The authors set the goal of familiarizing the Moldovans abroad with the preliminary registration procedure for the next elections and to make sure that as many people as possible are registered. In a roundtable meeting, the Central Election Commission (CEC) presented the online registration application and the steps that need to be taken by voters. The event involved representatives of civil society, experts who formulated recommendations for facilitating the people’s access to the application, IPN reports.
CEC president Alina Russu said the preliminary registration helps the authorities identify the regions or settlements with a consistent number of Moldovans eligible to vote. The preliminary registration procedure was first implemented at the referendum of 2010. Those who registered totaled only 660 people. The figure increased meanwhile. In the early parliamentary elections of November 2010, over 1,500 voters abroad registered preliminarily, in the parliamentary elections of 2014 – about 2,400, while in the presidential elections of 2016 – over 3,500.
Alexandru Balmus, division head at the CEC, said the voter accesses the application by entering the IDNP and date of birth. The person indicates the place of stay, the temporary or permanent domicile, the polling place situated in the immediate vicinity and the email address where the voter will later receive confirmation of the preliminary registration. The persons who register beforehand are struck off the main electoral registers at the domicile in Moldova on a temporary basis, for one ballot only.
Lawyer Eduard Digore stated that the final goal of this mechanism is not yet clear as, when the person can vote without registering beforehand, this avoids such a procedure. The people fear to provide access to personal information to the authorities, like where they are and for how long they are there. The people should be informed about the role of registration. Also, there should be decided the compulsoriness or optionality of some of the divisions.
CEC member Sergiu Gurduza said this procedure showed its inefficiency at the previous elections and should be thus dropped. The number of those who registered beforehand in the last elections was insignificant against the number of those who cast ballots. Merging this system with the consular monitoring system of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can be a solution. These data can have a permanent status.
The Central Election Commission calls on NGOs and Moldovans who are abroad to submit suggestions for improving the online preliminary registration application to its email address.
