Lithuania

Since 11 March 1990, the date of restoration of Independence of Lithuania, the Parliamentary elections (to the Seimas of Republic of Lithuania) had been arranged for 5 times, Presidential elections - for 4 times (including 1 extraordinary) and elections to municipal councils - for 5 times.

Within 15 years, an improvement of the system and procedure of elections took place in order to develop a legal base for the regulation of the process of elections according to democratic principles. In the year 2004, the first elections to the European Parliament were arranged.

Presidential Elections
President of the Republic is elected for a 5 years term by 2 rounds majority system. A candidate may be any citizen of the Republic of Lithuania in the age over 40 years. Since the year 2002, it is required that a candidate should not be a citizen of a foreign state. Voters are all citizens of Republic of Lithuania in the age of at least 18 years. Prisoners are not deprived of suffrage. A candidate ’s nomination should be supported by at least 20 thousand citizens of the Republic of Lithuania. If a president is not elected in the first round, a second round where two candidates participate is arranged. The winner of the second round shall be the candidate having gained a majority of votes of the voters.

Parliamentary Elections
Lithuania has a unicameral Parliament (Seimas). Seimas is elected by combined system for a 4 years term. A candidate should be a citizen of Republic of Lithuanian in the age of at least 25 years. In a multi-member constituency as well as in single-member constituencies, candidates (lists of candidates) are nominated by parties. In single-member constituencies, a citizen may nominate him(her)self as a candidate as well. Such nomination should be supported by 1000 voters of the constituency. Since the year 2004, it is required that a candidate should not be a citizen of a foreign state. Voters are the same as in case of presidential elections. We have 141 seats in Seimas. 71 parliamentarians are elected in single-member constituencies (majority system), 70 - in a multi-member constituency (a version of proportional system). The list of candidates of the party take part in the distribution of mandates only if no less than 5 percent of the voters participating in the elections voted for it. The joint list of candidates of coalition may receive mandates of Seimas member if it has collected no less than 7 percent of votes in elections. Voters determine the final position of candidates on the list. In the single-member constituencies the two-round system of elections is used. The elections in the year 2000 were an exception, where the one-round system, being in force at that time, was used. The Parliamentary elections in the year 1990, when all the 141 members of the Parliament were elected exclusively according to the 2 round majority system, were an exception as well. At that time, the Soviet Law on Elections still was in force, however, voters could already elect from several candidates.

Municipal Elections
Municipal Councils are elected for a 4 years term by fully proportional system. Only political parties are entitled to nominate lists of candidates. A voter or a candidate may be a citizen or a permanent resident (a citizen of other state or having no citizenship) of Republic of Lithuania. Voters determine the final positions of candidates on their list. In the year 1990, the Soviet Law on Elections was still in force and the elections were arranged according to the 2 round majority system. In the year 1995, elections to municipal councils were arranged in accordance with the proportional system for a first time. In the year 2000, the voters were provided a right to determine the positions of candidates in their lists. Since the year 2002, the list of positions incompatible with a mandate of a member of a municipal council, such as a head of an enterprise or institution established by a municipality, an official whose duties include a supervision of the activities of the Council, a member of the Seimas, was formed. The persons holding such incompatible positions and are elected as members of Municipal Councils were obliged to choose the position to be resigned - a membership in the Council or the incompatible position - before the first sitting of the Council. At present, the problem of direct elections of mayors and the functions of a mayor and a council is discussed upon.

Elections to the European Parliament
13 members of the European Parliament are elected according to proportional system of elections. Candidates and voters may be citizens of the Republic of Lithuania or permanent residents of Lithuania who are citizens of another EU State Member. Lists of candidates are nominated by parties. Voters determine the number of seats obtained (or not obtained) by each list and the positions of candidates on the lists by balloting. 13 members of the European Parliament were elected.

Electoral system
Every citizen of the Republic of Lithuania who is eligible to vote has one vote in a single-member constituency and one vote in the multi-member constituency, and these votes are of the same value as the votes of any other voter. Every voter has an equal right to express his opinion about the candidates who are on the list of candidates for which he or she votes in the multi-member constituency, and this opinion has the same value as the opinion of any other voter who has voted for this list, when rating lists of candidates, i.e. casting preference votes for chosen candidates of a specific list.

There is one multi-member constituency, comprising the whole territory of the country, and 71 single-member constituencies formed for the elections to the Seimas. There are 70 Members of the Seimas elected in the multi-member constituency according to the proportional voter system. Voters are voting only for one list of candidates, it is also possible wherein to give preference votes for separate candidates of the list, i.e. to rate the list of candidates. In single-member constituencies there is only one member of the Seimas elected.
The elections are considered valid in the multi-member constituency, if more than one fourth of all voters have participated in them. The list of candidates of the party may receive mandates of Seimas member only if no less than 5 percent of the voters voted for it, while the joint list of candidates may receive mandates of Seimas member provided that no less than 7 percent of the voters who participated in the election have voted for it. If less than 60 percent of all voters who participated in the election have voted for the lists, taking part in the distribution of mandates, the list, which has not taken part in the distribution of mandates up till then, for whom the majority of voters have voted acquires the right to take part in the distribution of mandates. Mandates for lists of candidates are distributed according to the number of votes received by each of them, applying the method of quotas and remainders. The quota is counted, i.e. how many votes are needed to receive 1 mandate.
The Central Voteral Committee calculates the rating of candidates for Seimas member and establishes a final order succession of the lists in accordance with the opinion expressed by voters and preference votes cast. At first preference votes cast for each candidate in the single-member constituencies are summed up and the sum total of all the preference votes for each candidate are calculated. In the event, when the sum total of the candidate ’s preference votes is not smaller than 70, election rating of the candidate is equal to that sum, if it is smaller - election rating of the candidate is considered to be equal to zero.
Then the points of the rating received by each candidate for Seimas member are calculated.
The elections are considered valid in a single-member constituency, if no less than 40 percent of the voters have participated in the elections and there is a candidate who has received more than half of votes cast by the voters who have participated in the elections. If less than 40 percent of the voters take part in the elections, the candidate who has received the majority, but no less that one-fifth of the total number of voters included in the voter list of that constituency, such candidate shall be considered to have been elected. If no candidate has been elected, a repeated voting shall be arranged after two weeks. Voting for two candidates shall be arranged in such case, and the candidate who receives a majority of votes shall be considered to have been elected.
Election results are counted in each polling district, according to the procedures set by the law and the Central Voteral Committee, and put in the records of specified form. Later information from these vote-counting records is reported to the respective Constituency Voteral Committee by phone, which immediately sends the received data to the Central Voteral Committee. All information received on votes counted is immediately publicized in the website of the Central Voteral Committee to the address http://www.vrk.lt. The data publicized in the Internet is not official and final.

