What Russia’s CEC Says about Voting at the Russian Presidential Election in Moldova

The Russian Central Election Commission expects at least one polling station to be opened in Moldova to vote at the Russian presidential election. This was stated by Pavel Andreev, a member of the Russian Central Election Commission. He claims that the most acute situation around the opening of polling stations for the Russian presidential election is in Moldova, where one polling station is expected to be opened, but no decision has been received yet. According to him, the CEC expects at least one polling station to be opened in Moldova on the basis of the diplomatic mission. “But so far no decision has been received. And, of course, there is an acute issue of voting in Transnistria, where, as we know, a large number of Russian citizens live who have traditionally participated in voting. Now there is a rather difficult situation with the deployment of diplomatic staff who was helping to organize work at polling stations in Transnistria. For now, there is almost no such possibility. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is actively dealing with this issue,” the CEC member explained. According to chair of the Russian Central Election Commission Ella Pamfilova, Russia has always offered Moldova the most favorable conditions for holding the vote. As reported earlier, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Mihai Popsoi claimed that the Moldovan authorities had not yet decided whether they would approve the opening of polling stations for the Russian presidential election, but, according to international agreements, a polling station could be opened at the Russian embassy in Chisinau. The diplomat stressed that the opening of polling stations on the left bank is inadmissible without the consent of the country’s constitutional authorities. Mihai Popsoi said that if the Russian Federation does open polling stations on the left bank of the Dniester, the Chisinau authorities need a response plan. Russia had earlier asked the Moldovan authorities to open polling stations in Moldova for the presidential election scheduled for 15-17 March 2024. In previous years, Russia has always opened polling stations in the Transnistrian region, where, according to official data, about 200,000 people with Russian citizenship live. During the last elections to the Russian State Duma, which took place on 17-19 September 2021, 30 polling stations were opened in Moldova, 27 of which were located on the left bank of the Dniester. The authorities in Chisinau did not consent to their opening.