VZCZCXRO9914
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSL RUEHSR RUEHVK
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DE RUEHCH #0586/01 2101346
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 291346Z JUL 09 ZDS
FM AMEMBASSY CHISINAU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8212
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHISINAU 000586 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/UMB, DRL/AE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM MD
SUBJECT: Mud Wrestling Ends; Voting Proceeds 
Mostly Smoothly 
 
CHISINAU 00000586  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
///C O R R E C T E D COPY -- ADDED CAPTION/// 
 
REF:  Chisinau 541 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  After a mud-slinging polarized 
campaign, peaceful voting has begun on July 29. 
Procedures are in place, and nearly 2,000 polling 
stations (PEBs) are reporting high turnout. 
Problems are predominantly minor, such as errors 
on voting lists and occasional high-handed 
pronouncements by precinct chairpersons. 
OSCE/ODIHR will observe District Election 
Commissions throughout the night.  The Central 
Election Commission (CEC) has promised, with 
little enthusiasm, to post PEB results at the DEC 
level, in order to permit cross-checking.  The CEC 
reneged on the same promise on April 5.  The CEC 
will begin providing preliminary election results 
at 23:30 and will continue to update the data 
throughout the night until the final election 
results are presented.  End summary. 
 
The Good News on Procedures 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) On a pleasant, sunny summer day, voters 
showed up in high numbers, probably in an effort 
to get voting done before going to work.  (Today's 
vote is the first taking place on a workday in 
Moldova's history.) At 9:45 A.M., the CEC reported 
a nationwide turnout of 10.7 percent, well on the 
way to meeting the recently reduced turnout 
requirement of one third of registered voters.  As 
of 12:45, that number had risen to about thirty 
percent (29.99), turnout that was slightly higher 
than at the same time on April 5.  As of 15:45, 
participation had reached 34.1 percent, enough for 
the elections to be considered valid.  The Embassy 
fielded 12 teams of observers, who are reporting 
general compliance with the rules, active 
participation of political party PEB observers, as 
well as highly-interested and well-informed 
voters.  In the majority of polling stations that 
Embassy observers visited, voting was taking place 
in an orderly fashion, without incident. 
 
The Glitches 
------------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) As on April 5, there were numerous 
reports of technical violations and problems with 
the voter lists.  Some voters, including Liberal 
Democrat leader Vlad Filat, reported seeing the 
names of people, unknown to them, listed at their 
addresses.  Others reported seeing the names of 
dead relatives and of friends and relatives no 
longer living in Moldova.  At least one voter 
observed by an Embassy team was wrongly denied the 
right to vote because his ID card number was 
entered incorrectly.  Another voter, also observed 
by an Embassy team, was correctly denied the right 
to vote, because his ID card had expired.  Cases 
of husband and wife entering the voting booth 
together were observed.  Some PEBs were better run 
than others, and one Embassy observer noted a PEB 
chairperson hiding ballots before the opening. 
PEBs where the room was too small were generally 
more chaotic, while there was a more orderly 
procedure in PEBs that had a larger space. 
 
¶4. (SBU) One Embassy observer noted men in 
military uniforms picking up mobile ballot boxes, 
presumably for soldiers, and another observer 
noted psychiatric patients from a nearby hospital 
lined up to vote at a PEB. (Note: Military 
officers have no right to pick up mobile ballot 
boxes; it is the responsibility of PEB officials 
to transport the box to properly registered 
applicants who are incapacitated.  It is illegal 
for persons of reduced mental capacity to vote. 
End note.)  The most blatant case observed by an 
Embassy observer was of a PEB official who told an 
opposition party political observer to stay in his 
seat and not exercise his legal right to check 
voter lists and the work of PEB registrars. 
 
SoQSo Far, So Good? 
------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Today's events so far recall the mostly 
placid events of April 5.  The real difference 
this time is that all observers, whether local, 
 
CHISINAU 00000586  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
///C O R R E C T E D COPY - CAPTION ADDED/// 
 
international or local diplomatic, are aware that 
the most important part of the election is the 
counting and aggregating of figures at the DEC 
level.  OSCE/ODIHR has told us that their 
observers will sequester themselves with the DECs 
throughout the wee hours to monitor the count. 
The CEC has also promised the international 
community that it will post all PEB results 
individually at the DEC level, to permit cross- 
checking.  In contrast to April 5, IFES has 
installed software and fielded experts to allow 
this to happen in real time.  IFES experts have 
told us, however, that the CEC made and reneged 
upon the same promise in April, and has been half- 
hearted in its July promises. 
 
Troubles on the Line 
-------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) In the disputed left-bank village of 
Corjova (Voronin's birthplace), Transnistrian 
authorities and a crowd of some 200-300 
protestors, prevented voting from taking place. 
The crowd including Cossacks, plainclothes 
"irregulars" and other nationalists, began to 
assemble before 6:00 A.M. in order to prevent the 
polling station from opening.  Embassy observers 
witnessed busloads of rough-looking young men 
arriving at around 6:20 A.M.  Organizers 
distributed red and green Transnistrian armbands 
to the participants.  At 7:00 A.M. official 
speeches at the Transnistrian demonstration began, 
and the voting urn and polling booth were carried 
out of the building.  Demonstrators had banners 
with slogans including "Corjova is Transnistrian 
Territory" and "No Illegal Elections."  At 10:00 
A.M., after a special meeting, the Central 
Election Committee determined that elections could 
not be held in Corjova, pronounced the station 
closed, and ruled that Corjova residents could 
vote in either Cocieri or Ustia, two nearby 
villages.  The scenario unfolded exactly as it had 
on April 5, with the same cast of characters 
present; Moldovan election officials understood 
that they could not penetrate the crowd and made 
no attempt to do so, hence the event remained 
peaceful and there were no violent clashes. 
 
Comment: 
-------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The day's events are not looking too bad, 
all things considered.  What happens in the night 
(and what we and others will be allowed to see in 
the night) will be crucial.  At this point we 
cannot gauge what will happen in the post- 
elections environment, as it will depend upon the 
extent to which the population accepts the 
announced results or believes there was serious 
falsification.  Polling stations will close at 
21:00 local time.  The CEC will then begin 
providing preliminary election results at 23:30 
and will continue to update the data throughout 
the night until the final election results are 
presented.  The real political drama will begin 
only after the voting results are known. 
 
CHAUDHRY