Political activities of parties
Political activities of parties are regulated by the Law on Funding and Control of Funding of Political Parties and Political Campaigns. The system of political parties funding control operates in conformity with the said Law. The amounts donated to parties and the contributors hereof are announced in Internet. The fixed amount of donation for a party (about 12 thousand EURO) should not be exceeded. The expenses are announced in Internet as well.

At present, over 30 political parties act. Members of 9 parties are represented in the Parliament and members of 23 parties are represented in Municipal Councils.

Parties play a particularly important role in the life of the state. In order to ensure the independence of parties on private sponsors, parties are funded from the state budget and a part of their electoral expenses is covered as well. The funds of the state budget targeted for funding political parties are distributed proportionally to the number of votes in favour of specific parties and their nominated candidates on elections to the Seimas and Municipal Councils. Electoral expenses are covered only in case of provision of irreproachable reports on the funds obtained from sponsors and the electoral expenses.

Election campaigning
Basic principles of campaigning and funding thereof, conducted prior to elections to the Seimas, are regulated by the Law on Elections to the Seimas, the Law on Funding and Control of Funding of Political Parties and Political Campaigns, and decisions of the Central Voteral Committee adopted pursuant to the said legal acts. The Law on Elections to the Seimas stipulates the basic provisions concerning the use of mass media, release of material compromising a party, which has nominated a list of candidates, and the countering opinion, prohibition to take advantage of one ’s official position for campaigning. Implementation of these provisions is detailed by a number of decisions adopted by the Central Voteral Committee. Prior to the elections to the Seimas the Central Voteral Committee drafted and adopted the procedure for specifying campaigning in television and radio programmes, the procedure for specifying campaigning in the press, procedures for print-outs of election programmes of candidates, nominated in single-member constituencies and candidate lists, the rules for broadcasts designed for the purpose of campaign, the declaration of public information publisher and distributor.

It is important to note, that legal regulation of campaigning, as compared to the 1996 and 2000 Elections to the Seimas, has substantially improved.
Firstly, seeking to legally draw the line between campaigning and other information provided by the mass media, requirement was introduced to specify the campaigning in periodicals as well as in television and radio programmes by indicating the candidate or the party, which is funding the said campaign.
Secondly, limitations have been brought to restrict outdoor political advertising by the requirement, that political advertising may be communicated by means of outdoor advertising measures only on billboards intended for that purpose or other places, decided by the Director of the Administration of a Municipality and recommended to Constituency Voteral Committee for designations. The Central Voteral Committee made a proposal for directors of municipal administrations to equip at least one place in each polling district for outdoor political advertisement.
Thirdly, the major change is related to the legal regulation of campaign funding. In August 2004 a new Law on Funding and Control of Funding of Political Parties and Political Campaigns was adopted, wherein a number of provisions, regulating campaign funding, were transposed from the Law on Elections to the Seimas. However, it was not a mechanical transposition of legal norms, but in fact a new legal regulation. The new law made a distinction between independent participants of political campaigns, who have the right to receive donations and undertake expenses of political campaigns, and representative participant of political campaign, who are deprived of the said rights. It is stipulated, that a natural or a legal person is allowed to make a donation not exceeding the limit of 300 MSL (minimum standard of living) for an independent participant of political campaign, generally the law established maximum limits for a single donation made by one person. The changes were also brought to the estimation procedures of maximum expenses for political campaigns for one participant of a political campaign by linking the maximum figure to the number of voters in the voteral constituency.
After the elections in 2004, measures against grafting the voters had been taken. The law prohibits any gifts to voters, including charge-free concerts, souvenirs and so on, with exception of print-outs with the election programmes and photos of the candidates as well as special signs with the stump attributes.

Election committees
The Central Voteral Committee has to ensure the execution of the Law on Elections to the Seimas, the Law on Funding and Control of Funding of Political Parties and Political Campaigns, and other legal acts, regulating the run-up, organisation and execution of elections. Within the limits of powers delegated thereto, the Central Voteral Committee has issued legal acts, guaranteeing execution and equal application of the laws throughout the whole territory of the Republic of Lithuania. As for the run-up to the Seimas elections, the Central Voteral Committee adopted 94 decisions, redefining the limits of constituencies and polling districts, appointing chairmen thereof, approving final voter lists, registering candidates to Members of the Seimas, approving forms of voteral records and other documents, settling claims and disputes concerning campaigning, etc. It also approved the rules, procedures of execution of certain provisions of the Law on Elections to the Seimas, election results, and announced the list of elected Members of the Seimas, and issued and handed in certificates thereto.

According to Paragraph 1 of Article 11 of the Law on Elections to the Seimas, elections to the Seimas are organised and conducted by the Central Voteral Committee, Constituency Voteral Committees and Polling District Committees.
The Central Voteral Committee is a permanent supreme state institution for organising elections to the Seimas, Presidential elections, elections to Municipal Councils and referendums.
Constituency Voteral Committees are formed by the Central Voteral Committee for the period of elections. These Committees supervise the implementation of election laws in their constituencies, give instructions and training to Polling District Committees, distribute the funds among Poling District Committees and control how these funds are used, consider complaints against Polling District Committees and exercise other powers provided for in the law. After polling, Constituency Voteral Committees draw up the vote counting record of their constituencies on the basis of the records of Polling District Committees, adhered thereto.
1025 Members in total were appointed to Single-member Constituency Voteral Committees (elections to the Seimas, 2004). The Central Voteral Committee according to recommendations of the parties or at its own discretion appointed chairmen of these committees.
Polling District Committees are formed by Constituency Voteral Committees for the period of elections. Primarily, each Constituency Voteral Committee has to determine the size of each Polling District Committee. The number must be a multiple of the number of the parties (their coalitions), which have the right to nominate candidates to the voteral committees.
Polling District Committees provide conditions for voters to familiarise with voter lists, investigate complains about the errors made in voter lists, monitor voting by post conducted in the territory of that polling district, and exercise other powers provided for in the laws. The most important task of a Polling District Committee is to organise voting in its polling district, count votes and draw up the vote counting record. There were more than 18 thousand members in 2027 formed Polling District Committees (elections to the Seimas, 2004).

