Title VI.
Referendum

The provisions of this Title (Articles 141 - 202) shall be applicable only to the organization and conduct of republican and local referenda.

Chapter 13. Republican Referendum

Article 142. Republican Referendum

(1) Republican referenda are held in view of fulfillment of the power of the people and of citizen right to participate directly in the administration of public affairs.

(2) The vote in the referendum is universal, equal, secret and freely expressed, pursuant to the Constitution and this Code.

[Paragraph.3 art.142 abrogated via the Law no.268-XIV of 04.02.99,]
[the rest of the paragraphs are renumbered]
[Paragraph 3 art.142 was declared unconstitutional via resolution of the Constitutional Court no 15 of 27.05.98]

(3) The decisions adopted based on republican referenda have supreme juridical power upon their confirmation by the Constitutional Court, and have binding effect everywhere on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.

[Paragraph 3 art.142 in the wording of the Law no.268-XIV of 04.02.99]
[The phrase "do not need confirmation" from art.142 paragraph(4) was declared unconstitutional via the resolution of the Constitutional Court no 15 of 27.05.98]

Article 143. Types of Republican Referenda

(1) Upon the type of question subject to referenda, republican referenda may be constitutional, legislative and consultative.

[Paragraph 1 art.143 modified via the Law no.1107-XIV of 30.06.2000]
[Paragraph 1 art.143 modified via the Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

(2) Constitutional referenda consider issues related to Constitution revision.

[Paragraph 2 art.143 modified via the Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

(3) Legislative referenda consider draft laws or some of the their provisions of major importance.

[Paragraph 2 art.143 in the wording of the Law no.1107-XIV of 30.06.2000]
[Paragraph 3 art.143 excluded based on the Law no.1107-XIV of 30.06.2000]
[Paragraphs to follow are renumbered]
[Paragraph 3 art.143 added via the Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

(4) Consultative referenda consider issues of national interest, in order to consult public opinion on such issues and for further adoption of relevant final decisions by competent public bodies.

Article 144. Initiating Republican Referendum

(1) A republican referendum may be initiated by:

1. at least 200,000 citizens of the Republic of Moldova eligible to vote. In case of constitutional referendum, provisions of Article 141 letter a) paragraph (1) of the Constitution shall be applied;
   [Letter a) paragraph 1 art.144 modified via the Law no.1107-XIV of 30.06.2000]
   [Let.a) modified via the Law no.268-XIV of 04.02.99]
2. no less than 1/3 of the members of Parliament;
3. President of the Republic of Moldova;
4. Government.

(3) If the referendum is initiated by those mentioned in paragraph (1) letter a), petitions shall be attached to the proposal on initiating the referendum.

(4) The proposal on initiating the referendum shall include problems subject to referendum stated clearly, avoiding misinterpretation as well as the aim of conducting the referendum and the date. Issues running counter to each other shall not be subject to referendum.

[Paragraph 4 art.144 completed via the Law no.268-XIV of 04.02.99]

Article 145. Restrictions Imposed on Conducting Republican Referendum

(1) A republican referendum may not be held in territories under a state of war or emergency, nor within 120 days after the respective state is suspended or terminated. If the referendum was already established prior to the first day of the state of war or emergency being declared, then the referendum shall be countermanded or postponed, pursuant to the terms of determining referenda provided for by this Code. The decision to postpone or countermand a referendum shall be adopted by the body which issued the decision to hold the republican referendum.

(2) A republican referendum cannot take place in a period within 120 days before or after the day of parliamentary, or local elections or the day of another referendum, as well as on the day of their conduct.

[Paragraph 2 art.145 modified via the Law no.1227-XIV of 21.09.2000]
[Paragraph 2 art.145 completed via the Law no.480-XIV of 02.07.99]

Article 146. Issues which May be Proposed for Republican Referendum

(1) The following may be questions for republican referendum:

1. adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova;
2. approval of constitutional laws adopted by the Parliament revising provisions regarding the sovereignty, independence and unity of the state, as well as issues related to the permanent neutrality of the state;
3. other issues of national interest.

(2) It is binding to organise and hold referenda on the issues indicated in letter b) paragraph (1).

