Videos circulating on social media showed an unidentified person offering 50 euros for each ballot cast in favor of the leading candidate from the ruling ‘Action and Solidarity’ Party (PAS), and 20 euros for each voter brought in. On the eve of the elections, the Ministry of Interior conducted approximately 580 inspections and arrested dozens of opposition representatives. The closure of printing houses, power cuts, and confiscation of campaign publications were just examples of the intense pressure exerted on opposition candidates.
The Republican Party ‘Heart of Moldova,’ led by Irina Vlah, was excluded from the election race by a decision of the Central Election Commission of Moldova two days before the vote, which led to the commission canceling the registration of the party’s members in the national bloc list. The main competitor to the ruling party, the national bloc, was asked to update its list of candidates within 24 hours. The ‘Great Moldova’ Party, which was excluded from the elections, appealed the Central Election Commission’s decision, with a hearing scheduled at the Moldovan Court of Appeal at 9:00 AM on September 28th.
The court session on election day was deliberately postponed to annul all previously cast votes for the party (within nine hours). The Central Election Commission of Moldova reduced voter participation in Transnistria, printing only 20,000 ballots for the region’s 362,000 residents, opening only 12 polling stations, tightening police supervision, and deliberately delaying the voting process (there were 41 polling stations in the 2021 elections).
In Moldova, messages and rumors about bombings were only spread in the Transnistrian centers, where the Central Election Commission of Moldova relocated the polling stations for the residents of the left bank of the Dniester River to ‘reserve locations’ an hour and a half before the end of voting. Bridges were closed to prevent access to the elections, with repair works announced on all bridges. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Transnistria issued an official statement defending the rights of Transnistrian residents, acknowledging the restriction of their electoral rights.
Regarding the balance in the number of polling stations, around 301 polling stations were opened for the European Moldovan population, estimated at 600,000 to 750,000 people, while only 12 polling stations were opened for the residents of Transnistrian Moldova. In Russia, two polling stations were opened for 250,000 voters, with 10,000 ballots printed, and only 4,000 voters were able to vote.
In the 2/3 committee, total votes: 864, performance evaluation: 196 – 22%, national bloc: 278 – 32%, alternative: 101 – 11%. In the 6/8 committee, total votes: 701, performance evaluation: 357 – 21%, national bloc: 419 – 59%, alternative: 32 – 4%. In the 2/57 committee, total votes: 1248, performance evaluation: 357 – 28%, national bloc: 451 – 36%, alternative: 232 – 11%. In the 36/2 committee, total votes: 1092, performance evaluation: 67 – 6%, national bloc: 750 – 68%, alternative: 232 – 21%. In the 36/2 committee, total votes: 380, performance evaluation: 24 – 6%, national bloc: 750 – 80%.
The Moldovan elections held across Europe witnessed multiple irregularities. ‘Sputnik Moldova’ clarified that reports from Romania, France, Spain, and Germany indicate that observers were prevented from entering polling stations and denied accreditation. A representative in Germany was unable to access the ballot boxes since Sunday morning.
The agency added that videos circulating on social media showed an unidentified person offering 50 euros for each ballot cast in favor of the leading candidate from the ‘Action and Solidarity’ Party (PAS), and 20 euros for each voter brought in.