Mass media
The means of mass media, publishing public information during the period of campaigning, must preserve the principle of objectivity set by the Law on Mass Media. Television, radio, newspapers, and magazines are not prohibited to publish compromising material during the period of campaigning about one or another candidate or one or another political party, but taking into account periodicity thereof, such material might be released not later than 5 or 10 days prior to the election, but in any case no later than in the last but one issue of a means of the mass media prior to the election.

If during campaigning the mass media releases the material compromising a candidate or a party, it must provide the candidate with a possibility to express a countering opinion, observing the terms and procedures established by the Law on Elections to the Seimas. A countering opinion consists of a short exposition of the released compromising material and the candidate ’s answer. The extent of the countering opinion usually may not exceed the volume of the compromising material by more than three times. A countering opinion must be publicised within 7 days after it has been expressed, but no later than 2 days before the prohibition of campaigning becomes effective (i.e. 30 hours prior to the election).
Parties having presented their lists of candidates for participation in the elections and candidates nominated in single-member constituencies are entitled to use the national means of mass media free of charge. The rules for preparation of broadcasts as well as the real duration and schedule of broadcasts designed for the purpose of campaign in National TV and Radio shall be approved by the Central Voteral Committee after a prior coordination with the Lithuanian National Radio and TV. The Central Voteral Committee distributes the time for broadcasts designed for the purpose of the election campaign, observing the following principles: equality between lists of candidates in a multi-member constituency; between single-member constituencies; between candidates nominated or nominating themselves in single-member constituencies. At least one hour of broadcasting time in National Radio and TV should be provided for debates with representatives of other list(-s) of candidates. Each candidate, nominated or nominating him(her)self in a single-member constituency, should be provided at least 5 minutes for self-representation in National Radio. In such broadcasts, the candidates take part in debates arranged for candidates in the relevant single-member constituency. If the only candidate participates a broadcast, he (she) discusses with the presenter of the broadcast.
In the course of the election campaigning for the parliamentary elections in the year 2004, the Central Voteral Committee had received 76 complaints related to the campaigning. All the complaints had been thouroughly examined by the Committee and all circumstances mentioned in them had been cleared up. A majority of the complaints had been rejected on the base of the fact that the materials published in mass media was only an opinion on the candidate (that is not a subject to the criteria of truthfulness) and should not be considered compromising materials. In two cases, it was recognized that the compromising materials had been published in the period, when such publication was prohibited and it was decided to broadcast a denial of the candidate in National Radio; the newspaper ought to cover the triple expenses of the Central Voteral Committee for such broadcast.

Legal remedies
Claims concerning violations of vote counting procedures and record filing against voteral committees, parties, candidates and their trustees may be brought by strictly following procedures and terms of the law to the respective voteral committees of higher level. Claims against decisions of the Central Voteral Committee might be brought only to the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania.

A voter or a representative of the party may lodge complaints with the voteral committee of the polling district no later than 7 days before the election about the errors made in voter lists. The decision of the voteral committee of a polling district may be appealed within 3 days to the administrative tribunal of an appropriate county, which shall investigate the complaint within 3 days. The decision of the tribunal shall be final.
Parties having nominated their candidates, candidates themselves, their proxies at the elections and observers of the elections may lodge a complaint against decisions of the voteral committee of the polling district related to violation of the vote counting procedures and record filing to the voteral committee of the constituency no later than within 24 hours from the moment of execution of the record. Such complaints should be examined within no more than 24 hours.
Appeals against the decisions of the constituency voteral committee related to vote counting records may be lodged to the Central Voteral Committee no later than within 72 hours from the moment of execution of the record. Such complaints should be examined before official announcement of the results of the elections.
The district constituency voteral committee shall pass a decision on a recounting the voting-papers for single-member constituency in all polling districts, if before signing the vote counting record such requirement had been provided by at least one member of the committee, a representative of a party or a candidate, and if a difference between the numbers of votes for the candidates that are in the first and second place according to preliminary vote counting in the single-member constituency in question is less than 50 votes.
Parties, political organizations, nominated (or nominating themselves) candidates may lodge an appeal against the decisions of the Central Voteral Committee or its refusal to examine complaints related to violations of the Law on Elections to Seimas or the President no later than within 24 hours from the moment of official announcement of the results of the elections. In such a case, Seimas or the President of the Republic shall provide an inquiry on a violation of the Law on Elections to the Constitutional Court no later than within 48 hours.
In course of the Parliamentary elections in the year 2004, voteral committees of district constituencies received 2 requests of candidates for vote recounting in a single-member constituency, because the difference between the numbers of votes for the candidates that were in the first and second place in the single-member constituency in question was less than 50 votes. After the vote recounting, a slight difference in the number of votes was found that had no significant impact on the results of the elections.
One candidate to Seimas had lodged a complaint to the Central Voteral Committee, requesting to recognize invalid the elections in the single-member constituency on the base of the established facts of buying up the voting-papers that could be used for balloting by mail. After examination and assessment of all circumstances, the Central Voteral Committee concluded that some violations of the Law on Elections took place, however, they were not significant and cannot be used as the base for recognition the elections invalid. The said candidate to Seimas had lodged a complaint to the President of the Republic and the latter had provided an inquiry on a violation of the Law on Elections to Seimas to the Constitutional Court. In its conclusion, the Constitutional Court concluded that the decision of the Central Voteral Committee stating that the found violations of the Law on Elections had no significant impact on the results of the elections in the single-member constituency and the totality of the violations (including related to balloting by mail) could not be used as the base for conclusion that the decision of the Central Voteral Committee violated the Law on Elections.
In addition, the Constitutional Court pointed out a number of imperfections of the Law on Elections to Seimas that provide a possibility of misuse in course of elections. On the base of the conclusion of the Constitutional Court, alterations of legislation on elections were adopted.
You may get to know the results of the run of the elections in the website of Central Voteral Committee http://www.vrk.lt/pgl_data_e.htm, the website provides the results of elections for the period starting from the year 1995.

