Ahead of this Sunday’s run-off presidential election in Moldova, Promo-LEX observers underline the lack of explicit and exhaustive legal provisions in the Electoral Code to regulate the conduct of the second round of elections. Promo-LEX recorded cases of misuse of state resources, involvement of religious groups in election campaigning, use of undeclared finances, and violations against anti-COVID restrictions during campaigning.

In the final monitoring report before presidential elections on this Sunday, 1 November, Promo-LEX reports on misuse of state resources, intimidation and presence of hate speech and incitement to discrimination in the contenders’ messages, electoral gifts, as well as the involvement of religious groups in the election campaign of a candidate. Promo-LEX observers also found deceased persons and wrong addresses in voter lists.

The Committee of Voters of Ukraine reports that the most serious problem by the end of voting yesterday was voter bribery. Bribing of voters to change their address to vote in a specific constituency was also reported, as well as instances of bussing voters to constituencies. The second major problem of Election Day were instances of falsifying the vote, including instances where voters were forced to vote, ballots went missing, or ballot papers having already been filled in before being issued to voters.

The Committee of Voters of Ukraine (CVU) presented results of its long-term monitoring two days before the local elections. Main issues identified were use of shadow funds; black PR and violence against candidates; electoral tourism; lack of state funding for personal protective equipment of precinct election commission members. CVU also recommended that voters decide before going to the polling station who they wish to vote for to reduce the time spent there.

ISFED stated in their fourth monitoring report of the election campaign that intimidation, harassment, and interference with participants in the election remain to be the greatest challenge. Unauthorized individuals have participated in election campaigning and possible cases of use of administrative resources and vote-buying have been identified. During the formation of PECs ISFED observed that these were done mostly pro forma and opposition requests were ignored.

The process of setting up polling stations (PS) abroad (outside of diplomatic mission premises) was contested and conducted without any public consultations, but now, for the first time, this was based on a clear mechanism for establishing the PS' number and location. The formula used to determine PS abroad is based on a recommendation by election observers and civil society. Promo-LEX discussed this and many other aspects of the election campaign in their third interim report.

According to ISFED, signs of possible vote buying and use of administrative resources during the reporting period continues to be the main challenge of the election environment. ISFED found use of administrative resources in involvement of the ruling party’s majoritarian candidates in events funded by the State and local budgets. It appears that the ruling Georgian Dream party is trying to use all available administrative resources for electoral purposes.

During the election campaign period, a level playing field for candidates has not been secured. Candidates who were supported by the authorities could also count on support from local authorities, courts, and electoral authorities and often did not have to face the restrictions associated with the Covid 19 pandemic when conducting their campaigns. State controlled media dominated the public sphere and manipulated public opinion in the mass media by obstructing opposition candidates and creating advantages for "administrative" candidates.

The analysis of the process of candidates’ registration in self-government elections shows an unproportionally high dropout rate of opposition candidates. In the main elections to regional parliaments and councils, parties supported by the authorities could nominate 98 % of their candidates, self-nominated candidates could register in over 60 % of cases, and parties without „administrative support” were rejected in almost 90% of cases.

Opora issued their first interim report of the pre-election campaign period for the local elections. Officially, election campaigning began 05 September, however, political parties, their local organizations, and potential candidates de facto already launched their active campaigning in August. This stage of early campaigning is unregulated by any electoral legal framework and there are no controls over campaign spending. The uncontrolled spending on political ads on social media is also a concern highlighted in the report available on OPORA's website here.

ISFED identified 8 cases of alleged vote buying; cases of dismissal based on possible political motive in 5 municipalities; 5 cases of intimidation/harassment based on possible political motive; 2 cases of possible use of administrative resources; 2 cases of withholding social assistance based on possible political discrimination; 1 case of intimidation of ISFED observer; 1 case of interference in political activities and in pre-election campaigning by the Church; and 1 case of creating obstacles for registration of a political party.

From the first days of early voting, observers from various civic initiatives faced obstacles from PEC members and police officers. Numerous observers were removed from polling stations, deprived of accreditation, and even detained. The restrictions imposed by the CEC on the number of observers at polling stations during early voting made this electoral phase completely non-transparent for independent citizen observation. These restrictions were aimed at disrupting independent observation of this stage, rather than pursuing the declared medical safety measures in connection with the pandemic.

On August 4, early voting in the presidential election was launched to continue until August 8. According to “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”, most pro-government observers were registered immediately after the formation of the PECs in June. As a result, only observers from pro-government organisations and political parties will observe the election, administered by the election commissions, which mostly consist of the members representing the same organisations.

During the reporting period, ISFED identified 19 cases of possible vote buying, including 16 by majoritarian members of the Georgian Parliament and 3 by the Movement for Future, 2 cases of possible use of state resources, 1 case of exerting pressure on ISFED observer, 2 cases of interference in political activities and one case of political pressure/intimidation.

Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections (HRDs) stated in their latest report on the entire nomination and signature collection phase of the election campaign that this was marred by serious violations of the standards of free and democratic elections. The nomination groups of some candidates were subjected to significant pressure from law enforcement agencies and the verification of signatures by the Central Election Commission (CEC) was not transparent.

On June 24 authorities completed the formation of Precinct Election Commissions (PECs) which are an important element of the electoral process directly engaged in the administration of voting and counting of votes. Observers note that the formation of PECs clearly discriminated against representatives of opposition parties: 1.1% of the total number of elected nominees are from opposition parties while 96.7% are from pro-government parties.

In this weekly report, observers from HRDFE report that mass arrests and detentions of opposition activists, including members of Tsikhanouskaya’s nomination group, took place in different cities of the country during the week. Observers also note that the CEC interpreted electoral law selectively in the favor of certain candidates, e.g. complaints filed against Lukashenka’s nomination group for abuse of administrative resources in the collection of his signatures were rejected.

Observers were unable to attend meetings on the establishment of territorial election commissions (TECs), which were livestreamed in response to COVID-19, but were still difficult for observers to monitor due to the poor quality of some of the livestreams. Most TEC nominees represent six pro-government parties and compared to the previous Presidential election the number of opposition representatives in TECs has decreased by 15 times and the ‘success rate’ to be selected has halved.

The Presidential election is scheduled for August 9 in Belarus and so far, authorities have ignored proposals to amend electoral procedures to minimize risks relating to COVID-19. Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections found that basic civil and political freedoms are hampered by significant legislative restrictions and report that the general human rights situation has deteriorated shortly before the election.

EMDS recorded similar violations on E-Day that have occurred in previous elections - one person voting multiple times, bussing of voters, ballot-box stuffing, and voting without registration. These violations were widespread and deliberate. Turnout figures counted by observers were significantly lower than the figures the CEC officially released on their website throughout E-Day. EMDS believes that violations recorded during all stages of these elections made it impossible for the elections to be fair and free.