Citizens abroad to be able to vote in parliamentary elections at 301 polling stations abroad

Citizens of the Republic of Moldova eligible to vote, who are abroad will be able to vote in the parliamentary elections on 28 September at 301 polling stations opened abroad. The decision was approved today by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC).

Of the total number, four polling stations will be established for citizens of the Republic of Moldova located in the United States, Canada, the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Republic of Finland, the Republic of Iceland, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, and New Zealand who have chosen to use the alternative voting method, voting by mail.

For comparison, during the presidential election in October 2024, 234 polling stations were organized abroad.

The project was presented by CEC President Angelica Caraman. She stated that the basis for establishing polling stations abroad is the participation dynamics of voters in the last three elections. Additionally, it takes into account pre-registration data and information provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the number and location of citizens of the Republic of Moldova abroad.

Thus, the CEC President mentioned that the number of citizens from the diaspora who participated in the vote has consistently increased in recent elections.


“In the last election, in 2024, in the runoff, about 330 thousand voters participated in the 231 polling stations opened abroad. This number is 117 thousand voters more than the one recorded in the parliamentary elections of 2021 and 179 thousand more voters compared to the presidential election in 2020, referring here to the first round. With reference to the runoff election, this figure is more than 66 thousand voters higher,” said Angelica Caraman.


Therefore, according to the statistics presented by the CEC President, there is a recorded increase of 35.6% in the number of voters compared to 2021, 54% compared to the first round, and 20% compared to the second round of the 2020 presidential elections.


“Accordingly, the increase in the number of polling stations is justified, especially in countries where the participation dynamics is increasing,” Angelica Caraman emphasized.


Regarding the voting process in the Russian Federation, Angelica Caraman pointed out that two polling stations will be opened in this country for the parliamentary election on September 28, the decision being argued “for security reasons”.


“With reference to the Russian Federation, two polling stations have been proposed within Moldova’s diplomatic mission, considering the current conditions in the Russian Federation's ongoing war with Ukraine and the fact that we cannot ensure the security of the voting process,” declared Angelica Caraman, clarifying that after analyzing the post-election lists, it was found that one-seventh of the citizens registered in the Russian Federation actually voted in the Republic of Moldova.


Under these conditions, the CEC rejected a proposal submitted by a Commission member to open five polling stations in the Russian Federation. “Even if, in principle, I would have supported the proposal to expand the number of polling stations in the Russian Federation, I repeat, we are in the same circumstances as the previous year in which, for security reasons, we practically cannot organize polling stations outside the diplomatic mission. The situation is similar in Ukraine and Israel,” explained Postica.


“We received a request at the CEC to open polling stations in the city of Vinnytsia, Ukraine and likewise did not put forward this proposal because it is a situation in which we cannot ensure the security of the process, nor of the officials, nor of the voters, in territories where military conflicts are occurring,” said Caraman.


On 28 September, citizens of the Republic of Moldova eligible to vote are expected at the polls to elect deputies in the future Parliament.