Information technologies
Information technologies are more and more widely used in organizing and implementing the elections.
Computerized list of voters has been used since the year 1992. The lists of voters on the base of the data of the Population Register have been formed since the year 1996. Lists of voters of Polling Districts and Voter ’s Certificates are printed in accordance with the lists of voters. Each voter is issued such Certificate before the elections. A voter is entitled to get to know whether he (she) is included into the list of voters, and the Polling District he (she) belongs to by a short telephone number. If a voter failed to declare his (her) address of residence, it is recommended to such voter to apply to the Polling District of the factual place of residence for inclusion of such person into the list of voters. If a voter transfers to another Polling Districh, he (she) is automatically crossed off from the list of voters of the former Polling District. In such a way, a double balloting is avoided.
Collection of the results of elections is computerized up to the level of constituencies. Results of elections in each Polling District are provided in Internet. On the day of the elections, Internet provides the data on activity of voters and in the night - the data on calculation of the votes. Each observer of the elections can easily check up whether the results of the elections announced in the Polling District coincide with the results of the elections for the same Polling District provided in Internet. The paper records on calculation of the votes, signed by members of the Voteral Committees, are the most important documents of the elections usable for checking the data on the elections in the computer files.
Internet provides detailed information on income of the candidates, the sponsors of political parties and the funds donated by them.
Since the year 2004, when the new Law on Funding and Control of Funding of Political Parties and Political Campaigns came into force, political parties provide their Declarations on Financial Activities that are published in Internet.
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Moldova

Elections since 1991
The Republic of Moldova is a sovereign and independent state, unitary and indivisible. Moldova become independent on 27 August 1991.
The unicameral Parliament is the supreme representative body of the nation of the Republic of Moldova, the only legislative authority of the state and it is composed by 101 deputies.
After the declaration of independence, in the Republic of Moldova 9 electoral events were conducted on the base of pluralistic party system: 4 parliamentary elections (27 February 1994, 22 March 1998, 25 February 2001 and 6 March 2005), 3 elections of local public administration bodies (16 April 1995, 23 May 1999 and 25 May 2003) and 2 Presidential elections (8 December 1991 and 17 November 1996). Simultaneously with the general local elections in 1999 a republican referendum was also conducted.
After the modification of the Constitution on 5 July 2000 the state’s President is elected by the Parliament.
In this period, electoral legislation was reiterated and amended to be brought in accordance with OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and other international elections standards.
In the period of independence of the Republic of Moldova, 2 from 4 Parliamentary elections were early elections (1994 and 2001), being conducted approximately a year before the end of the mandate of the respective legislatures. All mentioned elections were held on the same absolutely proportional representation electoral system background.
Even if some violation of the electoral legislation were registered, it was considered that they did not have a significant impact on final results. The last parliamentary elections on 6 March 2005 have shown that the Republic of Moldova tends to build a democratic society based on the law.
The final report of OSCE/ODIHR Mission regarding election observation on 6 March 2005 states that Parliamentary elections were conducted in general in compliance with the most OSCE and European Council commitments and other international standards for democratic elections.
In accordance with Constitution’s provisions and Electoral Law, the next ordinary elections (local general) will take place in the period April - May 2007.
Electoral reform in the Republic of Moldova began in 1993 when the Law regarding the Parliamentary elections was adopted. The purpose of this reform was the replacement of the pluralist-majority electoral system with semi-proportional representation electoral system.
Because of the Transnistria problem led by the impossibility to open polling stations on its territory, Parliament issued a decision no. 1613-XII on 19 October 1993 that set up a single national electoral constituency, thus being established complete proportional representation system (one country - one electoral constituency).
Polling stations were constituted on the left bank of river Nistru, in such a way giving to the citizens domiciled on the Transnistria territory the possibility to vote.

Till 1997 the legal framework that warranted to citizens the right to vote included the law regarding referendum (adopted in 1992), the law regarding local elections (1994) and the law regarding Presidential elections (1991).
In 1997, the Electoral Code was adopted. The adoption of this document had as a purpose the standardization of electoral procedures, as well as the codification of all legal instruments regarding this field.
The Electoral Code regulates the whole electoral process of the Republic of Moldova, with the exception of the Law regarding the Presidential elections.
From the moment of adoption until present, the Electoral Code has suffered reiterated amendments in order to adjust this to the international electoral standards, as well as to improve electoral procedures. Considering the amendments of electoral system, for the Republic of Moldova the most appropriate electoral system at the moment seems to be the complete proportional representation.

Election system
Parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova are conducted on the base of complete proportional representation system. The distribution of deputies ’ mandates is done on the base of formula proposed by Victor d’Hondt with Parties and electoral blocks that registered lists of candidates, and independent candidates are included in the same ballot. The electorate has to choose only one candidate among all electoral contestants (party, electoral block, independent candidate). The same electoral system is applied for elections of local public authorities: one administrative-territorial unity - one electoral constituency.
The president of state is elected by the Parliament by secret vote. The candidate that have got 3/5 of votes of elected deputies is considered elected.
The mandate of deputies in Parliament, local authorities and President is for 4 years.

