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Repeated CALL to the Central Electoral Commission regarding the adoption of the decision to prevent the organized transport of voters on voting day
06 July 2021
The signatory organizations, members of the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (CALC), make repeated appeals to the Central Electoral Commission: to approve as a matter of priority a decision regarding issues related to the organized transport of voters to the polling stations on the day of the elections on July 11 2021; to ensure timely publication of the decision in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova On May 31, 2021, the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections submitted to the Central Electoral Commission an approach in which it urged the electoral authority to adopt for the parliamentary election of July 11, 2021 a decision to prevent the organized transport of voters on voting day, similar to the decision of the Central Electoral Commission no. 4390 of October 20, 2020 regarding some aspects related to the organized transport of voters to the polling stations on the day of the presidential elections on November 1, 2020. We emphasize that CEC decision no. 4390 of October 20, 2020 had a dissuasive character, resulting in a decrease in the number of incidents of organized transport of voters, noted by national observers compared to the 2019 parliamentary election. According to the reports of the Promo-LEX Observation Mission, in the 2019 parliamentary elections 123 incidents were detected, compared to the first round of the 2020 presidential election, when 50 cases were identified and 37 incidents respectively in the second round[1]. The decision of the CEC led to the increased vigilance of law enforcement regarding the monitoring of all aspects related to the organized transport of voters on election day and to simplifying the investigation of these incidents by the police. The OSCE/ODIHR International Mission highlighted that of the 300 incidents reported by the police on 1 November 2020 and a further 325 during the second round of the presidential election, most of the incidents were related to allegations of organized transport in connection with vote buying. Out of more than 200 reports, in about 10 cases, the police identified evidence of organized transport[2]. Regrettably, the issue of the organized transport of voters was not regulated by the Parliament even after the 2020 presidential election. Under these conditions, the approval by the CEC of a Decision on the subject of monitoring and preventing the illegal transport of voters is presented as an optimal solution to ensure a free and fair election. Also, the ruling will contribute to strengthening the legal premises for the pronouncement of court decisions or the finding of violations by law enforcement bodies. According to the findings of MO Promo-LEX, during the 2020 presidential elections, cases of organized transportation were reported both on the territory of the Republic of Moldova and abroad. Most of the situations occurred in the context of organizing elections for voters in the Transnistrian region. For example, in the first round of the elections in about 74% of cases, and in the second round - in about 57%. The organized transportation of voters can be a source of corruption and unjustified influence on their vote, especially in the case of voters on the left of the Dniester, who are deprived of the opportunity to freely inform themselves about the electoral offers of electoral competitors, about the way to exercise the right to vote, about electoral rights and obligations. We remind you that after the presidential elections of 2016, the Constitutional Court by Decision no. 34 of 13.12.2016 highlighted that voter corruption must be seen as a serious violation of the principles of free and democratic elections, including the fair and transparent election process. Such violations create preconditions to question the legality and legitimacy of the elections. Also, these violations can significantly influence the election results. At the same time, according to article 38 of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, "the will of the people constitutes the basis of state power. This will is expressed through free elections, which take place periodically through universal, equal, direct, secret and freely expressed suffrage". This fact also assumes that all electoral competitors have equal conditions to campaign and make their electoral messages known to voters, so that they can determine their voting preference in a free, informed and conscious way. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, states in article 19 that "Every person has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the freedom to hold opinions without outside interference, as well as the freedom to seek, receive and disseminate information and ideas by any means and independently of state borders". It is well known that this is impossible to achieve on the left side of the Dniester, which is not under the constitutive control official of the authorities of the Republic of Moldova. However, the electoral contestants cannot move to this region of the country to campaign, the local media institutions do not organize electoral debates, and the media institutions on the right of the Dniester that organize electoral debates and broadcast to Transnistria are jammed by the Transnistrian security services . In such conditions, the voting option of voters in the region can be easily influenced, including by offering or giving money, goods, services or other benefits in order to determine the voter to exercise his electoral rights in a certain way. And the impossibility of the authorities of the Republic of Moldova to ensure the protection of the rights and freedoms of its citizens from Transnistria, creates conditions by which these voters can be easily forced under the threat of personal security to vote in a certain way. In these circumstances, any lack of action aimed at preventing the organized transportation of voters will lead to the creation of additional premises for influencing and/or coercing voters from the left of the Dniester to exercise their right to vote in a certain way, but also creating additional risks to the security of these citizens. Taking into account the impact that the phenomenon of organized transport of voters in favor of certain electoral competitors can have on the correctness of the voting procedures, as well as starting from the role played by CEC Decision no. 4390 of October 20, 2020 in reducing the number of cases of organized transportation of voters, we request the Central Electoral Commission to adopt a similar decision as a matter of priority for the anticipated parliamentary elections of July 11, 2021. [1] Source: the final monitoring reports of the Promo elections -LEX. [2] https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/6/9/481306.pdf.