general norms of Articles 39 and 40 of the Code, by analogy, the rule applied for local elections could be applied. Analysing the Electoral Code, we found several electoral rules and procedures that are not adjusted and adapted for a local referendum, that is why a number of uncertainties appear in relation to its smooth conduct.

1.2.4. Situation of Voters Having both Domicile and Residence in the Context of Local Referendum

The local referendum and the local elections are two types of elections, which are similar in terms of organisation, conduct and their meaning for the settlement. Starting from this point, it is important to have similar categories of voters who can cast their votes in these types of elections.

It is true that both Article 128 and Article 192 of the Electoral Code establish that lists of voters for local elections and local referendum, respectively, shall be developed pursuant to Chapter 5 (Articles 39 and 40), to be applied appropriately. Article 39 of the Code establishes that in its turn, the voters having both domicile and residence shall be registered, during the period when the residence is valid, in the list of voters from the polling station the territorial areas where they have their residence.

At the same time, a special rule was established in case of local elections, according to which the voters who do not reside in the relevant administrative-territorial unit shall not participate in the elections of the local council and mayor. In this way, the legislator made a difference between the voters who can participate in local elections and in the local referendums (Article 123(2) of the Electoral Code).

Promo-LEX Association wrote many times about the issue caused by Article 123(2) of the Code and asked the Parliament to amend the law in order to remove the uncertainties and interpretations and to avoid CEC publishing circulars indicating how to apply the legal norms.

For the purpose of unifying the rules of electoral processes, Promo-LEX Association notes that a provision similar to Article 123 should be included in the ‘Local referendum’ chapter. However, like the provision of Article 123, it should give priority either to the voter’s domicile or residence. In case of residence, note that it is necessary to establish a reasonable time between the date of registration and voting day, in order to avoid mass migration of voters right before the election day.

In the context of the findings stated in this Report, we would like to note the need to standardize the legal framework by types of similar elections. We remind, in this regard, that Law No 780 of 27 December 2001 on the Legislative Acts provides for in Article 4(3) that the principles of coherence, consistency and balance should be observed when developing, adopting and applying a legislative act.


1.1. Legal Context

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The legal basis for organizing the new local elections is established by Article 139(1) of the Electoral Code. Therefore, new elections should be held in the following cases:

a) the local council has resigned, has been dissolved, or has remained with less than 1/3 of the number of members established by the Law on Local Public Administration; b) the mayor resigned, was dismissed or is not able to exercise his/her mandate any longer, including due to the deprivation of the right to occupy certain positions, on the basis of a final court judgment; c) after the repeated election the council and/or mayor has not been elected; e) if an administrative-territorial reorganisation was conducted and, as a result, local public administration bodies (councils, mayors) have to be elected in the newly established administrative-territorial units.

Also, the conditions for the early termination of the mandate are not provided by Article 28(2) of the Law No 436-XVI of 28 December 2006 on Local Public Administration and by Article 5(4) of Law No 768-XIV of 2 February 2000 on the Status of Local Elects.

Considering the above-mentioned facts, CEC took note of the circumstances found in certain settlements and adopted the following decisions:

No 908 of 2 May 2017 on setting the date of the new general local elections of the mayor of the Fundurii Noi village, Glodeni district;

No 947 of 6 June 2017 on setting the date of the new general local elections of the mayor of the

Stefanesti village, Floresti district;

No 992 of 21 June 2017 on setting the date of the new general local elections of the mayor of the Plopi village, Cantemir district;

No 1029 of 18 July 2017 on setting the date of the new general local elections of the mayor of the Sarateni village, Leova district;

No 1052 of 1 August 2017 on setting the date of the new general local elections of the mayor of

the Ghiliceni village, Telenesti district;

No 1069 of 15 August 2017 on setting the date of the new general local elections of the mayor of the Lapusna township, Hincesti district;

No 1082 of 29 August 2017 on setting the date of the new general local elections of the mayor of

the Capriana village, Straseni district;

No 1081 of 29 August 2017 on setting the date of the new general local elections of the mayor of the Berlinti township, Briceni district;

No 1080 of 29 August 2017 on setting the date of the new general local elections of the mayor of the Singera town, Chisinau municipality;

No 1101 of 29 September 2017 on setting the date of the new general local elections of the mayor of the Zirnesti township, Cahul district;

As regards the establishment of the date of the new elections, CEC referred to its decision No 706 of 13 September 2011 on carrying out new local elections, with further amendments, which sets out the date of new elections on the second or third Sunday of May and November of each year. Thus, by the above mentioned decisions, CEC set the day of local elections on 19 November 2017, the third Sunday of November.

We note that out of 10 mayors, whose position became vacant, 6 mayors submitted resignation letters, 1 mayor is unable to perform the duties due to sickness, for a period over 4 consecutive months and 3 mayors passed away.

1.2. Problematic Issues on Implementing the Legal Framework

1.2.1. Participation of active duty servicemen with the domicile in the settlement where the new

local elections are held

15

In the context of the new local elections of 19 November 2017 and of the local referendum of the same date, the Promo-LEX Association draws the attention on the uncertain state of affairs identified during the ongoing analysis of the electoral legislation and the monitoring of electoral process.

We refer to the right of military staff to vote in local elections and in this respect, the Article 123(1) of the Electoral Code stipulates that ‘the servicemen fulfilling the in-term military service may not attend the local elections’. We assume that the legislator admitted this interdiction of the right for active duty servicemen to vote based on certain rationale and we agree that as they do their service in a military unit located in another settlement than their domicile, they cannot participate in the elections.

According to Promo-Lex, the situation is completely different when the active duty servicemen have their domicile in the settlement where the military unit is located and where the elections are conducted. In this case, we regard the interdiction from Article 123(1) of the Election Code as disproportionate and generalized. Therefore, the legislator should introduce some specifications so that the active duty servicemen, fulfilling the in-term military service in a unit located in the same locality where their domicile is and where the elections are conducted, to be admitted in the electoral process.

1.2.2. Voting of Citizens with Valid Domicile and Residence on the Local Election Day

Promo-LEX Observation Mission of the local elections from 19 November 2017 reiterates that the restrictions to exercise the right to vote of voters who have both valid domicile and residence lead to uncertain and interpretable situations.

According to the Final Monitoring Report of the 2015 General Local Elections of 14 (28) June 2015, Promo-LEX found a contradiction between the provision of Article 39 (1) of the Electoral Code, which states that the voter who has both domicile and residence, during the validity of his/her residence, shall be included in the voters’ list from the polling station in the territorial area of his/her residence and Article 123 (2) of the Electoral Code, according to which the voters who are not resident in respective territorial-administrative unit may not participate in the elections of the local council and mayor.

To avoid any interpretations, during the local elections of 14 (28) June 2015, on 7 June 2015 CEC published the Circular No 8/4381 in order to apply uniformly the electoral legislation on special categories of voters, by which it gave priority to the residence visa when establishing the polling station. A similar issue also emerged in relation with the voters who had neither a domicile, nor a residence. In the same Circular, CEC specified that the voters who have no official registration of their domicile or residence, but could prove by documentary evidence where their last domicile/residence was – could vote in the PS corresponding to the last domicile/residence.

In this context, we remind that such decisions containing unique solutions provided by CEC, were also adopted during the Parliamentary Elections of 30 November 2014 and the Presidential Elections of 30 October 2016 (Decisions No 3018 of 24 November 2014 and No 479 of 25 October 2016).

As of the date when this Report was published, CEC did not adopted any instructions or Regulations and did not publish new Circulars specifying how the persons who have both domicile and residence will vote during the elections of 19 November 2017.

We believe that the legal and explicit regulation on how the citizens that have both valid domicile and residence and citizens without domicile and residence visa vote on the election day is extremely important not just to uniformise the legal framework, but also to avoid interpreting rules and adopting decisions that give temporary solutions to the problem that are convenient for certain political forces.

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1.2.3. Submission of the Certificate of Integrity Issued by the National Integrity Authority for the Registration of the Election Candidate

Following the amendments made to the Electoral Code by Law No 154 of 20 July 2017, enacted on 21 July 2017, Article 44(1) of the Code was supplemented with one letter – e1). Thus, besides the documents that are traditionally necessary to register the candidates, the candidate submits in person the certificate of integrity to the Central Electoral Commission or to the constituency councils.

The certificate of integrity is to be issued, according to the law, by the National Integrity Authority (NIA) and shall contain the following information about the candidate:

• existence of legal/judicial restrictions to run for or to occupy public positions; • information about the existence/non-existence of final statements of wealth and personal

interests, statuses of incompatibility and confiscation of the unjustified property — documents that are not prescribed;

Given that candidates did not manage to submit this certificate at the time of submitting the documents for the registration, CEC published the Circular No CEC8/1637 of 12 October 2017 specifying that if the candidates submit to the constituency councils the documents for the registration, listed in Article 44(1) of the Electoral Code, except for the certificate of integrity, the electoral council shall receive the set of submitted documents.

CEC took the role of intermediary between the candidates, electoral councils and NIA in notifying the latter, and finally in obtaining the certificates. At the same time, CEC specified that the decision to register the candidate would be taken by the electoral council only after it received the answer of the National Integrity Authority provided through the Commission.

Analysing the information obtained during the monitoring, Promo-LEX stated that the decisions to register the candidates for the new local elections of 19 November 2017 were adopted on the basis of NIA letters to CEC, which communicated that the persons concerned did not constitute the object of the control with respect to any areas of institutional competencies of NAC and NIA that target the legal regime of the income and property, of the conflict of interest, of the incompatibility or restrictions.

Following the actual practice and considering the future parliamentary elections, the Promo-LEX OM considers that the electoral management bodies and other public institutions involved must be prepared to face the new procedural challenges in order to avoid the delay of the registration of the candidates.

