Postal voting will be expanded in Japan and Australia for 2025 parliamentary elections
Citizens of Moldova residing in Japan and Australia will be able to vote by mail in the parliamentary elections scheduled for September 28. The Parliament has approved a draft law in its first reading that allows for the partial extension of mail-in voting despite criticism from the opposition.
Opposition MPS accused the government of preparing to rig the upcoming autumn parliamentary elections and criticised the absence of the necessary approvals for the bill's first reading. They also questioned the decision to extend postal voting to Japan and Australia—countries where, according to them, few Moldovan citizens reside—rather than to European Union member states or the Russian Federation, where the largest diaspora lives. The authors of the bill, however, defended their stance, arguing that postal voting should primarily benefit Moldovans who live far from polling stations.
BCS deputy Inga Sibova stated, "We have not received an answer to the question of why the largest countries, where our citizens truly need this postal vote, are excluded. There are our citizens who deserve the opportunity to vote. I am talking about countries currently experiencing conflict, such as Israel, Ukraine, and Russia. Today, when the majority claims we are against the diaspora, you are lying. However, the selective implementation of Law 109 shows your hypocrisy."
PAS deputy Vasile Grădinaru, one of the bill's authors, responded, "Our goal is to provide postal voting to those who need it. Postal voting is not a convenience for citizens who are too lazy to travel to a polling station; it is a necessity for those who must travel long distances. This is what the right to vote is for—those facing long distances and those with shorter ones, regardless of whether they are in Germany, Italy, or any other country. We will ensure enough polling stations are created, which you have failed to do."
The bill proposed by the parliamentary majority extends postal voting to Japan and Australia and introduces several technical and procedural adjustments. These include extending the deadline for receiving ballot envelopes to Friday, the day before the election, compared to the current deadline of Thursday. The bill also clarifies the conditions for validating applications and establishes a separate electoral council in Chisinau to manage the postal voting process.
Angelica Caraman, President of the Central Electoral Commission, stated that the estimated costs for organizing and operating the new electoral council amount to approximately 341,000 lei, a figure comparable to that allocated for other constituency electoral councils.
According to the bill's authors, these measures aim to reduce the number of rejected applications and canceled envelopes due to procedural errors, improve transparency and security, and increase participation among Moldovans in the diaspora.
After almost two hours of debate, the project was approved in its first reading with 57 votes. The authors, who are members of the Action and Solidarity faction, announced that the bill will undergo public consultations on Friday, May 2, in Parliament. They also promised that the second reading vote would take place only after obtaining all necessary approvals, including from the Government.
Voting by mail was tested for the first time during the presidential elections and constitutional referendum on October 20, 2024. The law regulating this pilot program was adopted on April 26, 2024, despite criticism from the opposition. They challenged the law in the Constitutional Court, arguing that it is discriminatory because it applies only in certain states.
For the initial phase of implementation, the selected countries included the USA, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. These countries were chosen based on criteria such as long distances from polling stations, lack of consular infrastructure, functional postal services, and previous experience in organizing remote voting.
