Home > 1.1.3 Submission of candidatures > REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA - Joint Opinion on the Draft Electoral Code
 
 
 
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Paragraph 68
 

Positively, Articles 65-67 introduce several detailed criteria related to the collection, submission and verification of support signatures. Article 65(12) restricts signature collection to the locations within the constituency being elected, but for presidential elections, it also requires that signatures are collected from at least half of the administrative-territorial districts to ensure wider support in geographical terms. Even if the minimum number of signatures to be collected in each of these districts is rather low, this provision appears excessively restrictive, as it unduly hinders parties or candidates with concentrated support regionally, particularly those that draw supporters from regions with concentrated ethnic minority populations and should be reconsidered.