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II.ELECTORAL BODIES

Local Referendum. The local referendum on the dismissal of the mayor is organised and conducted by CEC and CMECC. During the monitored period, CEC adopted 15 appropriate decisions for the specified process. In addition, CEC accredited 263 national observers of Promo-LEX Association. Unlike the election of the CMECC chairperson, who was not elected when the Report was published, the lower-level electoral bodies were established in line with the legal terms, as the election of management. This year, 307 PSs were established, which is by 5 PSs less than in 2016 Presidential Elections. According to gender statistics, CMECC has a balanced membership: 45% – women and 55% – men, unlike EOPS, where the share of women is higher – 75% women and 25% men, respectively. CMECC registered 2 participants in the local referendum of 19 November 2017:

New Local Elections. For purposes of organising and conducting the new local elections of 19 November 2017, during the monitored period, CEC adopted 51 decisions related to: approval of the Timetable, establishment of 10 ECs; accreditation of 16 Promo-LEX observers, etc. The lower-level electoral bodies, consisting of 10 level-one ECCs and 24 EOPSs, were established in line with the terms provided for by the electoral legislation. Gender statistics show an overwhelming presence of women in the membership of the lower-level electoral bodies, i.e.: level-one ECCs – 72.41%, while in EOPSs – 81%. ECC registered 29 election candidates. 4 out of the 29 EOPSs did not elect the management within the legal terms. In addition, Promo-LEX observers reported 11 cases when EOPSs did not publish the information on their members and their working hours, respectively.


2.1. Decisions of the Central Electoral Commission

2.1.1. Overview

To achieve a good conduct and organization of the local referendum of 19 November 2017, from the beginning of the election period, on 19 September 2017, CEC adopted 15 decisions appropriate for the planned democratic process.

Thus, by Decision of 19 September 2017, which initiated all the procedures, the Commission: approved the estimates of expenses for the organisation and conduct of the local referendum; approved the Timetable for the activities of organization and conduct of the local referendum; published the list of parties and social-political organizations eligible to participate in the local referendum; established the Chisinau Municipal Electoral Constituency No 1 for the organisation and conduct of the local referendum; established the Chisinau Municipality Electoral Constituency Council No 1; established the general threshold for Funds that can be Transferred on the ‘Electoral Fund’ of the participant in the local referendum; amended and supplemented 3 regulations of the institution and adapted them to the legal provisions; confirmed the representative who has the right to consultative vote within CEC and the person responsible of finance matters (treasurer) – a member of the ‘Party of the Socialists from the Republic of Moldova’ Political Party during the electoral period of the local referendum and the person responsible of finance matters (treasurer) – member of Liberal Party; approved certain models of electoral documents for the local referendum.

Also, CEC examined the request for accreditation of the observers and in this respect, 263 observers were accredited by the Promo-LEX Association in order to monitor the local referendum on the dismissal of the General Mayor of Chisinau municipality of 19 November 2017.

2.1.2. Establishment of Level-Two Constituency

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According to Article 187(2) of the Election Code, at the proposal of LPAs, for the local referendum, CEC shall establish the constituencies with at least 30 days before the day of the local referendum. According to the Timetable, to conduct of the local referendum, CEC set the deadline for constituency establishment on 4 October 2017.

Thus, by Order No 943-d of 29 September 2017, the Chisinau Municipal Council proposed to establish the level-two Chisinau Municipal Constituency to conduct the local referendum on the dismissal of the General Mayor. As a result, by Decision No 1146 of 3 October 2017, CEC established the Chisinau Municipal Electoral Constituency No 1.

2.1.3. Establishment of Chisinau Municipal Electoral Constituency Council No 1

According to Article 188 of the Electoral Code, CEC establishes constituency councils consisting of 5-11 members for the conduct of the local referendum, at the proposal of local councils or representative authorities of the administrative-territorial units with special status and of parties and social-political organizations represented in the Parliament, at least 25 days before the day of local referendum. The deadline set by CEC in the Timetable to establish the MECC is 10 October 2017. Therefore, on 10 October 2017, CEC adopted the Decision No 1173 establishing Chisinau CMECC No 1, consisting of 11 members.

At the same time, according to Article 188(3) of the Electoral Code, the chairperson of Chisinau CMECC No 1 for the conduct of the local referendum shall be elected by the Chisinau Municipal Council. The deadline for the election of Chisinau CMECC No 1 management (chairperson, deputy chair, secretary) was set for 12 October 2017 in the CEC Timetable for the conduct of local referendum. On the contrary, by 12 October 2017, only the chairperson and the secretary of Chisinau CMECC No 1 were elected. We note that the Chisinau Municipal Council did not elect the chairperson of Chisinau CMECC No 1 as of the date when this Report was published.

2.1.4. Complaints

On 17 October 2017, Mr. Ion Ceban submitted a complaint to CEC, on behalf of Dorin Chirtoaca, stating that Chisinau CMECC No 1 delayed the registration of the Mayor as a participant in the local referendum. Also, on 23 October 2017, General Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca submitted to CEC an additional note requesting the superior electoral body to cancel the Decision No 9 of 19 October 2017, by which CMECC No 1 rejected Dorin Chirtoaca’s application to be registered as a participant in the local referendum. Note that namely the mayor, whose dismissal is being discussed, is the interested party in this democratic procedure.

Having examined the complaint submitted by Ion Ceban on behalf of Dorin Chirtoaca, CEC stated that on the one side, the object liable to be sanctioned was missing. This is so, because the legislation does not provide for the possibility to sanction a electoral body. On the other hand, the inactions were removed by Chisinau CMECC No 1 by adopting the Decision No 9 of 19 October 2017 and the object of the complaint is missing, as well. Eventually, CEC returned the complaint to the applicant. With respect to the additional note submitted by Dorin Chirtoaca, CEC reported not being able to review it because of its late submission.

Also, citizen Olaru P. submitted a complaint to CEC and informed about the use of the wrong toponym ‘Кишинев’, instead of ‘Кишинэу’, in the promotional materials of PSRM. The mentioned complaint was returned to the applicant because its examination falls under the competence of the court.

2.2. Activity of Chisinau Municipality Electoral Constituency Council No 1

2.2.1. Work Schedule of Chisinau CMECC No 1

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From 17 April to 26 October 2016, except for the days off, Promo-LEX observers made 3 field visits to level-two ECCs. As a result, they found that they had worked according to the approved work schedule (the office was open).

According to Article 27(8) of the Electoral Code within 4 days from the establishment date, ECC should make public the names of their members, the location of their office and the means of contacting them. Promo-LEX observers reported that the provision was complied with (work schedule of level-two ECCs was made public).

2.2.2. Registration of Participants in the Local Referendum

According to Articles 47 and 194 of the Electoral Code, the electioneering is allowed only after the registration of candidates. CEC Decision No 1145 of 3 October 2017 published the list of parties and other social-political organizations eligible to participate in the local referendum on 19 November 2017 on the dismissal of Chisinau General Mayor.

As of the date this Report was published, Chisinau CMECC No 1 had registered 2 participants in the referendum as follows:

1) PSRM – (Party of the Socialists from the Republic of Moldova Political Party) by Decision No 5 of 12 October 2017 of Chisinau CMECC No 1 (statement regarding the chosen option – ‘pro’);

2) PL (Liberal Party), by Decision No 10 of 22 October 2017 of Chisinau CMECC No 1 (statement regarding the chosen option – ‘against’).

At the same time, the request of Dorin Chirtoaca to be registered as participant in the local referendum was rejected, by Decision No 9 of 19 October 2017 of Chisinau CMECC No 1. The reasons invoked were the following: the applicant violated the provisions of Article 41 of the Electoral Code (submission of the registration file in person, by the applicant) and failed to comply with the provisions of CEC Decision No 1145 of 3 October 2017 (lack of individuals on the list of potential participants in the local referendum).

2.2.3. Membership of CMECC, by Genders

The Promo-LEX OM assessed the level of compliance with the Law on Gender Equality when appointing the members of level-two CMECC. Thus, it was found that out of 11 members of level-two CMECC, 45% of them are women and 55% are men (See Chart 1). At the same time, we note that the position of CMECC chairperson is still vacant.

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Chart 1

2.2.4. Establishment of Polling Stations

According to Article 187 of the Electoral Code, the polling stations shall be established at least 20 days prior to local referendum by the constituency councils on the basis of LPA proposals. According to Timetable approved by CEC, the deadline for the establishment of PS for the local referendum was set for 18.10.2017.

The information submitted by Promo-LEX observers reveals that Chisinau CMECC No 1 met the deadline set for the establishment of PS. Thus, Chisinau CMECC No 1 established 307 PS on the basis of the Decision No 7 of 18 October 2017.

The number of current PS by regions was compared with the number of PS established for the previous elections in the same regions in order to check the consistency of the PS established for the local referendum with those established for the Presidential Elections of 2016. Thus, the number of PS established in Chisinau municipality for the Presidential Elections of 2016 was 5 times higher than the number of PS established for the local referendum (See Chart 2).

Chart 2

Total members Managementpositions

Chairperson Deputychairperson

Secretary

6

10

10

5

10 0

1

Membership of the level-two CMECC, by gender

Men Women

0

20

40

60

80

Matching of the referendum PS number with the Presidential Elections PS number

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2.2.5. Location/Change of Polling Stations

According to Promo-LEX observers, 301 PS offices were opened in public locations (See Chart 3) and 6 PS offices were opened in private locations. 6Thus, most of the 307 PS (236) are located in educational institutions (schools, lyceums, kindergartens), public institutions (25 PS) and in state institutions (22 PS).

Chart 3

In comparison with the Presidential Elections of October-November 2016, 11 PS changed their location (5 in Botanica district, 4 in Buicani district, 1 in Centru district and 1 in Durlesti town).