[Paragraph (2) art. 146 introduced via the Law no.1107-XIV of 30.06.2000]

Article 147. Issues Which May not Be Subject to Republican Referendum

The following may not be questions for Republican referendum:

1. issues related to the state budget, taxes;
2. issues regarding amnesty or pardon;
3. extraordinary or emergency measures for establishing public order, health or security;
4. electing, appointing or dismissing persons for/on/from positions which is the competence of Parliament, Government or President of the Republic of Moldova;
5. issues which are the competence of judicial and prosecution bodies may not be proposed for referendum either.

[Article 148 excluded by Law no.1107-XIV of 30.06.2000]

Article 148. Initiating Referenda for Constitution Revision

(1) Referenda for constitution revision are initiated in compliance with Article 141 of the Constitution.

(2) The proposal on conducting a referenda for Constitution revision is submitted to the Constitutional Court, which is obliged within 10 days to review the constitutionality of the issues to be subject to referenda and to present a notification.

(3) After Constitutional Court reviews the constitutionality of the issues to be subject to referenda, the proposal on conducting a referendum together with the notification of the Constitutional Court are submitted for the Parliament examination.

(4) Constitution revision may not be question for referendum if it will result in violation of fundamental human rights and freedoms.

(5) If both Parliament and citizens simultaneously initiate the revision of the same Constitution provisions, the examination of the said provisions in Parliament shall cease.

[Article 148 introduced via the Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

[Article 149 excluded by Law no.1227-XIV of 21.09.2000]

Article 150. Resolution or Decree on Establishing of Republican Referenda

(1) Within six months of receiving proposals on initiating a referendum, Parliament shall adopt one of the following resolutions:

1. regarding establishing of the referendum within at least 60 days of adopting the resolution;
2. regarding the refusal to conduct the proposed referendum, in case the latter is initiated by deputies;
   [Letter b) modified via the Law no. 1107-XIV of 30.06.2000]
   [The phrase "or by citizens" from Article 150 paragraph (1) letter b) was declared unconstitutional based on the Resolution of the Constitutional Court no. 15 of 11.04.2000]
   [Letter b) modified via the Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]
3. regarding solving issues proposed for referendum without further conducting it.
   [Letter c) completed via the Law no. 1107-XIV of 30.06.2000]
   [Letter c) modified via the Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]
   

(2) In the resolution or the decree regarding the conduct of the republican referendum shall be specified the determined date of referendum, name of the law or resolution to be adopted, and questions proposed for referendum.

[Art.150 modified and completed via the Law no.480-XIV of 02.07.99]
[Paragraph 3 art.150 abrogated via the Law no.268-XIV of 04.02.99]

Article 151. Determining the Referendum

(1) The date of republican referendum shall be determined by Parliament, through resolution, if the initiative to conduct the referendum belongs to citizens or members of Parliament; by the President of the Republic of Moldova, if the initiative to hold the referendum belongs to him/her, and in such a case shall be a consultative one.

[Paragraph 1 art.151 completed via the Law no.480-XIV of 02.07.99]

(2) The referendum shall be determined for no later than 60 days before the date of the referendum.

Article 152. Initiation of Referendum by Citizens

(1) Citizens shall establish a citizen initiative group to initiate a republican referendum. An initiative group is established at citizen meetings attended by at least 300 citizens eligible to vote. No later than 10 days before the meeting, the initiators shall notify the local government of the locality in written form where the meeting shall be held, time, place, and objective of that meeting.

(2) Before the meeting, the participants shall be registered and their last and first names and addresses shall be entered on a list.

(3) A chairperson and a secretary of the meeting shall be elected. During the meeting, the opportunity to hold the referendum shall be discussed and the questions to be proposed for referendum shall be determined.

(4) In the event that the majority of participants in the meeting vote for the referendum, an initiative group shall be established to organise the collection of signatures. The group shall be constituted of at least 100 citizens eligible to vote. The group shall elect from among its members the executive bureau including a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and a secretary who will represent the group and organise its activity.

(5) A protocol of the meeting shall be prepared containing the results of the vote on the issues included in the agenda. The documents of the meeting - list of participants, protocol, clearly and correctly determined questions proposed for referendum, and list of the citizen initiative group members including their identity data, shall be signed by the chairperson and secretary of the meeting.

Article 153. Registration of Citizen Initiative Groups

(1) The citizen initiative group for holding the referendum shall be registered with the Central Electoral Commission. For registration, the group shall submit to the council:

1. documents of the citizen meeting which elected the initiative group, confirmed by the mayor of the locality where the meeting took place;
2. consent of the members of the initiative group to collect signatures in support of the referendum;
3. application for registration.