Political Parties
Since the adoption of pluralist policy system by the Republic of Moldova in 1991, the main political formations were outlined and have not changed till present or suffered minor modifications.
The principles of constitution, functioning and dissolving of political formations are regulated by Law regarding political parties and socio-political organizations that was adopted on 17.09.1991. Subsequently, a line of amendments was adopted that imposed additional restrictions for the registration of parties and socio-political organizations activity.
Amendments from 19.10.1993 specify: parties and others socio-political organizations cannot receive financial and material support from state bodies, enterprises and public institutions, except for the finance of electoral campaign provided by electoral legislation. It is prohibited the finance of parties and socio-political organizations by foreign states, organizations and citizens. It is also prohibited for joint-enterprises if the state or foreign founder quote surpasses 20%.
In case of violations of constitutional norms, the activity of parties and socio-political organizations can be suspended by Minister of Justice that will inform the leadership of political formations about this and establish a deadline for addressing the infringements. For reiterated suspense the party or socio-political organization can be dissolved for a year by Supreme Court of Justice on the appeal of Minister of Justice.
In present, from 24 parties and other socio-political parties registered by Justice Minister, only 4-5 parties have possibilities to maintain continuous dialogues and have organized and ramified structures in the whole country. In 2005 parliamentary elections only 2 parties and one electoral bloc were able to surpass the electoral threshold of 6 %. Subsequently, the electoral threshold was lowered to 4%.
Till the new local election for the Mayor of Chisinau 2005, in previous electoral periods political formations conducted electoral campaigns of disparagement of rivals. At these new local elections with the effort of Central Electoral Commission, political formations and representatives of mass-media implied in electoral campaign signed a Code of Conduct that contributed to make clear main principles concerning the organization of electoral campaigns, in special to give up the conducting of electoral campaigns of disparagement of rivals. The signing of this Code of Conduct contributed to create a climate of confidence and mutual respect among participants in the electoral campaign.

Role of media, publicity of election process
Mass-media has an important significance in the conducting of the process of formation of representative authorities and other eligible bodies. It exercising its function of informing, in general, carries out many functions simultaneously.
Mass-media is regarded as an information source for electorate (for ex.: about the appointment of the Day of Elections, the creation of polling stations, registering of candidates etc.), the way of pre-election propaganda and the last but not least a tool of civic control. Also mass-media has the role to assist citizens to be involved in the process of constituting of governing bodies and at the same time to cover the electoral campaign.
The Regulations with a general nature regarding the role of mass-media in organization and conducting of elections are stipulated in the Electoral Code.
In the Republic of Moldova there is a single national audiovisual public institution - the Company "Teleradio-Moldova". The Company conceives, produces and disseminates on the whole territory of the country the TV and radio broadcastings in the interest of society. At the local level there are more institutions of this kind.
In the electoral period, the Central Electoral Commission and the Coordinating Council of Audiovisual set out additional conditions of covering of electoral campaign by all institutions of Audiovisual from country, as well as by printed mass-media. Thus, for every electoral campaign the "Concept for the Reflection of the Election Campaign for Parliamentary Elections in the Broadcasting Institutions " and the "Regulation on the Coverage of Electoral Campaign for the Parliamentary Elections in the Mass Media " are adopted.
To conduct an efficient electoral campaign, Commission set out that TV shows of electoral nature, issued by public and private institutions of audiovisual are to be diffused at the time of high audience and printed press offers special spaces in their newspapers and magazines.
To respect the principle of equality in the electoral campaign, art. 64 of the Electoral Code stipulates that "Public audiovisual institutions are obliged, whereas the private ones have the right, at the Central Electoral Commission ’s request, to organize public debates, during the whole electoral campaign, in equal conditions for all the electoral competitors. They are offered for debates not less than 90 minutes per day, time that can be used for one or more TV shows ".
In the aim of ensuring the transparency of conducting the electoral process, in the periods of electoral campaigns all institutions of mass-media, inclusively those foreign accredited, have the right to be presented at all electoral bodies meetings, inclusively in the Day of scrutiny properly, as well as to observe the process of counting of votes and tabulation. They have the right to request a copy of the protocol regarding the election results and the same copy is immediately posted at the entrance of the polling station.
Some restrictions are imposed to all kind of mass-media in the frame of electoral process concerning the fact that "On election day, prior to the closing of all polling stations, the media shall refrain from making public materials, including interviews with voters, indicating how the contestants in the election are faring or how likely they are to obtain votes. "

The transparency of electoral process is assured by the observer’s activity that is regulated both by the Electoral Code and other normative acts, in special by the Regulation regarding the accreditation of observers adopted by Central Electoral Commission.
Citizens of the Republic of Moldova, as well as representatives of electoral contestants, representatives of international and nongovernmental organizations from abroad can be accredited as observers.
National observers are accredited by the Central Electoral Commission and international observers by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and European Integration.
The observers can be accredited before the beginning of the electoral period (before of the appointment of the Day of Elections) and can perform their activity on elections day and also in the periods before, during and after the elections.
Accredited observers shall have the right to attend any electoral operation, including on the Election Day, without interfering in the voting process or other election operations carried out by electoral bureaus, and shall report any irregularities observed to the chairperson of an electoral bureau. Observers may make copies of the electoral documents which are issued on the basis of a verbal request.
The fact that the observers have the right to be accredited before the beginning of the electoral period ensures the highly transparency of the electoral process.