2.2.6. Establishment of EOPS

According to Article 188(2) of the Electoral Code, CEC establishes the EOPS for the conduct of local referendum consisting of 5-11 members at the proposal of the LPA authorities, of parties and social-political organizations represented in parliament, at least 20 days before the day of local referendum. According to the Timetable approved by CEC the deadline for the establishment of EOPS for the local referendum was set for 27 October 2017.

Promo-LEX observers reported that the procedures and deadlines regarding the establishment of EOPS were complied with. Thus, Chisinau CMECC No 1 established 307 EOPS on the basis of the Decision No 13 of 26 October 2017. Of these, 47% consist of 11 members, 41% – of 9 members and 12% – of 7 members, respectively (See Chart 4).

Educational institutions

Public health institutions

State institutions

Theatres/Culture houses

Private property

Student dormitories

77%

8%

7%

5%

2%

1%

PS location

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Chart 4

2.2.7. EOPS Membership, by Genders

The Promo-LEX observers found that 75% of 2977 EOPS members are women and 25% are men (See Chart 5).

Chart 5

2.2.8. Registration of Representatives with the Right to Consultative Vote

According to Article 15(1) of the Electoral Code, election candidates may appoint one representative with the right to consultative vote in the electoral bodies which registered them, as well as in lower-level electoral bodies for the duration of the electoral campaign.

Thus, according to Promo-LEX findings for the period of local referendum, the two participants in the referendum appointed one representative each in Chisinau CMECC No 1 (PCRM – by CMECC Decision No 5 of 12 October 2017, and PL – by CMECC Decision No 10 of 22 October 2017). At the same time, PSRM requested to appoint within CEC a representative with right to consultative vote (CEC Decision No 1178 of 13 October 2017).

Total EOPSs EOPSs with 7members

EOPSs with 9members

EOPSs with 11members

307

37126 144

EOPS for the local referendum, depending on the number of members

Total members of EOPSs Women Men

2977

2234

733

Membership of EOPS, by gender

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2.2.9. Observer Accreditation

According to Article 63(1) of the Electoral Code, the electoral constituency council shall accredit an observer to monitor the elections, upon requests filed for that purpose by election candidates. According to Promo-LEX observers, CMECC had not accredited observers as of the publication date of this Report.


2.1. Decisions of the Central Electoral Commission

2.1.1. Overview

To organise the new local elections of 19 November 2017, CEC adopted 51 decisions. Thus, due to the legal circumstances regarding the organization of new elections , 10 decisions were adopted to set the date of the elections in those 10 settlements throughout the country.

On 19 September 2017, CEC adopted the Decision No 1119 approving the Timetable of the activities related to the organization and conduct of the local referendum. Also, CEC adopted other 28 decisions and decided: to convene the members who do not work on a permanent basis in the Central Electoral Commission and distribute the tasks among the members of the Commission during the election period; to convene and exonerate certain members of the Electoral Constituency Councils of the election campaigns for the organization and conduct of new local elections of mayors; employ the staff in the councils’ offices; on the general threshold for the funds that can be transferred on the account ‘Electoral Fund’ of the election candidate during the new elections; on the amount of the interest-free credit granted to election candidates during the new local elections; on confirmation of representatives of certain parties with right to consultative vote within CEC during the election campaign of new local elections and on confirmation of persons in charge of financial matters (treasures) from certain parties, for the period of the election campaign; to amend and supplement certain Regulations and approve the sample invitation to vote for the new local elections of 19 November 2017.

Additionally, CEC examined one request for observers accreditation and adopted one decision on the accreditation of 16 national observers from Promo-LEX Association in order to monitor the local elections of mayors in certain settlements of 19 November 2017. CEC established constituencies and Electoral Constituency Councils by other 11 decisions.

2.1.2. Establishment of Level-One Constituencies

On 3 October 2017, in compliance with the Electoral Code and the timetable, CEC adopted the Decision No 1144 on the establishment of level-two constituencies for the conduct of the local elections of 19 November 2017 as follows:

constituency of Singera town No 1/4, Chisinau municipality; constituency of Berlinti township No 6/6, Briceni district; constituency of Zirnesti township No 7/37, Cahul district; constituency of Plopi township No 8/19, Cantemir district; constituency of Stefanesti township No 18/33, Floresti district; constituency of Fundurii Noi village No 19/10, Glodeni district; constituency of Lapusna township No 20/21, Hincesti district; constituency of Sarateni township No 22/18, Leova district; constituency of Capriana village No 30/3, Straseni district; constituency of Ghiliceni township No 34/14, Telenesti district.

2.1.3. Establishment of Electoral Constituency Councils

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According to Articles 26, 27 and 120 of the Electoral Code, as well as the Timetable, on 9 October 2017, CEC adopted Decisions No 1149, 1150, 1151, 1152, 1153, 1154, 1155, 1156, 1157 and 1158, on the basis of which the Electoral Constituency Councils were established. 2 of the 10 established level-one ECCs have 9 members (Capriana village and Fundurii Noi village, and the other 8 ECC – 7 members. During the monitoring period Promo-LEX observers found the councils’ membership to be stable and reported only two changes in the level-one ECC (Fundurii Noi village, Glodeni district and Plopi village, Cantemir district). The change was done due to the resignation of those 2 ECC members.

At the same time, according to the information submitted by Promo-LEX observers, the deadline (by 12.10.2017) for organising the first meeting of level-one ECC and for electing the management of the electoral management bodies concerned was met (See Chart 6).

Chart 6

2.1.4. Complaints

On 23 and 26 October 2017, citizen Feodosii Cavalciuc submitted to CEC complaints No CEC-9 ALN/1 and No CEC-9 ALN/2, and complained that the Electoral Constituency Councils of Singera town No ¼ did not publish its own decisions on the website www.singera.md and on the information board. He attached to the complaint pictures with the information board situated near the Electoral Council as evidence.

In its turn, CEC analysed the complaints and returned them to him due to their non-compliance with Article 65(5) of the Electoral Code, which states that a complaint must contain: the description of the facts invoked as violations, the evidence, the legal basis, the requests, signature and identification data of the applicant. The applicant also did not invoke the legal provision that was violated, but referred to the Electoral Code in general, as the legal basis.

At the same time, in its letter No CEC 8/1698, CEC mentioned that the decisions of the Electoral Constituency Council of Singera town No ¼ are published on the website of Singera Mayoralty, Chisinau municipality – www.singera.md (according to a Circular of CEC requesting the LPA to inform the electoral bodies how the public was informed about the adopted decisions).

Also, on 30 October 2017, the election candidate in the new local elections for the position of the mayor of Singera town, Duca Ion, submitted a complaint to CEC and communicated about the ‘actions of offering material goods by his counter-candidate Poiata Valeriu to attract voters, thus generating unfair competition’.

08-10-17

09-10-17

10-10-17

11-10-17

Compliance with the deadline for the election of the ECC management

25

In its turn, CEC redirected the complaint to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, informing the appealer that according to Articles 65(1) and 66(1) of the Electoral Code, the actions and inactions of the election candidate can be challenged directly in a court. The electoral bodies are competent to examine only the complaints about the legality of the decisions taken by lower-level electoral bodies.

2.2.Activity of Level-One Electoral Constituency Councils

2.2.1. Work Schedule of Level-One ECC

During 17-26 October 2017, except for the days off, Promo-LEX observers visited once each of those 10 level-one ECCs. They were found to work according to the approved work schedule (the offices were open).

According to Article 27(8) of the Electoral Code, within 4 days from the establishment date, ECC should make pubic the names of their members, the location of their office and the means of contacting them. However, Promo-LEX observers reported 3 situations in which level-one ECC did not inform the public about the membership and their working schedule 2 (Stefanesti township, Fundurii Noi village and Capriana village – see the Chart 7).

Chart 7

2.2.2. Registration of Candidates for the New Local Elections

For the new local elections of 19 November 2017, 29 election candidates (10 constituencies) were registered for the position of mayor. Out of them, 4 candidates are independent candidates and 25 are appointed by political formations (See Chart 8 and Table 1).

2 With regards to the complaint submitted against the actions/inactions of the level-one ECC from Singera for not publishing its own adopted decisions, note that according to Promo-LEX observer, the level-one ECC from Singera made available to the public the names of its members, the location of its office and the contact data the information board inside the institution.

Informing the wide audience about the membership and working hours of the level-one ECC

26

Chart 8

Table 1. Candidates for the position of mayor in the new local elections (19 November 2017)

No Name of the

candidate Political affiliation Settlement

1 Brinzila Sergiu Party of the Socialists from the Republic of Moldova’ Political Party

Singera t. Chisinau

2 Poiata Valeriu Democratic Party of Moldova

3 Lari Nichita Liberal Party

4 Baciu Igor Liberal National Party

5 Duca Ion ‘Our Party’ Political Party

6 Popa Valeriu ‘People’s European Party of Moldova’ Political Party

1 Grosu Ion ‘Party of the Socialists from the Republic of Moldova’ Political Party Capriana v.

Straseni 2 Scutaru Ion Democratic Party of Moldova

3 Scutaru Afina Independent candidate

1 Beliciuc Iurii ‘Party of the Socialists from the Republic of Moldova’ Political Party

Berlinti twp., Briceni

2 Oleinic Viorica Democratic Party of Moldova 3 Coltiuc Victor ‘Our Party’ Political Party 4 Burlaca Ghenadii Independent candidate

1 Ghetmancenco Tatiana ‘Party of the Socialists from the Republic of Moldova’ Political Party

Fundurii Noi v.,

Glodeni 2 Colenco Vasili Democratic Party of Moldova

1 Hajdeu Ion ‘Party of the Socialists from the Republic of Moldova’ Political Party Ghiliceni v.,

Telenesti 2 Rotaru Nicolae Democratic Party of Moldova 3 Hajdeu Vera Independent candidate

1 Bubuioc Ion Democratic Party of Moldova Lapusna

twp., Hincesti

1 Cojocari Ivan ‘Party of the Socialists from the Republic of Moldova’ Political Party

Stefanesti twp.,

34%24%

7%

7%3% 3% 3% 3%

14%

Political affiliation of the election candidatesrunning for local elections of 19.11.2017

PDM PSRM PPRM PN PCRM PL PNL PPEM CI

27

2 Zdragus Ludmila Democratic Party of Moldova Floresti

3 Patras Valeriu Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova

4 Pupeza Anton ‘People’s Party of the Republic of Moldova’ Political Party

1 Ungureanu Vladimir Democratic Party of Moldova Sarateni twp., Leova 2 Prida Igor Independent candidate

1 Todorov Anatoli Democratic Party of Moldova Plopi twp., Cantemir 2 Pasenco Maria ‘People’s Party of the Republic of Moldova’ Political Party

1 Pascal Victor ‘Party of the Socialists from the Republic of Moldova’ Political Party

Zirnesti twp. Cahul

2 Beju Nicolae Democratic Party of Moldova

2.2.3. Membership of Level-One ECC, by Gender

Promo-LEX OM assessed the level of compliance with the Law on Gender Equality when assigning members in level-one ECC. Thus, out of the 74 members of level-one ECC 78% are women and 22% are men (See Chart 9). At the same time, 60% of ECC chairperson were men.

