The Central Election Commission (CEC) will submit a draft legislative initiative to Parliament and the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia by which it will ask harmonizing the electoral legislation. CEC secretary Andrei Volentir said there are multiple discrepancies in the legislation, but the most serious ones refer to the compilation of electoral rolls and the right to vote of detainees, IPN reports.

Under the national legislation, the electoral lists are generated by the State Register of Voters that started to be used last year. The local regulations say yet the electoral rolls are compiled and managed by mayor’s offices. As a result, there are two electoral lists that don’t match each other. In the March 22 Governor elections, the mayor’s offices of Gagauzia presented electoral rolls with 105,000 voters. The same mayor’s offices earlier presented data about 131,000 voters for being included in the State Register of Voters. It is not normal to have a difference of 26,000 voters, said the CEC secretary.

As to the prisoners’ right to vote, Andrei Volentir said the national legislation was adjusted to the international treaties signed by Moldova, like the European Convention on Human Rights, and the voting restriction placed on detainees was removed. In Gagauzia this restriction continues to exist. “The persons serving now time in the jails in Gagauzia cannot vote and this is an abnormal situation. This provision of the local legislation runs counter to the national legislation and to the international legislation to which Moldova is a party,” he stated.

The Bashkan of Gagauz was elected by the first round of voting on March 22. The preliminary results show Irina Vlah won the elections with 51.01% of the ballot.