Election campaign, campaign financing
Citizens of the Republic of Moldova, parties and other socio-political organizations, electoral blocs, candidates and trustees of candidates have the right to put forward for free discussion all aspects of candidates ’ electoral programs, and the political, professional and personal qualities of the candidates; and to campaign for or against candidates in elections at meetings, reunions, meetings with the electorate, using means of mass media and other forms of communication except for those that disturb public order or are unethical. Electioneering for an electoral contestant is allowed only after his/her registration with an electoral body, and finish on the day preceding the elections.
After the registration of electoral contestants by the relevant electoral body, they shall have the right to post their slogans, which may not run counter to law or ethics.
The local public administrative authorities are obliged, in a period of 3 days from the date of registering the electoral candidate, to establish and guarantee a minimum of special places for electoral posters, to establish the premises for organizing and holding meetings for the electoral candidates with the voters.
To ensure an efficient conduct of electoral campaign and to respect the principle of equality of all electoral contestants, public audiovisual institutions will grant free of charge airtime, within the limits set by Central Electoral Commission, to electoral contestants for public debates. For electioneering purposes, each electoral contestant will be granted against charge airtime not exceeding two hours for the entire electoral campaign, including no more than two minutes per day for each institution.
During roundtables private audiovisual institutions may organize free of charge debates, giving equal opportunities to all electoral contestants, and inviting representatives of all electoral contestants to the same show or grouping them according to certain criteria previously announced by the Central Electoral Commission. All electoral contestants ’ speeches shall be chronometered during the show, all electoral contestants shall be granted equal time. Electoral contestants shall be informed on the time of broadcasting the relevant shows seven days prior to the broadcast; the timetable is approved by the Central Electoral Commission. The airtime granted against charge at each institution shall not exceed two minutes per day for each electoral contestant.
Also, public or private audiovisual institutions shall provide equal opportunities for electoral candidates to buy airtime, by establishing equal fees. Conditions of booking airtime and the relevant fees shall be announced seven days prior to the broadcast of the relevant show. Fees for the airtime granted to electoral contestants may not exceed fees for the commercials. Airtime for electoral spots shall be granted at the same broadcasting hours.
The finance of electoral campaign is a very complicated process. To have the possibility to oversee it, every electoral contestant shall open, according to 38 art., Electoral Code, a bank account which will be specified as an "Electoral Account", to which the participants shall transfer their own money, funds granted by natural and legal entities of the country. These funds may only be transferred into the account with the candidate ’s prior consent. The ceiling of funds to be wired to the electoral accounts shall be established by the CEC.
The finance of Electoral Campaign is realized by electoral contestants, as well as by the state.
State material support for electoral campaigns (direct finance) consists in loans received from the state that shall be paid fully or partially by the state depending on the overall number of valid votes received by the electoral contestants that surpassed the electoral threshold of 3% from the total number of valid votes for the whole country or for the respective constituency.
The equality principle should be ensured, indifferent by the finance possibilities and the authority of electoral contestants, the state through the public national and domestic institutions of audiovisual will grant free of charge airtime, during the electoral period, (indirect finance), within the limits set by Central Electoral Commission.
During the electoral period, all the TV shows with analytic, informative, entertaining or any other character, which mention in one way or another the electoral participants, are broadcasted with the observance of the respective concept and regulations.
The TV shows that deal, directly or indirectly, with the electoral participants will be broadcasted only with the title "Electoral" (electoral campaign), for calculation of the airtime.
The newspapers and magazines that cover the electoral campaign (with exception of party press) are oblige to put in the materials of electoral propaganda of electoral contestants with the special title "Electoral", as well as they must have annex the mark "paid from the electoral found" for calculation of the sources used for this purpose.
In the same context, for calculation of the sum for electoral campaign each advertising material shall bear the name of the electoral candidate, date of publishing, turnout, name of the Publishing House.
If damages to the reputation of one of the electoral participants are brought outside the "Electoral" TV shows, he will have the right to refutation on the same conditions.

Although, the conduct of Electoral campaign plays a significant role in the electoral process, for their finance the state established certain restrictions, thus according to art. 38 of Electoral Code "The following may not, under any circumstances, fund or support electoral campaigns:

a. citizens of the Republic of Moldova who haven’t reached the age of 18 years;
b. state funded organizations;
c. anonymous persons;
d. charity or religious organizations.".
In case a contestant infringes these norms, the Central Electoral Commission shall ask the Supreme Court to nullify the registration of the contestant.

Electoral bodies
In the Republic of Moldova the system of electoral bodies instituted for organizing and conducting of elections comprises the Central Electoral Commission, district electoral councils and precinct electoral bureaus.
From the moment of declaration of independence and until the adoption of Electoral Code in 1997, the electoral scrutinizes were organized by the Central Electoral Commission called ad-hoc for the period of scrutiny.
The necessity to create a Central Electoral Commission with permanent status was dictated by the understanding of the fact that a state structure is needed conversant and specialized that will work in the period between elections having an aim: investigation of electoral legislation in the purpose to propose amendments thus to improve it; to organize civic and electoral education programs for citizens; to examine electoral violations having a purpose to prevent them in the future etc.
Thus, simultaneously with the adoption of Electoral Code (21 November 1997) the Central Electoral Commission was constituted with permanent statute that consists of 9 members with a deliberative vote: designated proportionally by the President of the Republic of Moldova, Parliament and The Superior Council of Magistrate. The nominal composition of the commissions as well as its chairman designed from the line of masters, is confirmed through the Decision of Parliament. The mandate of commission was for 6 years.
After the modification of Electoral Code on 22 July 2005, the method of designation of CEC ’s members was changed, as follows: 1 member is appointed by the President of the Republic of Moldova, 1 by the Government of the Republic of Moldova, 7 by the Parliament, inclusively 5 appointed by the opposition parties, according to the percentage of the mandates they hold. After this amendment the mandate of the commission was lowered to 5 years.
Chairman, deputy chairman and secretary of the Central Election Commission (CEC) work permanently and they are elected among CEC members with a majority of votes of the total number of its members.
One of the principles on the base of which the Commission activates is impartiality. Thus, art.16 of EC stipulates: "The CEC’s members cannot be members of parties or socio-political organizations."

Also, an important principle of Commission’s activity is that of irrevocability. The norm of paragraph (3) of 16 art., EC stipulates that "The members of the Central Electoral Commission are irremovable. The vacancy of the function can appear in the case of the mandate expiry, resignation, demission or decease. Demission can be executed by the Parliament in the following cases:
a. adoption on his/her regard of final judicial decision in a criminal case;
b. the loss of Republic of Moldova citizenship;