Chart 9

2.2.4. Establishment of Polling Stations

According to Article 29 of the Election Code, polling stations (PS) shall be established by level-one ECC, on the basis of LPA proposals, at least 35 days prior to the election date. According to the Timetable approved by CEC, the deadline for the establishment of PSs was set for 14 October 2017.

A total of 24 PSs were established. Based on the information submitted by Promo-LEX observers, all level-one ECC met the deadline set for the establishment of PSs (see Chart 10).



Secretary

58

23

49 10

16

7 61 0

Membership of the level-one ECC, by gender

Women Men

28

Chart 10

2.2.5. Location/Change of EOPS Offices

According to Promo-LEX observers, all the PS offices were opened in public locations (see Chart 11). Most of the 24 PSs (12) are located in educational institutions (schools, lyceums, kindergartens), followed by those located in Culture Houses (9 PS). In comparison with Presidential Elections of October-November 2016, one PS changed its location (Plopi v. – it changed its location from kindergarten to the Culture House).

Chart 11

2.2.6. Establishment of EOPS

According to Article 29(10) of the Electoral Code, ECC shall establish an EOPS by at least 25 days before the election day, containing an odd number of members – 5 at least and 11 at most. According to the Timetable approved by CEC, the deadline for the establishment of EOPS was set for 24 October 2017.

Promo-LEX observers reported that the procedures and deadlines regarding the establishment of EOPS were complied with (see Chart 12). Note that in case of Fundurii Noi and Capriana villages,

11/10/2017

12/10/2017

13/10/2017

14/10/2017

Compliance with the deadline for the establishment of the level-one ECC PS

Educational institutions

Culture house

Public health institutions

Mayor’s offices

Penitentiary (Rusca)

50%

38%

4%

4%

4%

Location of LE polling stations

29

level-one ECC also have the role of EOPS (the two settlements have only one polling station each). Thus, 2 of the 24 EOPSs consist of 5 members, 17 – of 7 members and 5 – of 9 members.

Chart 12

2.2.7. Changes to EOPS Membership

Promo-LEX observers reported changes in the number of members of 2 EOPSs, carried out by level-one ECC of Zirnesti twp. (Cahul d.), where a member of office No 7/63, assigned by PSRM, was replaced by another member assigned by PSRM (resignation) and by level-one ECC of Stefanesti twp. (Floresti d.), where another member of office No 18/62, assigned by PSRM, was revoked on the request of level-one ECC (incompatibility), and replaced by another member of PSRM.

2.2.8. Registration of Representatives with the Right to Consultative Vote

According to Article 15(1) of the Electoral Code, election candidates may appoint for the duration of the electoral campaign to electoral bodies which registered them, as well as to lower-level electoral bodies one representative with the right to consultative vote.

Thus, according to the findings of Promo-LEX observers, the representatives with right to consultative vote of candidates were registered in 3 level-one ECC, according to Table 2.

Table 2 Representatives with the right to consultative vote registered by level-one ECC

No ECC Political formation which appointed

1. Sarateni twp., Leova PDM (1); independent candidate (1)

2. Plopi v., Cantemir PDM (1)

3. Berlinti twp., Briceni PDM (1); PN (1).

At the same time, we note that PSRM and PN appointed representatives with right to consultative vote within CEC (CEC Decision No 1196 of 20 October 2017 and No 1210 of 24 October 2017, respectively).

2.2.9. Observer Accreditation

According to Article 63(4) of the Electoral Code, observers from competent nongovernmental organisations from the Republic of Moldova shall be accredited by decision of the CEC or the ECC. Thus, by CEC Decision 1127 of 26 September 2017, CEC accredited 16 national observers from Promo-LEX Association (8 men and 8 women).

Berlinti

Capriana

Fundurii…

Ghiliceni

Lapusna

Plopi

Sarateni

Singera

Stefanesti

Zirnesti

2

3

2

2

2

4

5

2

1

1

Compliance with the deadline for the establishment of the level-one ECC EOPS

09/10/2017 23/10/2017 24/10/2017

30

According to Article 63(1) of the Electoral Code, the electoral constituency council shall accredit an observer to monitor elections, upon requests filed for that purpose by election candidates. According to Promo-LEX observers, no level-one ECC had issued accreditations for observers as of the publication date of this Report.

2.3. Operation of the Electoral Offices of the Polling Stations (EOPS)

2.3.1. Election of the Management of EOPS. Cases of violations of the electoral legislation

According to Article 29(12) of the Electoral Code, within 2 days since the electoral office of the polling station establishment date, its members shall elect the chairperson, deputy chairperson and secretary of the office.

According to the information provided by Promo-LEX observers, at least 4 EOPS violated the legal time limits for electing the chairperson, deputy chairperson and secretary (EOPS No 20/38, 20/39, 20/40 and 20/41 of Lapusna twp., (Hincesti d.)), where the first meetings took place on 27.10.2017 – one day later than requested by law (See Chart No 13).

Chart 13

2.3.2. Work Schedule of EOPS

According to Article 29(11) of the Electoral Code, within 2 days since the EOPS establishment date, its members shall elect the Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson and Secretary of the office; shall adopt that decision, communicate it immediately to ECC and make available to the public the name of the members, the location of the electoral office, and the contact data.

Promo-LEX observers reported 11 cases in which the EOPS members did not publish the information regarding the name of EOPS members and their working schedule, respectively (see Chart 14).

2

1 1

2

0

3

2

5

2 2

0 0 0 0

4

0 0 0 0 0

Compliance with the deadline for the election of the EOPS management

In due time (No of EOPSs) Deadline missed (No if EOPSs)

31

Chart No 14

2.3.3. Occupation of Management Positions in EOPS, by Genders

Promo-LEX observers found that 81% of the 174 EOPS members were women. At the same time, out of 72 management positions (chairperson, deputy chairperson and secretary), 81% are occupied by women and 19 – by men (see Chart 15).

Chart No 15

Public display of information on membership and working hours of EOPS



Secretary

3314 7 5 2

141

58

17 19 22

Membership of EOPS, by gender

Men Women

32

III. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Local referendum. The role of LPA during the organization of local referendum focused to appoint the members of the lower-level electoral bodies, provide places for posters, identify the PS premises, etc. At the same time, we found a low degree of compliance of LPA with the legal provisions on making public the information on the electoral process organization. Thus, according to Promo-LEX observers, during 27 September - 26 October 2017, 23 LPAs took decisions on the establishment of the minimum number of special places for electoral posters, however, the respective decision was displayed at the offices of only 2 authorities (Bacioi and Cruzesti). In the same context, all of these 23 LPAs took decisions/issued resolutionson the provision of special venues for the meetings of the candidates with the voters, but only 2 LPAs made the respective information public (Cruzesti and Vatra, Chisinau municipality).

New Local Elections.The role of local public administration (LPA) in the new local monitored elections related to the organization of the elections. Under the conditions when the mayor's duties are performed by a person ensuring the interim functions, Promo-LEX OM has found that, in principle, the LPA performed its duties in the field, contributing to the good organization of the process. In one LPA out of 10, the decision on the establishment of places for electoral posters and venues formeetings with voters was not publicly displayed (Fundurii Noi twp.), while in another one - such a decision was not approved at all (Lapusna twp.).

A. LOCAL REFERENDUM ON DISMISSAL OF CHISINAU GENERAL MAYOR

3.1. Election Organization Activities Involving Local Public Authorities (LPA)

During the monitored period, LPA was involved in the following types of activities provided by the law in force, according to the responsibilities on the electoral process organization: - appointing the members of level-two ECC; - providing special places for electoral posters and venues for meetings with voters; - appointing the members of EOPS; - participating in identification of offices for PSs, public property;

3.2.Establishment of Places for Electoral Posters and Venues for Meetings with Voters

According to Article 47(7) of the Electoral Code, the local public administration authorities are obliged to establish and ensure, within 3 days since the initiation of the election period, the minimum number of special places for electoral posters, the minimum number of venues for meetings with voters. These decisions/provisions shall be immediately displayed at the offices of these authorities and made known to the interested subjects through media and other available means of communication.

The Promo-LEX observers found that during 27 September - 26 October 2017, 23 LPA authorities took decisions on the establishment of the minimum number of special places for electoral posters. However, the respective decision was displayed at the offices of only 2 authorities (Bacioi and Cruzesti LPAs). The decisions were not displayed in the other 21 authorities (see Chart 16).

