VZCZCXRO0414
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 #0588/01 2111546
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301546Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY CHISINAU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8216
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHISINAU 000588 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EUR/UMB, DRL/AE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM MD
SUBJECT: EMBASSY OBSERVERS NOTE BOTH GOOD AND BAD 
ON ELECTION DAY 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  On voting day, fourteen teams 
of Embassy election monitors noted wide 
discrepancies in polling station management, 
quality of voter lists, quality of local-observer 
participation, and vote counting and posting at 
the precinct and district levels.  In many polling 
stations elections were well-administered and 
proceeded smoothly, though in other polling 
stations some problems were noted.  Most 
misbehavior appeared to favor the Party of 
Communists (PCRM), but this appears to have 
resulted from old habits, especially in rural 
districts, rather than from any systematic, 
centrally-planned, effort on the part of the 
ruling party to defraud.  While there were still 
many technical problems, our observers noted 
improvements in some problem polling stations, 
leading us to conclude that both international 
assistance and training and a desire on the part 
of Moldovans not to repeat the events of April, 
have led to some progress.  End summary. 
 
Parliament Seat Shifts 
---------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) With 98.3 percent of returns in, the 
major news is that the PCRM has lost its majority 
in Parliament:  from holding 60 out of 101 seats 
in the short-lived Parliament elected on April 5, 
the PCRM has dropped to 48.  The three opposition 
parties that won seats in April held a combined 
total of 41 seats; in the latest Parliament, they 
hold 40.  The Liberal Party (PL) held steady at 15 
seats; the Liberal Democrats (PLDM) increased from 
15 to 17; the Our Moldova Alliance dropped from 11 
to 8.  The big winner was the Democratic Party 
(PD), which won no seats in April, under previous 
management, and 13 seats in July, under the new 
management of former Speaker, and PCRM defector, 
Marian Lupu. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The means by which Moldova reached these 
results are a mixture of the good and well- 
intentioned, and the bad and mala fide.  To see 
how things worked, the Embassy targeted a 
representative sample of polling stations that 
exhibited problems (such as unusually high turnout 
and lopsided vote totals) in the April elections. 
The Embassy's 14 teams ranged from Balti in the 
north to Cahul in the south.  The teams monitored 
voting in 54 urban and 26 rural and village 
Precinct Election Bureaus (PEBs), accompanied 
ballots to two District Election Commissions 
(DECs) at the close of voting, and stayed through 
the small hours for the count at five DECs. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Nearly every PEB had some problems with 
their voter list, including unknown people listed 
at various addresses, the unpurged deceased, 
miscopied ID numbers, and multiple listings.  Even 
in Chisinau, which published a web-based checking 
system for citizen use, some problems still 
occurred, including the embarrassing incident in 
which Liberal Democrat leader Vlad Filat noted an 
unknown name listed at his address.  On the other 
hand, the vast majority of people was listed 
correctly, those who were not could get included 
on a supplemental list by presenting proof of 
domicile.  Greater citizen awareness, better civic 
education, and a determination to avoid the 
problems of April 5 all led to improved elections 
but, paradoxically, led to a more widespread 
challenging of errors and thus an impression of 
possibility for fraud caused by better reporting. 
 
¶5. (SBU) After criticisms of dictatorial PEB 
presidents and passive NGO (and occasionally 
political party) observers in the April elections, 
the international and NGO community ramped up 
training efforts for both.  Widespread public 
education (including 500,000 SMS messages sent 
just before July elections), improved training 
sessions for PEB staff and observers, and 10,000 
copies of an updated legal manual by the 
International Foundation for Election Systems 
(IFES), helped ensure that everyone had access to 
clear explanations of election law and practice. 
On several occasions, our monitors witnessed party 
observers successfully challenging PEB presidents, 
 
CHISINAU 00000588  002 OF 002 
 
 
in addition to watching a PEB president hold firm 
against the complaints of students who lacked 
absentee voting cards and were therefore not 
allowed to vote.  In both cases, the citation of 
chapter and verse from the IFES manual settled 
matters. 
 
¶6. (SBU) On the other hand, and especially in the 
villages, Soviet customs still applied.  Our 
monitors saw several PEBs in which PCRM observers 
(without the required badges) and presidents sat 
close to the ballot box, one of them actually 
inspecting an unfolded ballot before it was 
dropped into the box.  Some PEB chairman required 
that monitors remain seated in one spot to observe 
the polling, rather than letting them walk around 
to monitor anywhere in the room.  In one PEB, 
police in uniform were seen standing by the door, 
in violation of law.  Privacy concerns were 
prominent at hospitals and state nursing homes, 
where ballots we laid out on tables; and there 
were reports of coercion:  we heard reports that 
staff had told patients that they would lose their 
treatment and medications if they did not vote for 
the PCRM, and received complaints that psychiatric 
patients and alcoholics were guided to vote for 
the PCRM.  However, despite the guidance, one of 
our monitors visiting a hospital for skin diseases 
noted that the vote tally showed a wide spread of 
support for different parties, despite the 
patients having to vote in front of officials. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The mobile ballot boxes, designed for the 
shut-in and ill, and requiring a written 
application from the intending voter, were also a 
source of concern.  In one PEB, officials made up 
the list of voters known to be elderly and sick, 
and our monitors accompanied the mobile ballot box 
to homes where these voters were clearly 
unprepared for its appearance.  PEB officials 
argued with the voters, stating that they had 
indeed requested the service, and guided voters to 
vote PCRM.  In other PEBs, monitors noted what has 
been a common problem with the mobile ballot box 
dozens of pre-printed requests for service, with 
only the signatures individualized. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Late-night counting was often chaotic. 
It is important to note that PEB officials work 
from 6:30 A.M. until the close of polls 14-and-a- 
half hours later, and then face the late-night 
task of counting ballots and reconciling numbers. 
In some cases, it went relatively smoothly.  The 
DECs, to which ballots in wax-sealed envelopes 
were driven by police after counting, were also 
mixed in performance.  While the Balti DEC was a 
labyrinth of 16 offices on two floors and a 
farrago of hidden decisions and documents, and 
Soroca's DEC operated ad hoc and without 
procedures, the Ialoveni DEC, which was identified 
as a problem child in April elections, had 
undergone a complete change, with the chairman 
happy to show off the improvements that had been 
made.  The DEC at Basarabeasca, which was visited 
by the same monitor in April and July, was also 
much improved. 
 
Comment: 
-------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Our monitors covered a representative 
sample of PEBs and DECs that had been 
problematical in April.  It is an indication of 
overall improvement that many of these showed 
improvement, while none became significantly 
worse.  Strong assistance from the international 
community, widespread training, and, above all, a 
desire on the part of Moldovans and their friends 
not to repeat the events of April, have led to 
what can be called arguable progress. 
 
CHAUDHRY