TrustVoting Atlas

General notions
For the purposes of this Code, the following general terms are defined:
electoral posters — photos and other material used by electoral competitors,
candidates, trusted individuals and/or referendum participants for electoral agitation or
initiative groups and candidates nominated for extra-electoral agitation;
electoral agitation — calls, statements and preparatory and information dissemination
actions aimed at encouraging voters to vote for some electoral competitors or for one of the
referendum options;
extra-electoral agitation — calls, declarations, actions to nominate candidates in
elections, preparation and collection of signatures to support them, including all such actions
undertaken by the nominated candidate himself/herself, as well as preparation and collection
of signatures for the initiation of a referendum;
elector — a citizen of the Republic of Moldova with the right to vote;
elections — if no specification is made, elections to Parliament for the office of
President of the Republic of Moldova in local public administration authorities, as well as
referendums;
general elections — any type of election that usually takes place on a single Sunday,
according to the act determining the elections, throughout the country;
early elections — elections held in the event of the dissolution of Parliament or early
termination of the term of office of the President of the Republic of Moldova or in the case of
an administrative-territorial reorganization at country level;
invalid elections — elections thus declared by decision of the Central Electoral
Commission if:
- less than 1/3 of the number of persons on the electoral roll in the case of
parliamentary elections, the first ballot in the case of presidential elections or referendums
participated;
- in some constituencies less than 1/4 of the number of persons on the electoral roll in
the case of local elections participated;
new elections — elections other than early and partial elections;
null and void elections — elections so declared by the Constitutional Court, in the case
of parliamentary and presidential election and republican referenda or by the Central Electoral
Commission, in the case of local elections and referenda if, during elections and/or vote
counting, violations of this Code were committed, which influenced the voting results and the
allocation of seats.
by-election — elections held where, following general local elections, mayors or the
number of councilors set in one or more constituencies have not been elected;
electoral bloc — the voluntary union of 2 or more political parties formed for the
purpose of participating jointly in the elections and registered by the Central Electoral
Commission, in the case of any type of suffrage;
election campaign — a period of activity meant, under the terms of this Code, to induce
voters to cast their votes for the election of one electoral competitor or another or for the
expression of one option or another in the referendum;
candidate — person who is designated to fill an eligible public office by political parties
or electoral blocks;
nominee — person applying or proposed by political parties, electoral blocks or
initiative groups to register as electoral competitor or candidate on the list;
independent candidate — a person who nominates his/her candidacy for eligible public
office independent of political parties and electoral blocks;
certification of electoral training/specialization — procedure for the attestation of
knowledge and competence in electoral matters carried out by the Centre for Continuous
Electoral Training in accordance with the rules approved by the Central Electoral Commission,
as confirmed by the relevant certificate of qualification.
electoral constituency — the administrative electoral unit in which elections and
referenda are organised and conducted;
national constituency — national constituency in which the election of the President of
the Republic of Moldova, the Members of Parliament and the Republican referendum is
organised and conducted;
Code of Conduct — agreement between electoral competitors and representatives of
media outlets on how to run and reflect the election campaign that excludes the impairment of
the dignity and image of electoral competitors;
collector — member of the initiative group collecting signatures in support of the
nominee to an elected position, including in support of his/her own candidacy, or with a view
to launching a referendum;
electoral competitors — political parties, electoral blocks, electoral competitors,
nominees, initiative groups, as well as referendum participants participating and/or receiving
(material) financial support for the election campaign and/or their activity, including those who
only campaign or carry out electoral promotion activities that do not entail financial
expenditure;
electoral competitors:
a) political parties, electoral blocks and candidates for the office of Member of
Parliament registered by the Central Electoral Commission — in the case of parliamentary
elections;
b) candidates for the office of the President of the Republic of Moldova, as well as
political parties and electoral blocks nominating them, registered by the Central Electoral
Commission — in the case of the presidential elections;
c) political parties, electoral blocks and candidates for the office of mayor or councilor
to the local council and registered by the respective electoral constituency councils — in the
case of local elections.