33

Chart 16

In accordance with the Regulation on the Location of Electoral Advertising and Political Promotion Materials on Advertising Billboards, an area of 1 m2 is provided for each election candidate for electoral advertising purposes. The monitoring conducted by the Promo-LEX observers found that in one locality - Bacioi twp., the space provided for electoral posters is not sufficient.

In the same context, according to Promo-LEX observers, all 23 LPAs took decisions/issued resolutions on the provision of special venues for the meetings of the candidates with voters (see Chart 17). However, only 2 LPAs made the respective information public (Cruzesti and Vatra, Chisinau municipality).

Chart 17


3.1. Election Organization Activities Involving Local Public Authorities (LPA)

During the monitored period, LPA was involved in the following types of activities provided by the law in force, according to the responsibilities on the electoral process organization:

appointing the members of level-one ECC; providing special places for electoral posters and venues for meetings with voters; appointing the members of EOPS; participating in identification of offices for PSs, public property;

Adoption and publication of the decision on electoral posters

Decision adopted Decision displayed

Adoption and publication of the decision on places for meetings

Decision adopted Decision displayed

34

3.2.Establishment of Places for Electoral Posters and Venues for Meetings with Voters

According to Article 47(7) of the Electoral Code, the local public administration authorities are obliged to establish and ensure, within 3 days since the initiation of the election period, the minimum number of special places for electoral posters, the minimum number of venues for meetings with voters. These decisions/provisions shall be immediately displayed at the offices of these authorities and made known to the interested subjects through media and other available means of communication.

The Promo-LEX observers found that during 27 September - 26 October 2017, 9 LPAs took such decisions (See Chart 18). Out of the said authorities, the respective decision was displayed at the offices of 8 authorities, while in one authority (Fundurii Noi twp.) the decision was not publicly displayed. In the tenth LPA (Lapusna twp., Hincesti d.) no decision was approved on the special places for posters and venues for meetings, respectively. The reason invoked by the representatives of Mayor’s Office was the existence of a relevant decision from previous elections.

Chart 18

In accordance with the Regulation on the Location of Electoral Advertising and Political Promotion Materials on Advertising Billboards, an area of 1 m2 is provided for each election candidate for electoral advertising purposes. The monitoring conducted by the Promo-LEX observers found that in one locality - Berlinti twp. (Briceni d.), the space provided for electoral posters is not sufficient (4 candidates were registered in Berlinti twp.).

In the same context, according to the Promo-LEX observers, only one LPA (Berlinti twp., Briceni d.) out of the 10 concerned did not provide special venues for the meetings of the candidates with the voters. In other 9 Mayor’s offices the venues for the meetings with the election candidates were provided free of charge.

IV. ELECTION CANDIDATES Local Referendum. The electioneering in the context of the local referendum is promoted by two participants - PSRM and PL. Out of the total number of 58 established promotion activities, 50 were reported for PSRM, and 8 for PL. The use of outdoor/promotional/online advertising is still an important component of the participants' electoral marketing. The Promo-LEX observers reported 86 cases of this kind, 81 of them being related to the actions of PSRM, and 5 to the involvement of PL. A case was reported that can be regarded as use of administrative resources by a PSRM representative.

New Local Elections. During the monitored period of the new local elections, the number of the activities of electioneering conducted by the competitors was low. Promo-LEX OM found 3 activities, 2 of which concern the online promotion of candidates, and one is related to the provision of pilgrimage

Adoption and publication of the decision on places for electoral posters

Decision displayed Decision adopted

35

services. According to the Promo-LEX observers, all activities were focused in Singera town, which is besides the largest locality by the number of PS and by the number of competitors, respectively.

A. LOCAL REFERENDUM ON DISMISSAL OF CHISINAU GENERAL MAYOR

4.1. Promotion Activities

According to Promo-LEX observers, at least 58 electioneering activities related to the local referendum were organised during the monitored period. 50 of them were organised by PSRM and 8 by PL (see Chart 19). The most used electioneering tools were meetings with voters – 29 cases.

Chart 19 Electioneering activities

4.2. Cases that can be qualified as use of administrative resources during the election campaign

In this context, the Promo-LEX observers reported a case of organizing a meeting with the voters in a public institution during the working day. Thus, on 26 October 2017, at about 2 pm, the PSRM councillor in CMC, Mr. Alexandr Melniciuc, organized a meeting with the employees of the kindergarten No 87 located at 62/2, Ion Creanga Str. (about 12 participants).

We remind that according to Order of the General Directorate for Education, Youth and Sports of Chisinau Mayor’s Office No 1348 of 18.10.20173 the events related to the referendum campaign shall take place outside the working hours of the educational institutions (in this case of the pre-school educational institution). However, having analyzed the contents of the Regulation of the pre-school educational institution4, we concluded that the meeting was held during the working hours of the institution.

4.3. Outdoor/Promotional/On-line Advertising

The Promo-LEX observers identified at least 86 cases where the participants in the local referendum used these types of advertising in their electioneering activity. 81 cases related to the actions of PSRM, while 5 to PL.

In case of PSRM, the most used type of advertising were posters, leaflets, placards and newspapers. They were distributed by persons wearing signs of PSRM branding (jackets, bags). PL used posters, leaflets and flyers (see Chart 20).

3http://www.chisinauedu.md/sites/default/files/files/ordin_nr_1348_din_18.10.2017.pdf 4http://edu.gov.md/sites/default/files/regulamentul_institutiei_de_educatie_prescolara.pdf

Press conference

Meeting with voters

Tents for distribution of electoral material

Distribution of electoral material

Cleaning and development of public places

Total events

1

7

0

0

0

8

1

22

15

8

4

50

Electioneering activities

PSRM PL

http://www.chisinauedu.md/sites/default/files/files/ordin_nr_1348_din_18.10.2017.pdf

http://edu.gov.md/sites/default/files/regulamentul_institutiei_de_educatie_prescolara.pdf

36

Chart 20


4.1. Provision of Goods and Services during the Election Campaign

According to Promo-LEX observers, at least one candidate organised provision of services in the context of the election campaign. This concerns Nichita Lari appointed by PL as competitor for the position of mayor in Singera town, who organised a pilgrimage at Hincu Monastery 29 October 2017. 30 people participated in the pilgrimage, for which purpose a bus was used to transport the passengers. The travel expenses were borne by the PL competitor.

4.2. Outdoor/Promotional/On-line Advertising

The Promo-LEX observers identified two cases when the election candidates used on-line advertising:

Nichita Lari, appointed by PL, competitor for the mayor position in Singera town, distributed a material on his Facebook page, as well as in his support group - ‘Vote for Nichita Lari’ - in the form of a leaflet with electoral content describing his promises and beliefs;

Ion Duca, appointed by PN, competitor for the mayor position in Singera town, on 28 October 2017 posted on his Facebook page a video material (of professional quality) in which he tells about his achievements as councilor.

V. FUNDING OF THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN Local Referendum. In the context of financial monitoring of the local referendum, Promo-LEX OM appreciates the harmonisation of the Regulation on the election campaigns funding with the new provisions of the Electoral Code, including the recommendations drafted previously by the mission. Although two parties (PL and PSRM) were registered as participants in the referendum, however, only PSRM reported revenue amounting to MDL 377,000 and expenses amounting to MDL 374,211.77, while PL reported MDL 0. Promo-LEX observers noted additional electioneering activities that show unreported expenses in addition to the reported ones, which further indicates an insufficient level of transparency in reflecting the funds used.

Boards/billboards

Promotional materials (coats, bags)

Posters/leaflets/placards

Newspapers, flyers

Total

9

23

27

22

81

0

0

1

4

5

Use of outdoor/promotional advertising

PL (No of cases) PSRM (No of cases)

37

New Local Elections. During the monitoring of financial issues of the new local elections, Promo-LEX OM found that the degree of reporting to CEC and level-one ECC decreased for the first week of reporting, so that, out of 12 election candidates registered with CEC, only 2 (PDM, PSRM) submitted their financial statements for the first week of election campaign (20-27 October 2017). Of these, only PSRM reflected revenues and expenditures for the first week of campaign. No independent candidate submitted the financial report or a document proving that expenditures were not incurred to level-one ECC. During the reporting period, only one EC declared revenues and expenditures (PSRM). According to the findings of the Promo-LEX observers, during 17 October - 27 October 2017, none of the election candidate held any electoral event involving some costs.


5.1. Activities to Organise the Functioning of Initiative Groups (IGs)

5.1.1. Amendment of the Regulation on the Funding of Initiative Groups

On 16 May 2017, CEC amended the Regulation on the Funding of Initiative Groups5in order to develop the provisions of the Regulation related to the activity of the initiative groups for conducting the local referendums. The following amendments were further applied:

in p. 3, the definition of ‘initiative group’, the text ‘or the local public authority, or the law court in case the local referendum is initiated’ shall be introduced after the words ‘Central Electoral Commission’;

in p. 3, the definition of ‘activity for collecting signatures’, the words ‘of CEC’ shall be excluded; in p. 5 the first sentence, the text ‘or the local public authority, or the law court in case the local

referendum is initiated’ shall be introduced after the words ‘upon registration with the Central Electoral Commission’;

in p. 5(a), the text ‘or the local public authority, or the law court in case the local referendum is initiated’ shall be introduced after the word ‘Commission’;

in p. 21, the word ‘receipt’ shall be replace by ‘acceptance’.

5.1.2. Establishment of the General Threshold for Funds that can be Transferred on the ‘Funds for Initiative Group’ account for conducting the Referendum

Article 38(10) of the Electoral Code and p. 6 of the Regulation on the Funding of Initiative Groups, approved by CEC Decision No 114 of 18 August 2016, CEC shall establish the general threshold for funds that can be transferred on the ‘Funds for Initiative Group’ account, on the basis of a coefficient multiplied by the maximum number of signatures to be collected by the initiative group to initiate a local referendum.