c. the person is declared functionally limited or functionally incapacitated by a final court decision;
d. serious violation of the Republic of Moldova Constitution and of the present Code.
Another significant principle of Commission’s activity is continuity that is reflected in the norm of paragraph (6) of 17 art., Electoral Code, which provides that "The members of Commission cannot exercise more than 2 consecutive mandates".
The main attributions of the Central Electoral Commission are the following:
a. study the method of organizing and holding elections in order to improve the electoral law and procedures;
b. make recommendations to Government and Parliament concerning the timelines of operating changes to the electoral law;
c. develop regulations and instructions intended to improve the electoral procedures;
d. implement programs of civic education in-between elections;
e. organize training courses and seminars for individuals qualified to participate in the electoral process as members of district electoral councils or precinct electoral bureaus, as representatives of political parties or other socio-political organizations, electoral blocs or potential candidates, as officers in the apparatus of electoral councils or as members of support groups;
f. analyze electoral frauds, including allegations of fraud, committed in past or current elections as well as likely to be committed in future elections and take preventive measures; notify public authorities about issues needing consideration according to current laws;
g. organize preliminary consultations with parties, other socio-political organizations, with electoral blocks and representatives of mass-media and assures the signing by these of the Code of conduct until the start of the electoral campaign.
In the period of elections the Commission:
a. coordinate the activity of all electoral bodies to prepare and conduct elections, according to this Code;
b. oversee the implementation of this Code’s provisions and other laws that affect the conduct of elections;
c. establish electoral districts and district electoral councils and supervise their activity;
d. distribute funds allotted for conducting elections;
e. establish the form of ballots and voter rolls, the records of meetings of electoral councils and bureaus and other documents for conducting elections; and design of voting boxes and stamps for the electoral councils and bureaus;
f. sum up the results of the elections in the entire country;
g. consider statements and complaints regarding decisions and actions of district electoral councils and precinct electoral bureaus and adopt mandatory resolutions thereupon.
The electoral bodies of second level established in the aim of organization and conducting of elections are district electoral councils.
At least 50 days before elections, Central Electoral Commission shall establish district electoral councils in every administrative-territorial units of second level of the Republic of Moldova.
District electoral councils shall consist of 7-11 members entitled to deliberative vote.
Candidateship for 2 members of the electoral district councils are nominated by district courts, for the other 2 members, in case of local elections - by the local councils of the first level and, respectively, second level. The candidateship of the other members with the right of deliberative vote are nominated by the parties and other socio-political organizations represented in Parliament at the date when the electoral district councils are constituted, proportional to the mandates. The members of the electoral district council nominated by the district court and by local councils may not be counselors in local councils and members of parties.
District electoral councils shall have the following responsibilities:
a. form electoral bureaus and supervise the activity of precinct electoral bureaus; train their members, promote the technique of voting and the importance of the vote;
b. register independent candidates and lists of candidates from political parties, socio-political organizations, and electoral blocs and make public information about them;
c. sum up election results in the district, submit related documents to the Central Electoral Commission and assure that results are published in the local press;
d. consider statements and complaints about decisions and actions taken by precinct electoral bureaus, and adopt mandatory decisions regarding them;
According to the Electoral Code the process of voting is assured by electoral bureaus and polling stations.
Precinct electoral bureaus shall be formed by the district councils no later than 20 days before the election and will consist of 5 -11 members entitled to deliberative vote.
3 candidates for the electoral office members of the polling station electoral council are nominated by the local councils. The other members of the polling station electoral council with a deliberative vote are nominated by parties and other socio-political organizations represented in the Parliament at the date of its formation in the ratio of their representation. Members of the polling stations electoral councils cannot be counselors in the local councils and party members.
Precinct electoral bureaus shall have the following responsibilities:
a) together with public administration bodies provide for the review of voter rolls, ensure integrity of the lists and electoral ballots, and be responsible for their correct and complete development;
b) tabulate election results in the precinct, complete the protocols, and convey them along with all ballots to the district electoral council;
c) consider requests and complaints regarding preparation for elections and organization of voting, and make decisions regarding them which shall be attached to the bureau ’s protocols;

Voting
To conduct the voting properly the electoral districts shall be divided into precincts.
Precincts will be established by district electoral councils in localities based on the recommendation of mayors of villages (communes) and cities (municipalities) no later than 35 days before elections. Each precinct shall have no less than 30 and no more than 3,000 voters.
The ballot shall be divided into as many rectangles as there are electoral contestants.
At 07:00 a.m. on Election Day the chairperson of the precinct electoral bureau, in the presence of no less than half of the members of the bureau, shall check the ballot boxes and seal them. The chairperson shall also check the voter rolls, ballots, and seals, and announce the beginning of the voting. The chairperson shall invite the other members of the bureau, any other persons authorized to attend voting operations at the polling station, as well as the voters who may be present at the time of opening to observe his/her actions.
Voting is carried out on Election Day between (7:00 and 21:00). Every voter must vote in person. Voting for other individuals is not allowed. The precinct electoral bureau shall hand out ballots to voters based on the voter roll, only upon the presentation of an identification document. Voters shall confirm receipt of the ballot by signing the voter roll next to his/her name.
The voting is done on the basis of the ID and the accompanying slip which certifies the domicile or, depending on the case, the voter ’s residence in the radius of the respective polling station. In the moment when giving the ballot, one of the members of the electoral office applies on page 6 of the ID ’s accompanying slip the "Voted" stamp and the date of the voting.
Before the voter inserts the voting ballot into the box, one of the members of the polling station ’s electoral office, who will always stand next to the box, will apply on the other side of the ballot the special stamp of the polling station ’s electoral office.
Upon completion of voting at 21.00 p.m., the chairperson of the precinct electoral bureau shall announce the end of voting and give instructions to close the premises. The electoral bureau then begins counting the votes.
Immediately after the counting of votes, the precinct electoral bureau shall develop a protocol regarding the votes results that is signed by all bureau members with the right of deliberative vote, in two copies, that shall be presented no later than 18 hours after the announcement of the closing of the electoral precincts.
After receiving from the precinct electoral bureaus the protocols the district electoral council shall develop a protocol regarding the results and reports showing the results for the whole respective constituency.
In the frame of local elections and local referenda, district electoral councils of the first level administrative-territorial units submit protocols regarding the results of the elections to the relevant district or municipality courts, whereas those of the second level administrative-territorial units to the courts where the electoral councils of the second level administrative-territorial units are based. The courts, within 10 days of receiving the district electoral councils ’ reports, shall either confirm or not the legality of the elections or referendum in every electoral district by a decision and validate the mandates of elected local authorities.
In the case of Parliamentary elections and republican referenda district electoral councils submit protocols regarding the results of the elections to the Central Electoral Commission that subsequently shall develop a protocol regarding the votes results and submit it to Constitutional Court to confirm or not the legality of the elections or referendum and validate the mandates of deputies in Parliament.
The results of Presidential elections are also validated through a decision of Constitutional Court.
Till the Constitutional Court was instituted in 1994, the results of the election of the President of State in 1991 and the election of Parliament in 1994 were validated by the Central Electoral Commission and respectively by Supreme Court of Justice.

