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Transitional provisions
After the entry into force of this Code:
(1) the Government:
a) within 3 months:
- shall come up with proposals to Parliament to bring legislation in line with this Code;
- shall provide the Central Electoral Commission with the necessary financial and
technical and material resources;
b) shall provide in the draft State Budget Acts for the expenditure necessary for the
work of the Central Electoral Commission and for the organisation and conduct of elections.
(2) the Central Electoral Commission:
a) within 6 months, shall approve its rules of activity and other legislative acts
necessary for the organisation and conduct of elections;
b) shall submit to the Government the draft expenditure estimate for its work and
elections;
c) once established, shall commence the execution of the duties referred to in Articles
25 to 28
(3) The formation and operation of electoral bodies not provided for in this Code shall
not be permitted.
- 112 INFORMATION NOTE
to the draft law adopting the Electoral Code
1. Name of the author and, where applicable, of the participants in the preparation of
the draft
The draft law was prepared by the Central Electoral Commission with the aim of finetuning the electoral and related legislative framework. Thus, in order to achieve that aim, the
Working Group on the Revision of the Electoral Code and related legislation was set up within
the Central Electoral Commission by Order No 51 of the President of the CEC of 8 October
2021.
The working group comprised members of the Central Electoral Commission and officials
of its apparatus. Civil society professionals and experts have also been trained in the
preparation of draft laws (the Public Association ‘Promo-LEX’, the Electronic Press Association,
UN Women Moldova, etc.).
2. The conditions governing the preparation of the draft legislative act and the
objectives pursued
The draft law was drawn up under Article 22 (1) points a) and b) of the Electoral Code,
according to which, as a specialised electoral body, the Central Electoral Commission studies
the way in which elections are organised and conducted in order to improve electoral legislation
and procedures, and submits proposals to the Government and Parliament as to whether
amendments to the electoral legislation should be made.
Since the adoption of the Electoral Code by Law nr.1381/1997, reforms in the electoral
sphere have been continuously pursued in the Republic of Moldova, the main objective of which
is to ensure a free and democratic electoral process. On the one hand, amendments, made by
means of 70 laws over time, have led to contradictory discussions, criticism and disapproval,
and some provisions have been declared unconstitutional. On the other hand, rules were
included that ensured wider access for people to vote, balanced the representation of both
sexes on lists of candidates, strengthened women’s participation in politics and the electoral
process, increased the transparency of electoral procedures.
Today’s improvements to the electoral legal framework are imperative both for subjects
urged to apply the legal rules and for final beneficiaries — voters, who will therefore gain more
confidence in electoral processes and be more motivated to participate in elections.
The aim of the draft law is to improve electoral procedures, including by addressing
legislative shortcomings indicated by the Constitutional Court in its letters (e.g. letter CC No PCC01/139e-34/1 of 13 December 2016), issued with the validation of election results, the removal of
ambiguities and contradictions between the Electoral Code and other laws, as mentioned in the
opinions of the Venice Commission, but also the implementation of the recommendations made
in the reports of national and international election observation missions. The amendments will
also contribute to mainstreaming electoral procedures, in the spirit of good electoral practice and
in line with proposals made by specialised electoral organisations (P.A. Promo-LEX, ADEPT,
APEL, Coalition for Free and Fair Elections, etc.).
In addition, given the increasing scope of information technologies in the process of
organising and conducting elections, it is necessary to strengthen the digitalisation of electoral
procedures. Respectively, the draft law proposes regulations on the applicability of ISS
electronic systems ‘Financial Control’, SIA ‘Observers’, SIA ‘Verification of subscription lists’.
With reference to the type of intervention needed to implement the recommendations
made by international missions or international development partners, out of the more than 170
recommendations in their summary for the years 2014-2021, a considerable part (around 95
recommendations) should be dealt with at the legal (laws) and sub-legal (legislative acts
subordinated to the laws) levels, the others being related to practices. Note that out of the
recommendations assessed by the OSCE/ODIHR on the level of implementation, most are
partially implemented, the number of non-implemented recommendations being also crucial:
27 (of those assessed), i.e. at the legal level.
The draft law is a product of the Central Electoral Commission’s efforts to improve
electoral law as well as the entire electoral process in the Republic of Moldova in line with
OSCE commitments, but also other international obligations and standards for the conduct of
democratic elections.
All proposals aim at ensuring that any candidate or competitor will certainly have the
same rights and obligations, the same opportunities to apply and to be on a level playing field.
They rely on the idea that any citizen of the Republic of Moldova, wherever they are, with a
reasonable effort, can exercise their constitutional right to choose the candidate or competitor
they like. Finally, through transparent, fair and democratic elections, the citizens of the Republic
of Moldova will be able to actively engage and participate in the decision-making process in
their country.
The need to promote and adopt these proposed amendments specifically at this stage
also lies in the commitment to implement good practices, electoral principles, according to
which any reform of the electoral system would be good to take place well in advance of the
election. Achieving this is necessary to ensure timely adjustment of the related regulatory
framework, preparation of the necessary facilities, training of electoral officials and other
stakeholders, and informing potential competitors, as well as voters, of any changes made.
3. Main provisions of the draft and highlighting new elements
The structure of the new Electoral Code comprises 7 titles and 15 chapters.
Among the main provisions proposed by the draft law adopting the Electoral Code and
the amendment of the related legislation are the following.