On 16 May 2017, in accordance with the legal provisions and the timetable, CEC established the threshold of funds that can be transferred on the ‘Funds for Initiative Group’ account, in the amount of MDL 1,637,327.62. The threshold was calculated by multiplying the coefficient of MDL 25.42 by 10% of the number of citizens with the right to vote - 64,411 voters. The coefficient of MDL 25.42 was established according to the updated law and constitutes 0.5% of the average salary per economy for the year preceding the election, which amounted to MDL 5,048.

Promo-LEX OM welcomes both the formula for calculating the threshold and the reasoning behind the establishment of the share of 10% of the number of voters from the constituency where the collection of signatures will take place, which share shall be kept even in case of a minimum number

5CEC Regulation on the Funding of Initiative Groups approved by CEC Decision No 114 of 18 August 2016 amended by the CEC Decision No 935 of 16 May 2017 http://cec.md/files/files/Legi/tabel_regulamente/114_1Reg_finan%C8%9B_grup_ini%C8%9Biat_vers_redactat%C4%83%20cu%20modificari%202017.pdf

http://cec.md/files/files/Legi/tabel_regulamente/114_1Reg_finan%C8%9B_grup_ini%C8%9Biat_vers_redactat%C4%83%20cu%20modificari%202017.pdf

http://cec.md/files/files/Legi/tabel_regulamente/114_1Reg_finan%C8%9B_grup_ini%C8%9Biat_vers_redactat%C4%83%20cu%20modificari%202017.pdf

38

of signatures collected to initiate the referendum. At the same time, Promo-LEX found the sufficiency of the threshold of funds for conducting activities for collecting of signatures.

5.1.3. Opening the ‘Funds for Initiative Group’ Account and Introduction of the Treasurer

According to CEC, on 15 May 2017, the initiative group, registered on 27 April 2017 for collecting signatures to initiate the local referendum on the dismissal of the Chisinau General Mayor, opened the ‘Funds for Initiative Group’ bank account. Later on, on 20 May 2017, CEC appointed Ms. Olga Rata as the treasurer of the group6.

5.2 Totalising Financial Statements of the Initiative Group during Signature Collection

During 19 May 2017 - 10 July 2017, the initiative group for collecting signatures to initiate the local referendum on the dismissal of the Chisinau General Mayor submitted 4 bimonthly and one totalising financial statements7, according to the legal provisions of the Electoral Code8.

According to the totalising financial statements, the amount of revenue declared by the initiative group for the period from 27 April to 7 July 2017 is MDL 181,909 and the amount of expenses - MDL 181,909. The initiative group did not exceed the maximum threshold of MDL 1,637,327.62 set by the Central Electoral Commission for the period of signature collection.

5.3 Regulating the Financing of Election Campaign for the Referendum

5.3.1. Legal Framework

The financing of election campaign is regulated by the Electoral Code, Law No 249 on Political Parties and CEC Regulation on Financing of Election Campaigns, adopted by CEC Decision No 3352 of 4 May 2015.

On 13 October 2017, CEC amended the Regulation on Financing of Election Campaigns9 to harmonise the provisions of this Regulation to the new provisions of the Electoral Code. The following amendments were further applied:

the definition of election period was introduced meaning ‘the time period commencing on the day when the date of elections is officially announced and ending on the day when the election results are confirmed by the competent bodies, but not exceeding 90 days’;

a new point 51 was introduced - ‘During the election period, the political parties have the right to accept donations only directly on the “Electoral Fund” account’;

Point 6 was amended as follows: ‘The individuals have the right to make donations on the “Electoral Fund” account for one election campaign up to 50, and the legal entities up to 100 average salaries set for the respective year’;

6According to Article 38(10) of the Electoral Code and paragraph 5(a) of the Regulation on Financing of Initiative Groups, the initiative group shall open a bank account entitled ‘Funds for initiative group’ within 7 days from the date of registration with CEC, and shall inform the Commission in writing about it by communicating the respective banking data. If the initiative group does not open such an account, it has the obligation to inform the electoral authority and to carry out activities that do not involve financial expenses. 7 Reports published on www.cec.md of the initiative group http://cec.md/index.php?pag=cat&id=1977&l=ro 8According to Article 38(8) of the Electoral Code, during the election period, the IG must submit to CEC, within 3 days at most from submitting the signature sheets, the statement on funds flow for the entire activity period of the initiative group. 9CEC Regulation on Financing of Election Campaigns approved by CEC Decision No 3352 of 4 May 2015

http://www.cec.md/

http://cec.md/index.php?pag=cat&id=1977&l=ro

39

a new point 131 was introduced ‘At the beginning of the period, the political parties intending to submit the documents for registration as election candidates and to transfer their own funds held on their accounts on the “Electoral Fund” account shall submit to CEC a financial statement according to the sample established by the Commission based on the provisions of Article 382 of the Electoral Code’;

in point 14(2) the terms ‘once in two weeks’ shall be replaced by ‘weekly’; ‘141 The election candidates must indicate in the financial statements all services and actions

provided in Article 382(7) of the Electoral Code, which were provided free of charge by individuals and legal entities, as well as all volunteer actions performed during the election campaign in favor of the electoral candidates. The procedure for assessment of those services and actions shall be established by the Central Electoral Commission.’

throughout the Annex 3, the terms ‘Week 1-2’, ‘Week 3-4’, ‘Week 5-6’, ‘Week 7-8’ shall be replaced by ‘Week_____’.

Promo-LEX OM welcomes the making of amendments to the Electoral Code and Regulation, in the light of a few recommendations drafted previously by the organisation, both in its election reports, and in those not referring to the election campaign. Thus, Promo-LEX appreciates the initiative to introduce the following amendments to the said Regulation, namely:

diminishing the ceiling of donations received both from individuals and legal entities; the reporting in the statements on election campaign financing of all actions for which expenses

were incurred, the services provided free of charge by individuals and legal entities, as well as all volunteer actions performed during the election campaign in favor of the electoral candidates;

the possibility to transfer the existing funds on the account of the party, the election candidate, with the reflection of primary donors in the financial statement submitted to CEC, at the beginning of the election campaign.

5.3.2. Election Funds and Treasurers

According to Article 37(a) of the Electoral Code, to fund the election campaign, each election candidate shall open a bank account to be specified as an ‘Electoral Fund’, on which the participants shall transfer their own funds and those received from individuals and legal entities of the country. According to Article 38(2)(a) of the Electoral Code, the election candidate shall notify CEC about the person in charge of their funds.

Only two parties submitted their applications for registration as participants in the Referendum before 24 October 2017, in addition, they confirmed their treasurers at CEC and opened ‘Electoral Fund’ bank accounts (see Table 3 Appointment of Treasurers).

Table 3. Appointment of Treasurers

Participants in the

Referendum

Date of registration at

CEC

No of participants in

the referendum

Date of confirmation of treasurers

by CEC

Date of opening of the ‘Electoral Fund’

accounts

PL 22 October 2017 1 24 October 2017 22 October 2017 PSRM 12 October 2017 1 13 October 2017 17 October 2017 Total - 2 - -

5.3.3. General Threshold of the Funds that can be transferred on the ‘Electoral Fund’ Account of the Participant in the Referendum

According to Article 38(2)d) of the Electoral Code, as well as the CEC Decision No 1137 of 29 September 2017 establishing the general threshold for the funds that can be transferred on the ‘Electoral Fund’ account of the participant in the referendum, the maximum threshold of MDL

40

16,508,739 for revenue collection was established. A coefficient10 (MDL 25.42) multiplied by the number of voters from the constituency in which the local referendum is held, Chisinau mun. (649,349 voters), was taken as a basis for calculation. The average salary per economy for the year proceeding the referendum year - 2016, i.e. MDL 5,04811 was taken as reporting basis for setting the coefficient.

5.3.4. Submission of the Report on the Own Funds on the Party’s Account at the beginning of the election period to the Central Electoral Commission

According to Article 382 (61) of the Electoral Code, at the beginning of the election period, the political parties intending to submit the documents for registration as election candidates and to transfer their own funds held on their accounts on the ‘Electoral Fund’ account shall submit to CEC a financial statement according to the sample established by the Commission in Article 382(1).

By 17 October 2017, only 3 parties submitted the financial statements of their own funds accumulated until the beginning of the election period - 19 September 2017, where they indicated the revenues, expenditures and the donors thereof. Promo-LEX OM found that only these three parties will have the right to transfer their own funds to the ‘Electoral Fund’ accounts for the Local Referendum of 19 November 2017 and New Local Elections of 19 November 2017.

Table 4. Funds on the party’s account at the beginning of the election period

Political Parties

Sources of financing,

thousand MDL

Payments, thousand MDL

Initial balance, thousand MDL

Final balance, thousand MDL

PDM 46 998 41 378 7 504 13 124 PL 3 403 985 3 877 6 294 PSRM 6 216 7 854 2 795 1 157 Total 56 617 50 217 14 177 20 576

5.4. Financial Reporting of the Participants in the Referendum

According to Article 382 (1) of the Electoral Code, during the election campaign, the election candidate must submit weekly financial statements to the competent bodies, which shall include data on the revenues and expenses according to the intended purpose. According to the timetable, by 27 October 2017, the election candidates/participants in the Referendum had to submit the financial statements on revenues accrued and expenses incurred during the election campaign. According to Article 22(2)d) of the Electoral Code and point 18 of the Regulation on Financing of Election Campaigns, the statements received by CEC shall be published on the Commission's website within 48 hours of receipt.

On 27 October 2017, 2 participants in the referendum (PSRM, PL) submitted financial statements with CEC for the first week of election campaign. Out of them, PL did not reflect revenues and expenditures for the first week of campaign. Thus, only one participant in the referendum declared revenues and expenditures (PSRM). The revenues of the above accounted for MDL 377,000, and expenditures - MDL 374,211.77, final balance - MDL 2,788.23 (see Charts 21 and 22).

