Moldova to expand absentee voting in 2025 elections
The list of countries eligible for absentee voting in the 2025 parliamentary elections will be extended. This statement was made by Pavel Postica, Vice President of the Central Election Commission (CEC), on the Zi de zi (Day-by-Day) program on Radio Moldova.
He stated that this could only happen if Parliament approves the CEC report and amends the legislation to allow this method to be partially applied in other countries.
Pavel Postica clarified that the report presented to Parliament includes several recommendations for improving the process. "We have identified certain discrepancies in timing and procedure that would make the absentee voting process easier and more efficient," he explained. "For this reason, in the CEC report, we proposed that the voting ballots should be returned on Friday, before election day, instead of Thursday."
The decision to expand absentee voting will consider the experience of the host country and several criteria, including the safety of postal services, the stability of diplomatic relations between our country and the respective state, and the absence of military conflict and war in the countries involved.
"We cannot apply absentee voting in a country that has not implemented this method itself," Postica said. "There are international indicators that address these questions. While we cannot provide specific country names at this time, once this list is approved, legal provisions will be considered."
When asked whether absentee voting could become a permanent method, the CEC Vice President mentioned that the Venice Commission's recommendations advocate for a phased implementation. "Only after the 2025 parliamentary elections will we be able to discuss the universal and permanent implementation of absentee voting," he concluded.
It should be noted that Moldova implemented absentee voting in the 2024 presidential elections and the constitutional referendum for citizens with voting rights residing in six countries: the United States, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland.
1,986 voters applied for absentee voting. However, 1,809 voters had their requests accepted after verification and were sent voting envelopes. The number of outer envelopes with absentee voting ballots in the first round was 1,312 (72.52%), and 1,459 (80.65%) in the second round.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
