Establishment of Electoral Constituencies and of District Electoral Councils

(1) At least 55 days prior to elections, the Central Electoral Commission shall establish the electoral constituencies, which, as a rule, should correspond with the borders of second-level administrative-territorial units of the Republic of Moldova, and of the Autonomous Territorial Unit (ATU) Gagauzia, Chisinau and Balti municipalities, and, at least 50 days prior to elections, it shall create District Electoral Councils. Unless provided otherwise in the present Code, in elections of any level and in republican referenda Electoral Constituencies and District Electoral Councils shall be established within similar terms.

(2) The peculiarities for establishing the constituencies and the corresponding district electoral councils are provided by Art. 80 and 81.

(3) District Electoral Councils shall consist of an odd number of members, at least 7 and at most eleven, of whom at least 3 of them must have completed higher legal education or public administration education.

(4) In local elections and referenda, 2 members of first-level District Electoral Councils are nominated as candidates by the first-level local councils, and if there are no candidates nominated, the members are to be nominated by the Central Electoral Commission out of the persons recorded in the Registry of Election Officials. Other member candidates are nominated by political parties and other socio-political organisations represented in Parliament on the date when the electoral District Electoral Councils are created, one candidate from each party or other socio-political organisation; and should this be insufficient, the remaining members are nominated by the Central Electoral Commission from the Registry of Election Officials. To the extent possible, individuals having advanced legal education shall be appointed to District Electoral Councils.

(5) In parliamentary, presidential elections, republican referenda and general local elections, 2 members of the second-level District Electoral Councils are nominated by Courts, or, where appropriate, by the Court of Appeal. Other 2 members are nominated by the second-level local council and by the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia. On the date the District Electoral Council are created, political parties and other socio-political organisations represented in Parliament, shall nominate one candidate from each party or other socio-political organisation, and should this be insufficient, the remaining members are nominated by the Central Electoral Commission out of the Registry of Election Officials.

(6) If political parties and other socio-political organisations fail to nominate their candidates for the District Electoral Council at least 7 days before the term set for its establishment, the necessary number of candidates is filled by local councils and by the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia, and if the latter do not present their candidates, the members of the electoral council will be nominated by the Central Electoral Commission out of the Registry of Election Officials. If the District Electoral Council performs the function of the Precinct Electoral Bureau as well, the members nominated by political parties and other socio-political organisations represented in Parliament shall not be members of political parties.

(7) Members of the District Electoral Council nominated by Courts and by the local councils may not be counsellors in local councils, deputies in the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia and/or party members.

(8) Within 3 days from their establishment, the District Electoral Councils shall elect by secret ballot a Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson and Council Secretary among their members, communicating the results of these elections to the Central Electoral Commission without delay.

(9) Within 4 days from the date of its establishment, the District Electoral Council shall make public its composition, its location, and contacts information.

(10) The District Electoral Councils shall pass their decisions by the majority votes of their members.

(11) At the proposal of the District Electoral Council, it shall be assisted by an apparatus, which staff is approved by the Central Electoral Commission. For the work performed during the electoral, the staff of the District Electoral Council, benefits from an indemnity, based on the average national salary for the preceding year, paid from the funds allotted for elections. The District Electoral Council staff detached from their full-time job from institutions financed by the budget are maintained the salary from their permanent place of work.