(2) The Central Electoral Commission within 15 days of receiving the documents mentioned in paragraph (1) of this Article shall adopt a resolution regarding either the registration of the initiative group or the refusal to register the group. The resolution regarding the registration of the initiative group shall provide the terms for signature collection, which may be no shorter than two months and no longer than three months.

(3) Upon registration, members of the initiative group shall be issued certificates according to the design established by the Central Electoral Commission.

(4) The data regarding the registration of the initiative group and the questions to be put up for referendum shall be made public through mass media.

Article 154. Signature Collection

(1) From the registration day, members of the initiative group are entitled to freely collect signatures for holding the referendum (hereinafter referred to as petitions).

(2) Signatures shall be collected according to Article 42 hereof, to be correspondingly applied.

Article 155. Special Requirements for Petitions

Prior to collecting the signatures, the question (questions) proposed for referendum shall be written on each sheet of the petition. Collection of signatures on petitions without the text of questions being written on them is prohibited.

Article 156. Responsibility for Accuracy of Petitions

(1) The individual who gathers voters' signatures must sign every sheet of the petition and make a note to the effect that the collector personally collected the signatures and confirmed the identity of the persons whose names appear on that sheet by verifying their ID. Each petition shall be certified by the relevant local public administration bodies.

(2) Members of the initiative group must warn the persons that they can sign only one petition.

(3) Petitions that have data entered before the initiative group was registered or petitions which have not been signed by the signature collector, or have not been certified by the stamp of the local public administration bodies, shall be considered null and void.

Article 157. Submission and Review of Petitions

(1) No later than on the last day of the signature collection term, the initiative group shall develop a protocol indicating the number of collected signatures, the date when initiative group was registered, and the date when the collection of signatures was concluded. The protocol signed by the members of the initiative group together with the petitions shall be submitted to the Central Electoral Commission.

(2) Within 15 days of petitions submission, Central Electoral Commission shall check authenticity of the signatures (all or at random) on the submitted lists. Signatures by persons who have signed twice or more times the petitions shall be excluded. Petitions found in breach of Article 156, par. (1) thereof shall be annulled. Upon verification of petitions, CEC shall develop a protocol and adopt a resolution regarding holding the referendum.

(3) In the event that the required number of signatures was not submitted, the CEC shall adopt a resolution refusing to hold the referendum and suspending the registration of the citizen initiative group.

(4) Protocol on the verification of petitions, verified petitions, and CEC' resolution regarding the initiation of the referendum shall be submitted to the Permanent Bureau of Parliament within three days.

[Modified via Law no.31-XV of 13.02.03, in force as of 28.02.03]

Article 158. Electoral Districts, Precincts, Electoral Councils and Bureaus

(1) For administration of the republican referendum, CEC shall form administrative electoral districts, which shall correspond to the second level administrative-territorial units of the Republic of Moldova, and district electoral councils pursuant to the provisions of the Article 27 hereof, to be correspondingly applied.

[Paragraph 1 art.158 modified via the Law no.268-XIV of 04.02.99]
[Paragraph 1 art.158 modified via the Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

(2) The responsibilities of the district electoral councils shall be those provided in Article 28 of this Code, to be correspondingly applied.

(3) Electoral district shall be divided into precincts, pursuant to Article 29 of this Code, to be correspondingly applied. A precinct electoral bureau shall be formed for each precinct and exercise its responsibilities, pursuant to Article 29 and 30 of this Code, to be correspondingly applied.

(4) Authority of district councils and precinct bureaus shall expire upon the confirmation of republican referendum results by the Constitutional Court.

(5) Where the electoral district stands for only one locality and only one precinct, no precinct bureau shall be established, its responsibilities shall be exercised by the district electoral council.

[Art.159 excluded via the Law no.480-XIV of 02.07.99]

Article 160. Granting Support, Organizing Activity, Changing Membership and Disbanding Electoral Councils and Bureaus for Referendum

Granting support, organizing activity, changing membership and dismissing councils and bureaus for referendum shall be conducted pursuant to Articles 31-34 of this Code, to be correspondingly applied.