Legal remedies
The good conduct of the electoral process depends on the way that it is regulated and all electoral actions are hold, inclusively the solving of the petitions addressed by interested people regarding the frauds and violations that took place and was noted in the frame of electoral process.
In the Republic of Moldova any voter or any electoral contestant may appeal a decision or action by an electoral council and bureau to court or higher level electoral bodies.
The electoral bodies examine the petitions in the next immediate meeting and citizens shall be provided with an opportunity to become familiar with the voter rolls and to verify the accuracy of their compilation. They have the right to appeal against their names being incorrectly omitted or excluded from the list, as well as mistaken personal data introduced in the list. The appeals are examined by the respective electoral bodies within 24 hours.
In the electoral period the activity of the courts during an electoral period shall be organized in such a way that statements, complaints and appeals can be submitted freely and in due time. Appeals against actions and decisions by the CEC filed during an electoral period shall be acted upon within five days of their filling.
Appeals submitted to court on the day of elections shall be considered on the same day, whereas appeals regarding electoral body decisions on results tabulation and mandate award shall be examined by court simultaneously with the legality of the election and the validation of mandates.

Election results
As it was mentioned before, from the declaration of independence and till the present days 9 general elections have been organized, with the following results:
The first President of the R.S.S. Moldova, Mircea Snegur, was elected by the Parliament on 13 September 1990.
One year later, on 18 September 1991 the Parliament adopted the Law regarding Presidential elections of the Republic of Moldova, that defined the mechanism of organization and conducting of elections for this position by universal, equal, direct, secret and freely expressed vote. Thus, on 8 December 1991, Mircea Snegur, was elected by the citizens in the position of president of the Republic of Moldova. In the ballots for these elections was entered one single candidate - M. Snegur, the others 2 applicants: Grigore Eremei and Gheorghe Malarciuc had quitted the presidential race. At the scrutiny took part 83,96% voters, among which 98,18% votes in "favor" and 1,78% votes "against".
Parliamentary elections from 27 February 1994 were won by Agrarian Democratic Party from Moldova with 43,18%, taking 56 from 104 deputies ’ mandates, Electoral Bloc of the Socialist Party and the Movement "Unity-Edinstvo" - 28 mandates (22%), Electoral Bloc "The Bloc of Peasant and Intellectuals" - 11 mandates (9.21%), Electoral Bloc "The Alliance of Popular Christian Democratic Front" - 9 mandates (7.53 %). The turnout of voters was 79 %.

At the general local elections from 16 April 1995 took part 60,02% of voters, the scrutiny results are the followings:
At the presidential elections from 17 November 1996 was elected in the position of President of the Republic of Moldova, after the second round of scrutiny, Mr. Pertu Lucinschi with 54% from the number of valid votes cast. The rate of turnout was 72%.
After the adoption of Constitution on 14 June 1994, the number of deputies in Parliament was reduced to 101 deputies. Thus, Parliamentary elections from 22 March 1998 had the following results:
The Communist Party of Moldova - 40 mandates (30.01%),
The Electoral Bloc "Democratic Convention from Moldova" - 26 mandates (19.42%),
The Electoral Bloc "For Democratic and Prosperous Moldova" - 24 mandates (18.16%),
The Democratic Forces Party - 11 mandates (8,84%).
The percentage of turnout of voters was of 69%.

At local general elections from 23 May 1999 the level of turnout of voters was 56,9 % and had following results:

Parliamentary elections in 25 February 2001 had the following results:
Communist Party of Moldova - 71 mandates (50.07%),
Electoral Bloc "Braghio Alliance" - 19 mandates (13.36%),
People’s Christian Democratic Party - 11 mandates (8.24%)
The percentage of turnout was - 67%.

On 5 July 2000, the Parliament adopted amendments in Constitution by which set out that the President of the Republic of Moldova is elected by the Parliament.
On 4 April 2001, The Parliament elected Mr. Vladimir Voronin in the position of the President of the Republic of Moldova.
At local general elections in 25 May 2003 the turnout was 58,26 % of voters.

In the result of parliamentary elections in 6 March 2005, from those 23 electoral contestants only 3 surpassed the electoral threshold - the Communist Party (45,98% votes, 56 mandates), The Electoral Bloc "Democratic Moldova" (28,53% votes, 34 mandates) and People’s Christian Democratic Party (9,07% votes, 11 mandates). The other 20 electoral contestants gathered up together 16,42% from electorate votes, the votes that were distributed to those 3 winners in a proportional way, in accordance with d ’Hondt formula. From the number of entered persons in the electoral registers took part in election 64,84%.
Considering the fact that the mandate of the President of state have to expire on the date of 4 April 2005, an election procedure of the President of the Republic of Moldova by the new Parliament was initiated. The elections were hold in a democratic spirit with 2 candidates in opposition: the president in exercise Vladimir Voronin and Gheorghe Duca, the Chairman of The Academy of Science of Moldova. As a result of secret voting, on 4 April 2005 Vladimir Voronin was elected for the second mandate with an overwhelming majority of votes. The Constitutional Court has confirmed the constitutionality of these elections.

Role of information technology
The processing of information regarding the conducting of elections until the parliamentary scrutiny on 6 March 2005 was carried out in the most part manually. Concerning the electoral lists, these are developed by hand till present.
For the first time CEC was equipped with a server of high capacity able to process all the results regarding the voting in territory sent by district electoral councils that were publicly visualized during the whole electoral process. Every district electoral councils was supplied with computers, in such a way having the possibility to introduce, process and than send to CEC the dates regarding the turnout, as well as the results of voting on every polling station and utterly on constituency.
On 9 March the Government adopted the decision no. 255 regarding the action plan for realization of National Strategy to build up informational society - "Electronic Moldova" that stipulates that till the year 2010 in the country to be implemented the informational system for e-voting, as well as drawing up of electoral lists on the base of state ’s register of population.
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