§ Electoral Code art. 80Ensuring the security of the voting process

Ensuring the security of the voting process
(1) On election day, at 07.00, the chairperson of the electoral bureau of the polling
station, in the presence of at least half of the members of the polling station, shall check ballot
boxes, seal them, verify the existence of electoral rolls, ballot papers, stamps and draw up a
minutes in two copies. All members of the electoral bureau present shall sign the minutes and
one copy shall be introduced in the ballot box, after which the chairperson shall declare the
vote open.
(2) Ballot papers shall be kept in a safe place inside the polling station, in tied packages
of 100 pieces, and distributed by the chairperson of the electoral bureau of the polling station
to the members of the bureau to be released to voters as necessary.
(3) Electoral officials working in the electoral bureau of the polling station,
representatives of electoral competitors (referendum participants) and persons authorised to
attend electoral operations shall be required to wear visible identity badges. Persons entering
the premises of polling stations shall not be allowed to wear and show badges, electoral
symbols or other signs of electoral agitation.
(4) Where the voter, for health or other reasonable reasons, is unable to come to the
voting location in whose jurisdiction he or she has his/her domicile or temporary residence,
the electoral bureau of the polling station shall, at the written request of the polling station,
appoint at least 2 members of the bureau travelling with a mobile ballot box and with the
necessary equipment for voting to the place where the voter is located, in order to carry out
the vote. Requests may be made in writing 2 weeks before the day of the vote until 14.00 on
the day preceding the vote. On the day of the vote, the electoral bureau shall approve requests
by 14.00 only in the presence of a medical certificate. The Central Electoral Commission shall
decide on the voting procedure with the mobile ballot box at the place of the voter. The
provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to polling stations established abroad and those
organised for voters in localities on the left bank of Nistru (Transnistria).
(5) Persons detained under an arrest warrant until the judgment is pronounced,
persons sentenced to imprisonment (deprivation of liberty) whose sentence is not final, those
serving an administrative penalty in the form of arrest, persons sentenced to imprisonment
(deprivation of liberty) by final court decision in prison institutions shall vote in accordance with
paragraph (4) with the mobile ballot box.
(6) Where the chairperson of the electoral bureau of the polling station authorises the
removal of a mobile ballot box from the premises of the polling station, the fact of the ballot
box and the list of voters who requested voting at the location shall be brought to the attention
of the representatives of the electoral competitors (referendum participants) and of the
persons authorised to attend the electoral operations. Such persons shall be offered the
possibility to accompany the mobile ballot box, using, where necessary, their own means of
transport.
(7) The chairperson of the electoral bureau of the polling station shall bear
responsibility for ensuring order on the election day, at the polling station and in the
surrounding territory within 100 metres of the voting station. Decisions taken to this end shall
be mandatory for all. Failure to comply with the provisions of the chairperson of the electoral
bureau shall entail administrative liability.
(8) In all meetings of the electoral bodies, as well as in the process of counting and
totalising votes, in operations related to electoral rolls, ballot papers and other electoral
documents, the drawing up of minutes on totalisation of election and referendum results, may
be assisted by:
a) members and representatives of hierarchically superior electoral bodies;
b) representatives of electoral competitors (referendum participants) in electoral
bodies;
c) national and international observers accredited by the respective electoral bodies,
as well as their interpreters, as appropriate;
d) journalists authorised by media outlets and subsequently confirmed by the Central
Electoral Commission.
(9) No other person may stay in the polling station for longer than necessary for voting.
Within 100 metres of the voting premises, including other rooms of the premises where the
polling station is located, the continuous or permanent presence of representatives of the
police forces designated to ensure the maintenance of public order and the security of the
electoral process shall be permitted.
(10) Carrying firearms or white weapons in the voting room shall be forbidden, except
by the representatives of the law enforcement forces who may enter the polling station with
firearms only if they exercise their right to vote in the polling station or are called by the
chairperson of the electoral bureau to restore order.
COUNTING OF VOTES AND TOTALISATION OF
ELECTION RESULTS