1. In Chapter I. General provisions:
a) Amending and supplementing Article 1 on the concepts, terms and descriptions used,
taking into account all the changes made to both the general and the special parts of the
Electoral Code is proposed. Thus, the proposed amendments aimed at introducing new
electoral procedures and developing existing ones, being thus necessary the revision of the
notions that defined the electoral processes concisely. In this respect, the concepts of electoral
agitation, types of elections, electoral period, election campaign, nomination of candidates,
electoral blocks, electoral officials, types of information systems used, electoral rolls, etc. have
been adjusted and uniformed. The proposed amendments justified the need to introduce new
notions, such as the subjects of electoral processes (SIAS operator ‘Elections’, collector,
nominee, electoral competitors, referendum participants, objectors, treasurer, etc.), clarify the
mechanism of relief extra-electoral agitation, types of reports submitted, etc. (Article 1 of the
Electoral Code).
b) Conducting elections in some constituencies or polling stations, by way of derogation
from the general rule for objective reasons (pandemic, establishment of the state of emergency
in countries where polling stations of the Republic of Moldova are opened, organisation of
smooth access for voters to polling stations outside the country), in two days (Saturday and
Sunday), to be determined by decision of the Central Electoral Commission at least 25 days
before the election day. Enshrining the principle of stability of electoral relations, so that the
electoral system and the way in which the constituencies are established are amended only at
least one year before the national elections.
c) Enshrining the principle of stability of electoral relations, so that the electoral system
and the way in which the constituencies are established are amended only at least one year
before the national elections.
d) For the purpose of uniform application of the provisions on the calculation of time limits
in electoral law, introducing rules for the calculation of time limits for electoral procedures is
proposed.
2. In Chapter II. The right to vote and to stand as a candidate. Restrictions. Adding
subjects who will be required to suspend their work once the election campaign begins (the
heads and deputies of the heads of the central public authorities and of the organisational
structures within their area of competence, the officials/employees obliged to suspend their
service/employment relationships, according to the special legal rules governing their work) is
proposed.
3. In Chapter III. Electoral bodies:
a) Reducing the number of members of the Central Electoral Commission to 7 persons
and ensuring the permanent activity of all CEC members during their term of office is proposed.
In addition, the mechanism for nominating members of the Commission was revised, thus
ensuring the intervention of the three state powers and the President of the Republic of
Moldova. The term of office of CEC members is not linked to the mandate of the institution,
being extended to 7 years with the possibility to exercise up to two terms of office. The personal
and professional qualities for appointment as CEC member were indicated clearly and
explicitly, and cases of early termination of the CEC membership were also indicated expressly.
These proposals are to reduce suspicions of political affiliation of CEC members towards a
given political force, ensure continuity of the work of the Commission and preserve institutional
memory.
b) Making the work of the second-level (usually district) lower electoral bodies permanent
through the chairperson of the electoral council, who will be appointed by CEC, subject to the
regulations of Law No 158/2008 on the civil service and the status of civil servants. The number
of members of the electoral council will only be completed during the electoral period. Making
the work of second-level electoral bodies more permanent will make it possible to improve the
quality of electoral rolls, ensure a more active involvement of CEC in the exercise of supervision
and control over the financing of political parties.
(c) Ensuring professionalism of electoral officials, by accepting as electoral official only
persons who have completed refresher training at the Centre for Continuous Electoral Training
and hold appropriate qualification certificates valid at the time of confirmation in office.
d) Establishing polling stations abroad by the Central Electoral Commission, with the
prior opinion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, which will relate only
to the fulfilment of the condition aimed at obtaining the consent of the competent authorities of
that country, as well as the possibility of ensuring the voting process from a technical and
logistical point of view.
e) Reviewing the grounds for setting up polling stations abroad based on the main
criterion of the dynamics of voter participation in polling stations abroad in the last 3 ballots.
Only complementarily, pre-registration data and information submitted by the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and European Integration on the number and location of Moldovan citizens
abroad (collected based on consular records or other relevant data) would be taken into
account. This, but also the increase in the number of members of the electoral bureaux, will
ensure a fairer geographical distribution and greater accessibility to the electoral process for
Moldovan citizens abroad. Similar conditions for the setting up of polling stations have been
provided for voters in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova.
4) In Chapter IV. Provision of material support for the conduct of the elections.
Responsibilities for the management of the financial means allocated for elections or
referenda and financial reporting:
a) Specifying responsibilities for the management of financial means allocated for
elections and referenda, so that all electoral bodies, regardless of their level, bear responsibility
for the efficient use of financial means in accordance with the intended purpose and within the
approved budgetary limits.
b) Ensuring that expenditure relating to the conduct of elections and referenda is reported
both to the lower hierarchical electoral bodies to the Central Electoral Commission and by the
Commission to Parliament by reporting on the management of the financial means allocated
for the elections.
5) In Chapter V. Financing of the activity of initiative groups and financing of
election campaigns:
a) Establishing clear principles regarding the financing of the work of initiative groups and
the financing of election campaigns. Similarly, the establishment of uniform criteria for granting
State support to electoral competitors. However, this support has to be provided by laying down
clear rules for the reimbursement or compensation for state expenditure for candidates who did
not accumulate minimal support from voters or, on the contrary, obtained the mandate, but
soon left the mandate unmotivated, triggering early