Description of Electoral System:

Electoral laws of Moldova are available here.

Recent elections

 Parliamentary elections - 2009 (29th July)

On the 29th July 2009 Moldova held early parliamentary elections. These elections followed the controversial elections of the 5th April that were plagued with accusations of vote rigging and resulted in demonstrations and riots.

The Communists (PCRM) emerged as the strongest party, with 48 seats in the 101-member assembly, but The pro-European opposition, consisting of the Liberal Democratic party, the Liberal party, the Democratic party and “Our Moldova”, won a combined majority of 53 seats. On the 8th August, the pro-European parties agreed to create a government coalition, called the “Alliance for European Integration”. The results differed significantly from those in parliamentary elections held in April, in which the Communists won 60 seats.

Neither the Communists nor the opposition parties combined had the three-fifths of parliament seats that would be necessary to elect a new president without gaining the support of some members of the other side. The first election attempt on the 10th November failed, as the PCRM boycotted the election. The second round was held on the 7th December, and also resulted in failure. The early election will be held in 2010, as the constitution forbids a second early election in the same year.
 

The report of the E-day by the Association of European Election Officials is available here.

Parliamentary elections - 2009 (5th April)

The parliamentary elections on the 5th April 2009 were conducted to elect 101 members of the unicameral Parliament of the Republic of Moldova for a four-year term. The newly elected parliament was to elect a new President of Moldova. After serving two four-year terms, the incumbent president Vladimir Voronin could not stand for re-election. President Voronin’s mandate expired on the 7th April. The president of Moldova is elected by a three-fifths majority of the vote in parliament.

The newly-elected Parliament failed to elect the new President in two attempts on 20th May and 3rd June due to the abstention of members of opposition political parties from participation in both votes, therefore in line with the Constitution, the president was obliged to dissolve the Parliament and to call early parliamentary elections.

Past elections

Local elections - 2007

On 3 June 2007, general local elections were held in Moldova. Voter turnout was 52.34% nationwide and 37.17% in Chisinau municipality, which was sufficient for the elections to be valid. Following the elections, district, municipal, town and village councils were elected, as well as 420 mayors.

Results of elections are found here. To read the Final report of OSCE-ODIHR, click here.

Parliamentary elections - 2005

On the March 6, 2005 parliamentary elections were held in the Republic of Moldova. As many as 1,970 polling stations divided into 37 electoral constituencies of second level were opened inside and outside Moldova for scrutiny. As much as 64.84 percent of voters included in electoral lists attended the scrutiny. The highest participation rate was registered in the district of Basarabeasca, while the lowest participation rate was recorded in the Chisinau municipality. As a result of the 2005 elections, the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova gained 56 seats in the 101-member Parliament - more than the minimum 51 seats required to form a government, but short of the 61 votes necessary to elect a president. President Vladimir Voronin was therefore re-elected with support from the Christian Democratic People's Party and from the Democratic and Social Liberal parties.

Results of elections are found here. To read the Final report of OSCE-ODIHR, click here.

Presidential elections - 2005

Analysis on 2005 parliamentary elections of the Robert Schuman Foundation is available here.

Local elections - 2003

Parliamentary elections - 2001