According to Promo-LEX OM, CEC complied with the 48-hour deadline for publication of weekly statements, which were submitted on 27 October 2017, by placing them on 30 October 2017.

10The amount of coefficient being of 0.5% of the average salary for the year preceding the election (MDL 5,084) 11 According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, the average salary per economy in 2016 amounts to MDL 5084.0, thus the amount of the calculated coefficient is MDL 25.42

41

Chart 21 Chart 22

5.5. Expenditures of the Participants in the Referendum found by Promo-LEX Observers, but which are not reflected in the financial statements (Week 1)

According to the findings of the Promo-LEX observers, for the period from 17 October to 27 October 2017, an election candidate (PSRM) either used funds that they did not fully declare or omitted to reflect certain expenditures in the financial statement submitted to CEC for the first week of election campaign for the Referendum. The total amount of unreported expenditures goes up to, at least, MDL 404,117 (see Chart 23).

Chart 23

5.5.1. Expenditures for Promotion Materials

According to Promo-LEX OM, one participant in the referendum (PSRM) incurred expenditures for promotional materials that were not reported to the competent bodies. The amount of expenditures estimated by Promo-LEX is at least MDL 264,150.

Table 5. Expenses for promotional materials

377000

15

1

Founding sources, MDL

Total amount donated

No of donors (individuals)

TV advertising, 166779

radio advertising, 71530

electronic media , 119119

street billboards

, 13022

promotional

advertising, 3600

banking services,

161

Structure of reported expenses, MDL

Outdoor advertising Promotional advertising Volunteers

Estimated vs. reported expenditure, MDL

Estimated by Promo-LEX, MDL Reported to CEC, MDL

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Newspapers, 4 pages A3 format (in Romanian and Russian), with messages calling to the Referendum

‘Edit Tipar Grup’ SRL Unit cost - MDL 0.4812

order 1144 - 40000 copies, order 1145 - 70000 copies, order 1129 - 50000 copies; order 1130 - 90000 copies, order 1087 - 90000 copies, order 1103 - 90000 copies, order 1102 - 50000 copies

Estimated costs MDL 230,400

A5 Flyers Printed by ARVA Color SRL Cost per unit - MDL 0.1513

invoice No 0775 of 17 October 2017, order 0681, 25000 printed copies; order 0681, invoice No 0773 of 13 October 2017, 25 000 printed copies;


Coats (white raincoats) with the Referendum logo Bags with the Referendum logo

Unit cost - MDL 37014 Unit cost - MDL 18015

51 units 41 units


Furthermore, Promo-LEX found that under the same order No 0681, two lots of promotional materials were printed, one paid from Electoral Fund, and the other from other sources, both being not reflected in the financial statement submitted to CEC. (See photo below)

5.5.2. Expenses for Outdoor and Mobile Advertising

According to Promo-LEX observers, for the period indicated, only one participant in the referendum incurred expenses for outdoor and mobile advertising. The expenses in this area were not fully reflected in the financial statement of the above.

According to Promo-LEX OM verifications, the minimum estimated monthly price for placing a street billboard of 6x3 m2 is at least MDL 6,660, a street billboard of 4x2 m2 at least MDL 2000, a banner of 2x2 m2 (for booth) at least MDL 699.

12 prime cost of one unit of 4 page newspaper, A3 format, is at least MDL 0.48 for 100 000 printed copies 13 prime cost of one unit of A5 flyer is at least MDL 0.15 for 25,000 printed copies 14 prime cost of one unit of raincoat is at least MDL 300, printing - MDL 70. 15 prime cost of one bag is at least MDL 130, printing - MDL 50.

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With regard to PSRM, the Promo-LEX observers reported 17 units of banner of 2x2m2, 15 units of billboards of 6x3m2, 2 units of billboards of 4x2m2. According to estimates, the expenses for street billboards for 4 weeks amount to at least MDL 114,883.

5.5.3. Expenses for Remuneration of Volunteers

According to Promo-LEX observers, during the reporting period, PSRM involved at least 37 volunteers in the electioneering for Referendum. If estimating one working day of a volunteer on the basis of the minimum guaranteed salary for 2017, which is MDL 14.09 per hour, then it would be MDL 112.72 related to 8 working hours a day16. When multiplying the respective coefficient by 10 days of campaign and 37 volunteers, we got a minimum of MDL 41,706.


5.1. Regulating the Financing of Election Campaign

5.1.1. Legal Framework

The financing of election campaign is regulated by the Electoral Code, Law No 249 on Political Parties and CEC Regulation on Financing of Election Campaigns, adopted by CEC Decision No 3352 of 4 May 2015.

5.1.2. Amount of the Provided Loan

According to Article 37(1) of the Electoral Code, the state shall provide interest-free loans to election candidates. On 10 October 2017, by the Decision No 1170 on the Establishment of the Amount of Interest-Free Loan provided to Election Candidates, CEC established the amount of the interest-free loan provided to them. Thus, MDL 25,000 can be provided to each party, social-political organization and electoral block; and MDL 5,000 - to each independent candidate. Unfortunately, CEC neither provided nor argued the formula according to which the loan amount was established. According to the findings of Promo-LEX OM, none of the ECs requested and received any loan from the state.

5.1.3. Electoral Funds and Treasurers

According to Article 37(a) of the Electoral Code, to fund the election campaign, each election candidate shall open a bank account to be specified as an ‘Electoral Fund’, on which the participants shall transfer their own funds and those received from individuals and legal entities of the country. According to Article 38(2)(a) of the Electoral Code, the election candidate shall notify CEC about the person in charge of their funds. By 20 October 2017, only 3 ECs out of 12 confirmed their treasurers at CEC and only 2 opened ‘Electoral Fund’ accounts, which implies that only they will incur expenditures for financing the election campaign (see Table 6).

Table 6. Appointment of treasurers and opening of the ‘Electoral Fund’ accounts

Political affiliation of candidates

No of candidates in elections

Date of confirmation of treasurers

by CEC/Level-one ECC

Date of opening the ‘Electoral Fund’

accounts

16 According to the Decision No 165 of 09.03.2010 on the Minimum Guaranteed Salary in the Real Sector, since 1 May 2017 the minimum guaranteed salary in the real sector (enterprises, organisations, financially autonomous institutions, regardless of the type of property and legal form of organization, hereinafter referred to as ‘Units’) shall be established in the amount of MDL 14,09 per hour, or MDL 2380 per month, calculated for a full working schedule in average of 169 hours per month. http://lex.justice.md/md/333943/

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PCRM 1 N/A N/A PDM 10 13 October 2017 19 October 2017 PL 1 N/A N/A PN 2 20 October 2017 N/A PNL 1 N/A N/A PPEM 1 N/A N/A PPRM 2 N/A N/A PSRM 7 20 October 2017 20 October 2017 IC Burlaca Ghenadii 1 N/A N/A IC Prida Igor 1 N/A N/A IC Scutaru Afina 1 N/A N/A IC Hajdeu Vera 1 N/A N/A Total 29 - -

5.1.4. Maximum Threshold for Revenue Collection

According to Article 38(2)d) of the Electoral Code, as well as the CEC Decision No 1137 of 29 September 2017 establishing the general threshold for the funds that can be transferred on the ‘Electoral Fund’ account of the election candidate in the New Local Elections of 19 November 2017.

A coefficient multiplied by the number of voters from the constituency in which the new local elections are held is taken as basis for calculation. The average salary per economy for the year preceding the year of new local elections - 2016 was taken as the reporting basis for setting the coefficient, the amount of coefficient being of 0.5% of the said average salary (MDL 5,084), 17.

The amounts of thresholds from Table 6 were reached by multiplying the coefficient of MDL 25.42 (0.5% of the average salary per economy for 2016, or MDL 5,084) by the number of voters of the 10 level-one ECC. According to Promo-LEX OM, the current calculation basis is inclusive for the independent candidates, where the established thresholds create them equal conditions for use of funds in the constituencies where they compete with the candidates of other political parties (see Chart 24. The cumulated thresholds of election candidates - parties and independent candidates and Table 1 - Maximum thresholds for revenue collection per constituency).

Chart 24

17 According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, the average salary per economy in 2016 amounted to MDL 5084.0,

43.9766

754.186

303.18435344.568

303.18435303.18435

79.8188

582.039

41.3837621.65784

51.475550.84

1 10 1 2 1 1 2 7 1 1 1 1

Maximum ceilings of EC, MDL thousand

Maximum ceiling forrevenueaccumulation, MDL

No of level-one ECC inwhich candidates

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Table 7. Maximum thresholds for revenue collection per constituency

No Constituencies Threshold

coefficient, MDL Number of voters Maximum

established threshold, MDL

1. Singera t. Chisinau mun. 25.42 11927 303,184.35

2. Berlinti twp., Briceni d. 25.42 1628 41,383.76

3. Zirnesti twp., Cahul d. 25.42 2304 58,567.68

4. Plopi twp., Cantemir d. 25.42 1410 35,842.20

5. Stefanesti twp., Floresti d. 25.42 1730 43,976.60

6. Fundurii Noi twp., Glodeni d. 25.42 659 16,751.78

7. Lapusna twp., Hincesti d. 25.42 5134 130,506.28

8. Sarateni twp., Leova d. 25.42 852 21,657.84

9. Capriana twp., Straseni d. 25.42 2025 51,475.50

10. Ghiliceni twp., Telenesti d. 25.42 2000 50,840

Total 754,185.99

5.1.5. Submission of the Statement on the Own Funds from the Party’s Account at the beginning of the election period to the Central Electoral Commission

According to Article 382(61) of the Electoral Code, at the beginning of the election period, the political parties intending to submit the documents for registration as election candidates and to transfer their own funds held on their account to the ‘Electoral Fund’ account shall submit to CEC a financial statement according to the sample established by the Commission in Article 382(1).