Central Electoral Commission — an independent and apolitical public authority,
established to conduct electoral policy with a view to the proper organisation and conduct of
elections (referenda), to monitor and monitor compliance with the legal provisions on the
financing of political parties and election campaigns;
appellant — subject with the right to appeal under the terms of this Code;
appeal — written application, including prior application, made by the appellant under
the terms of this Code;
residence declaration — procedure whereby the citizen with the right to vote declares
his/her whereabouts on election day in order to be included on the basic electoral roll;
relief — attraction as an electoral official in the work of electoral bodies by reducing
part of the tasks and duties at the workplace, while maintaining the salary at the permanent
place of work, in accordance with labour law and this Code;
nomination of candidates — procedure for the adoption by political parties, electoral
blocks of decisions on nominations for elected positions, held at meetings of the competent
bodies of political parties, electoral blocks, under their statutes or constituent agreements, and
under the conditions laid down in this Code;
domicile — the place where the natural person has his or her habitual residence, as
confirmed in the identity document;
electoral right — the constitutional right of the citizen to vote, to be elected and to
express his or her attitude to the most important problems of the state and society in general
and/or local issues in particular;
electoral equipment — booths, ballot boxes, computers and other assets with which
the polling station is equipped;
electoral education — activity of an educational, apolitical nature, carried out by civil
society organisations and groups, educational institutions, media outlets and other
stakeholders, aimed at increasing citizens’ knowledge of political and electoral processes, for
the exercise of conscious and free voting. Electoral education may be carried out freely by
interested subjects through seminars, training courses, round tables, information campaigns,
public electoral debates and other educational actions not regulated by the Central Electoral
Commission or by other authorities;
financing of election campaigns — direct and/or indirect financing as well as material
support through other forms of electoral competitors (referendum participants), including
volunteering actions and services provided free of charge to electoral competitors (referendum
participants) by natural and/or legal persons, as appropriate, by the State;
financing of groups of initiatives — direct and/or indirect financing as well as material
support through other forms of initiative groups, including volunteering actions and services
provided free of charge to initiative groups by natural and/or legal persons;
financing of political parties — direct and/or indirect financing, that is the offering,
allocation or transmission of financial, material or other means, including volunteering and
services provided free of charge to political parties by natural and/or legal persons, as well as
financial means in the form of state budget allowances (subsidies);
eligible (elective) civil service — public office or local elected office that is occupied by
mandate obtained directly, following the elections, under the terms of this Code. The general
rules governing the public office or local elected office, the legal status of persons holding such
office and other relationships arising from the exercise of those functions shall be governed
by special laws;
electoral official means a natural person who, under the terms of this Code, is a
member of the electoral body, employed by the electoral body and/or employed in public
institutions and other organisational structures founded by the Central Electoral Commission;
initiative group — a group of citizens with the right to vote, registered under the terms
of this Code, to collect signatures in support of an elected candidate or to initiate the
referendum;
list of candidates — list of candidates nominated by political parties or electoral blocks
to participate in the elections;
subscription list — list of signatures of voters supporting the candidate nominated for
an eligible public office or with a view to launching a referendum, under the terms of this Code;
basic electoral roll — list of all citizens with the right to vote who are domiciled or
temporarily residing in the radius of a polling station;
additional electoral roll — electoral roll in which voters who are entitled to vote at the
polling station concerned but have not been entered in its basic electoral roll;
locality — administrative-territorial unit organised in accordance with the law (district,
municipality, city, sector, village (commune), administrative-territorial unit with special status);
location of the polling station — space where voters exercise their right to vote and
where, as a rule, the electoral bureau of the polling station has its seat;
minimum of special electoral display places — specially equipped places for electoral
display located in a locality. The billboards shall be placed uniformly throughout the territory
of the municipality. The electoral display space offered to electoral competitors (referendum
participants) must be equal for all;
observer — person authorised as per this Code, who may represent domestic, foreign
or international organisations or institutions and who carries out the task of observing the
organisation and conduct of elections and referenda;
operator of the State Automated Information System ‘Elections’ — person authorised
as established to process the personal data of the voter who physically appeared at the polling
station on election day and to record his/her participation in the vote, with a view to not
admitting multiple voting;
electoral bodies — bodies organising the elections of the Parliament, for the office of
President of the Republic of Moldova, in the local public administration authorities, as well as
running the referendums;
referendum participant — the political parties, the electoral blocks, the President of the
Republic of Moldova or the mayor in respect of whom the referendum for his/her dismissal
(revocation) has been initiated, which registers with the electoral body concerned, with a view
to participating in the election campaign for the referendum;
political parties — voluntary associations of citizens, established and registered under
Law No 294/2007 on political parties;
electoral period — a period between the date of adoption of the act on the fixing of the
date of election and the date on which the results of the elections are confirmed by the
competent bodies, but not exceeding 120 days;
persons authorised to attend electoral operations — electoral officials, representatives
of electoral competitors (referendum participants) in electoral bodies, observers accredited by
electoral bodies, where applicable, their interpreters, and journalists legitimised by media
outlets and subsequently confirmed by the Central Electoral Commission;
reports on the financing of the work of the initiative group — reports of the initiative
group on cash flow, as well as on all services and actions provided free of charge by natural
and legal persons and all volunteering actions during the signature collection period, as well
as other relevant information;
reports on the financing of election campaigns — reports of the electoral competitor
(referendum participant) on the flow of cash, including accumulated financial means, their
source of origin and campaign expenditure, including all services and actions provided free of
charge by natural and legal persons and all volunteering actions and other relevant
information;
reports on financial management — reports of the political party on income earned
under the rules on the financing of the activity of political parties, approved by the Central
Electoral Commission, and Law No 294/2007 on political parties, their source, expenditure
incurred during the management period, and other relevant information;
referendum — election by which the people express their choice on the most important
issues of the state and society as a whole, aimed at resolving them, or consulting citizens on
local issues of particular interest, as well as on the dismissal of the President of the Republic
of Moldova or the d