Venice Commission welcomes Moldovan authorities' decision to introduce vote by correspondence

Chisinau, 21 June /MOLDPRES/ - The Venice Commission has provided a positive opinion on the Law on the partial implementation of the vote by correspondence, adopted by the parliament on 26 April 2024. The head of the parliament’s juridical commission for appointments and immunities, Veronica Rosca, made statements to this effect.    

According to Rosca, the Commission welcomes the introduction of the vote by correspondence, ‘’as the number of Moldovan citizens with right to vote from abroad is larger against other states and the practice according to which they voted in the last years created difficulties.’’   

The Venice Commission emphasizes the fact that ‘’the limited territorial coverage of the pilot voting is acceptable, as it is applied to a single ballot’’ and namely the referendum and the presidential elections due on 20 October 2024.    

At the same time, the Venice Commission recommends that, if the ‘’pilot voting is a success, the voting by correspondence should be turned permanent, thus providing it the legal stability and certainty and applying it to all countries where the voting by correspondence is safe and reliable, based on the decisions by the Central Electoral Commission.’’     

The opinion highlights the fact that, although the amendments were adopted later than five months before the ballot, they do not infringe the principle of stability of the electoral right, as they have a limited territorial applicability (United States, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland).   

Veronica Rosca noted that the vote by correspondence was ‘’an electoral instrument expected by the Moldovan Diaspora for a long time and is meant to bring an option of vote for our citizens from abroad in six countries where this system is already used successfully. The electoral authority now should make sure that the vote by correspondence is implemented according to all standards and the citizens’ vote is safe and protected,’’ Rosca also said.    

Moldova will implement the vote by correspondence in next autumn. The lawmakers in last April adopted a draft law to this end. At the presidential elections and at the constitutional referendum on Moldova’s accession to EU, the Moldovans from the following countries will exercise their right to vote by correspondence: USA, Canada, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden. To vote by correspondence, the citizens will have to compulsorily register and receive a notification of the Central Electoral Commission on the finishing of the registration procedure. At the same time, the ballot papers will be shipped to voters by diplomatic mail or usual postal services.    

Fifty three countries allow the voting by mail from abroad. At the same time, 13 European Union member states allow the vote by correspondence.