THE DRAFT law providing for the piloting of postal voting has been adopted by Parliament. The document regulates the principles of exercising the right to vote by mail, the specific electoral procedures, as well as the powers of the electoral bodies that will organize this alternative method of exercising the right to vote. Electoral procedures regarding securing voting, keeping and ensuring the integrity of the envelopes with the received ballots will be established by a regulation approved by the Central Electoral Commission, informs TRIBUNA.

According to a press release, the draft law on piloting voting by mail was subjected to an extensive process of public consultations attended by representatives of civil society, political parties and public authorities involved in the electoral process. The received proposals were taken into account to improve the document.

Among the accepted amendments is the inclusion of criteria for identifying countries where postal voting is to be implemented. Thus, the conditions regarding the partial implementation of postal voting are the lack of polling stations in the host country or the long distance to the nearest previously established voting station; the experience of implementing this alternative voting method; the prior registration of at least 30 applications at the previous electoral poll; safety and reliability of postal services. Countries that meet these criteria include the United States of America, Canada, the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Republic of Finland, and the Republic of Iceland. Voting by mail will not be possible in countries where the Republic of Moldova does not have established diplomatic relations, in countries in military conflicts and in countries where international standards regarding the conduct of free and fair elections are not respected.

Also, the uncertainty regarding the age of the voters was removed. Accordingly, persons who, upon submitting the request, have reached the age of majority will exercise their right to vote by mail. Another provision included in the document refers to ensuring the security of the vote. Thus, the envelope with materials for voting will contain a self-responsible declaration. Voters will be required to sign it to confirm the exercise of the secret ballot. At the same time, voters who do not respect the secrecy of the vote will be sanctioned. The Criminal Code was supplemented with an article aimed at not respecting the secrecy of the vote, disclosing the voting option expressed by mail or sending the ballot to a third party.

In order to vote by mail, citizens will have to compulsorily register to vote by mail and receive a notification from the Central Electoral Commission regarding the completion of the registration procedure. At the same time, the ballots will be sent to the voters through diplomatic mail or regular postal services. The document also contains provisions regarding the procedure for counting and totaling the votes, as well as the situations in which the ballots are declared invalid.

It should be noted that, in the presidential elections of 2021, 212,434 voters from outside the Republic of Moldova participated. Globally, 53 countries allow postal voting from abroad. At the same time, 13 member states of the European Union allow voting by mail.