CEC Reports on Campaign Violations

The Central Election Commission (CEC) reported numerous campaign violations in the run-up to the presidential and referendum elections in Moldova. Among the most frequent violations are unauthorized collection of signatures, election campaigning by unregistered persons and organization of election rallies in unauthorized places, Moldova1.md reports. CEC Chairperson Angelica Caraman emphasized that these problems were identified from the very beginning of the campaign, when the first irregularities appeared in the process of collecting signatures for candidate registration. “During the election campaign, we have received a lot of information about violations committed by some election participants. (...) Signatures were collected by unauthorized persons, including church ministers and others who had no such right,” Caraman explained. The CEC chairperson also noted that some organizations, including the Victory Bloc and parties associated with Sor, continued to campaign, although they were not officially registered in this process. “An unprecedented situation today is the conduct of election campaigning by unregistered entities,” Caraman added. At the same time, the CEC closely monitors issues related to campaign finance. “We are reviewing the financial statements and will take action on these irregularities,” Caraman said. The CEC chief added that any new information received from the Inspector General of Police would be properly analyzed.