By 17 October 2017, only 3 parties submitted the financial statements on their own funds accrued until the beginning of the election period - 19 September 2017, where they indicated the revenues, expenditures as well as the donors thereof. Promo-LEX OM found that only these three parties will have the right to transfer their own funds to the ‘Electoral Fund’ accounts for the New Local Elections and Local Referendum of 19 November 2017.

Table 8. Own funds on the party’s account at the beginning of the election period

Political Parties

Sources of financing,

thousand MDL

Payments, thousand MDL

Initial balance, thousand MDL

Final balance, thousand MDL

PDM 46 998 41 378 7 504 13 124 PL 3 403 985 3 877 6 294 PSRM 6 216 7 854 2 795 1 157 Total 56 617 50 217 14 177 20 576

5.2. Financial Reporting of Election Candidates

According to Article 382 (1) of the Electoral Code, during the election campaign, the election candidate must submit weekly financial statements to the competent bodies, which shall include data on the revenues and expenses according to the intended purpose. According to the timetable, by 27 October 2017, the election candidates registered for new local elections had to submit the financial statements on revenues accrued and expenditures incurred during the election campaign. According to Article 22(2)d) of the Electoral Code and point 18 of the Regulation on Financing of Election Campaigns, the statements received by CEC shall be published on the Commission's website within 48 hours of receipt.

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As of 27 October 2017, only 2 of the 12 ECs registered with CEC (PDM, PSRM) submitted the financial statements to CEC for the first week of election campaign (20-27 October 2017). Of these, only PSRM reflected revenues and expenses for the first week of campaign. None of the independent candidates submitted any financial statement or document proving that expenditures were not incurred to level-one ECC.

According to Promo-LEX OM, CEC complied with the deadline for publication of weekly statements, which were submitted before 27 October 2017.

During the reporting period, only one EC (PSRM) reported revenue and expenses. Its revenue amounted to MDL 3,000, while the expenses - MDL 2,739.50. The expenditures included the promotional advertising (MDL 2,702.50) and banking services (MDL 37).

Expenditures of Election Candidates found by Promo-LEX observers but not reflected in financial statements

According to the findings of the Promo-LEX observers, during 17 October - 27 October 2017 (reporting period), none of the election candidates held any electoral event involving costs.

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VI. CIVIC EDUCATION AND ELECTORAL ENGAGEMENT Local Referendum. In the context of local referendum, we found that there are almost no activities of electoral education, when they can be attributed to the electioneering and promotion of a certain option.

New Local Elections. Promotion of civil activism during the election period for new local elections is not extensively promoted by the civil society organizations. However, Promo-LEX Association, through the civic and electoral education component, intends to conduct campaigns to foster the informed and conscious voting among citizens of the settlements where elections will be held.


6.1. Debates

Promo-LEX observers found almost the lack of neutral civic education and civic activism promotion events. In this context, we note however that on 30 October 2017, IPN News Agency held a public debate entitled: ‘Anti-Chirtoaca referendum: to take part or to boycott it, where and why do we put the mark on the ballot paper?’ of the series of thematic events of IPN ‘Development of political culture in public debates’. The representatives of participants in the referendum, municipal counsellors, representatives of civil society were involved in the debate.

6.2. Coverage of Campaign for the Local Referendum

National media monitoring is not included in the observation methodology of Promo-LEX OM. However, to develop a complete picture of the ongoing processes, we deemed it necessary to highlight some general trends. The news portals served as object of monitoring.

The subject related to the referendum on the dismissal of Chisinau General Mayor was of increased interest for media of the Republic of Moldova. The information on the CEC decision on conducting of the referendum on dismissal of Chisinau Mayor, Dorin Chirtoaca, on 19 November 2017, was covered by at least 18 news portals. The next according to the interest expressed by online media were the news on the participants in the referendum - at least 10 portals and those related to the costs for the procedure - at least 5 sources.


6.1. Activities for Apolitical Mobilization of Voters in the context of New Local Elections

Under the ‘Democracy, Transparency and Accountability’ Program, as part of the civic and electoral education component, Promo-LEX Association organizes the ‘COME TO VOTE!’ campaign in Lapusna township (Hincesti district), Fundurii Noi village (Glodeni district), Stefanesti township (Floresti district), Plopi township (Cantemir district), Sarateni township (Leova district), Ghiliceni township (Telenesti district), Berlinti township (Briceni district), Capriana township (Straseni district) and Zirnesti township (Cahul district).The program is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The purpose of the campaign is to contribute to the apolitical mobilization of voters and to promote informed and conscious voting among Moldovan citizens with a right to vote, in the settlements where the new local elections will be held. The Moldovan citizens with the right to vote are the target group of the campaign.

In this respect, on 28 October 2017, Promo-LEX team conducted a training for 9 local coordinators and 43 volunteers, which focused on the elements of the campaign message, the factors that can distort the

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message quality, the rules on the development of the appropriate message for different types of voters, the rules for organizing the campaign in the targeted settlements, etc. The following activities will be performed during the Campaign:

Organizing electoral public debates.For the first round of elections, the Public Electoral Debates for 2017 New Local Elections will be held in 3 settlements of the Republic of Moldova. Promo-LEX Association will invite all electoral candidates involved in the electoral run to participate in public debates.

The electoral public debates will be organized in compliance with the Electoral Code and Promo-LEX Regulation. When organizing the electoral public debates, compliance with the principles of balance, impartiality, equal opportunities, accountability and pluralism of opinions, as well as the speeches of electoral candidates will be ensured.

During the debates, Promo-LEX Association will conduct interactive surveys with the participation of the audience. The questions to the audience will be of general nature and will not benefit or disadvantage any electoral candidate. Equipment for measuring the voting intention will be used to conduct the surveys.

Activities for distribution of information materials on electoral education and apolitical mobilization of citizens.The activities will be carried out in the following settlements: Lapusna township (Hincesti district), Fundurii Noi village (Glodeni district), Stefanesti township (Floresti district), Plopi township (Cantemir district), Sarateni township (Leova district), Ghiliceni township (Telenesti district), Berlinti township (Briceni district), Capriana township (Straseni district) and Zirnesti township (Cahul district). The activities will be carried out by 9 Local Campaign Coordinators and 43 volunteers. All activities planned within the Campaign are apolitical, impartial and non-partisan and are in line with the Mission of the Promo-LEX Association for Observation of New Local Elections of 19 November 1917.

6.2. Coverage of Campaign for New Local Elections

The organization of the new local elections was less covered in the media than the local referendum. The most advertised media moment by the online publications, with reference to the monitored process, is the adoption of CEC decision on conduct of new local elections in the settlements concerned as of 19 November 2017. This aspect was disseminated by at least 16 national and 3 regional news portals. Compared to the local elections of May this year, we found an increased interest from online media for the new local elections.

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RECOMMENDATIONS:

To the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova to:

1. Amend the Electoral Code in order to regulate explicitly the procedures, conditions and subjects that can promote one option or another during a local or republican referendum.

2. Amend the Code so as to provide the possibility that the active duty servicemen fulfilling the in-term military service in a unit located in the same locality where their domicile is and where the elections are conducted, to be admitted in the electoral process. In the same context, the express regulation of electoral rights of active duty servicemen in the local referendum is required.

3. The legal and explicit regulation in the Electoral Code is required on how the citizens having valid domicile and residence visa and citizens who do not have both domicile and residence visa vote on the election day. This is extremely important not only to standardize the legal framework, but also to avoid the interpretation of rules and adoption of decisions providing temporary solution to the issue that is convenient to certain political forces.

4. Standardize the legal framework for the similar types of elections analyzed in this Report, such as local elections and local referendum.

To the Central Electoral Commission

1. Amend the Instruction on the way of participation of political parties and other social-political parties in the election campaign for the republican referendum, to ensure its applicability for the local referendum as well.

2. Comply with the Timetable with regard to the receipt of the financial statements of election candidates and with the deadline to publish them on CEC’s official website, and the level-one Local Public Authorities.

3. Conduct an in-depth assessment of the expenses incurred by the ECs and apply appropriate sanctions in case of violations.

To the Electoral Offices of Polling Stations

1. Comply with the Timetable for performing the activities of organization and conduct of the new local elections.

To Election Candidates

1. Comply with the deadlines set by the electoral authority for submission of financial statements

on revenues and expenditures during the election campaign.

To the Local Public Authorities

1. Comply with the legal provisions on making public the information on the electoral process organization.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS para - paragraph NIA – National Integrity Authority LPA – Local Public Administration Art. – Article EOPS – Electoral Office of the Polling Station twp. – township CEC – Central Electoral Commission ECC – Electoral Constituency Council CMECC – Chisinau Municipality Electoral Constituency Council IC – Independent Candidate ord. - order Mr. – Mister ET – Event Template VT – Visit Template let. – letter m2 – Square Meter OM – Observation Mission mun. – municipality No – Number t. – Town OSCE – Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe OSCE/ODIHR – OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights LTO – Long-Term Observer STO – Short-Term Observer PCRM - Party of the Communists of the Republic of Moldova p. – Point PDM – Democratic Party of Moldova PL – Liberal Party PN – ‘Our Party’ Political Party PNL – National Liberal Party PPEM – ‘People’s European Party of Moldova’ Political Party PPRM – People’s Party from the Republic of Moldova PSRM – ‘Party of the Socialists from the Republic of Moldova’ Political Party d. – district RM – Republic of Moldova v. – village PS – polling station pr. – Print Run TV – Television ATU – Administrative Territorial Unit u. – Unit USAID – United States Agency for International Development

Documents

REPORT No 1 - Promo-LEX · township (Telenesti d.). Report No 1 is an interim report, the general mission of which is to ensure the overall improvement of the electoral process in