Article 161. Lists of Citizens Eligible to Participate in Referenda

The lists of citizens eligible to participate in the republican referenda (voter rolls) shall be developed in compliance with Chapter 5 (Articles 39-40) hereof, to be correspondingly applied.

Article 162. Ballot Papers

(1) Ballot papers shall contain the text of the question or the draft law proposed for republican referendum. To the right of the question or draft law two rectangles with the words "for" and "against" shall be placed on the horizontal, and under them two circles shall be placed.

[Paragraph 1 art.162 in the wording of the Law no.480-XIV of 02.07.99]

(2) In case the referendum proposal contains more than one separate question, each question shall be printed on a different ballot-paper. In case several referenda are held at the same time, the ballot-papers shall be of different color.

[Paragraph 2 art.162 modified via the Law no.480-XIV of 02.07.99]

(3) Ballot papers shall be developed in accordance with the Law on languages spoken in the Republic of Moldova.

(4) Ballots shall be printed in a quantity that does not exceed the number of voters in the district.

[Paragraph 4 art.162 modified via the Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

(5) Ballots with the same question shall be printed in the same format, with the same font, on paper of the same color and density.

(6) The design and text of ballots and the model of protocols of electoral councils and bureaus for the republican referendum shall be approved by the Central Electoral Commission.

[Paragraph 6 art.162 modified via the Law no.268-XIV of 04.02.99]

(7) Ballots shall be distributed to district electoral councils three days prior to the republican referendum and to the precinct electoral bureaus one day prior to the referendum.

[Paragraph 7 art.162 modified via the Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

Article 163. Agitation for Referendum

Debates on the questions proposed for referendum shall be conducted pursuant to Article 47 of this Code, to be correspondingly applied.

Article 164. Voting

(1) Voting in the republican referendum shall be performed pursuant to Chapter 9 (Articles 50-55) of this Code, to be correspondingly applied.

(2) Voters shall fill out the ballots by applying the "Voted" stamp inside one of the two circles under the rectangles with the words "for" or "against", thus expressing their will.

[Paragraph 2 art.164 in the wording of the Law no.480-XIV of 02.07.99]
[Paragraph 2 art. 164 modified via the Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

Article 165. Monitoring Republican Referendum and its Mass Media Coverage

Observation and coverage of the organization and holding the referendum shall be conducted, pursuant to Chapter 11 (Articles 63-64) of this Code, to be correspondingly applied.

Article 166. Counting the Votes and Summing up Referendum Results

(1) The results of the republican referendum shall be summed up under Chapter 10 (Articles 56-60) of this Code, to be correspondingly applied.

(2) The number of votes cast for " for " and "against " shall be entered into record on summing up the referendum results.

[Paragraph 2 art.166 modified via Law no.480-XIV of 02.07.99]

(3) The results of the referendum shall be examined by CEC, which shall adopt a resolution on this.

Article 167. Validation of Republican Referendum Results

(1) The CEC resolution and the protocol regarding the results of the referendum shall be submitted to the Constitutional Court.

(2) The Constitutional Court within 10 days shall examine the documents received from the CEC and shall either confirm or contest the results of the republican referendum.

Article 168. Adoption, Publication and Enactment of Referendum Proposal

(1) A republican referendum proposal shall be considered adopted if it gains the majority of voters who participated in the referendum. In the event that the draft of a constitutional law is proposed for referendum, it shall be considered adopted if it obtains at least half of the voter's votes entered on voter rolls.

[Paragraph (1) art. 168 modified via Law no.1107-XIV of 30.06.2000]

(2) The adopted referendum proposal shall be published in a special issue of the Official Monitor of the Republic of Moldova. Date of adoption is considered the day upon which the referendum was conducted. The proposal shall come into effect upon its publishing in the Official Monitor or on the date specified in its text.

Article 169. Repeal and Amendment of Resolution Adopted during Republican Referendum

A referendum proposal may be repealed or amended through republican referendum, or through the procedures provided for the repeal of the Constitution.

[Article 169 modified via the Law no.1227-XIV of 21.09.2000]

Article 170. Documents of Republican Referendum

Referendum documents shall be stored pursuant to Article 62 of this Code to be correspondingly applied.

Article 171. Invalid Republican Referendum

The CEC shall declare a referendum invalid if less than 3/5 of the voters included on voter rolls participated in the referendum.

[Art.171 modified via the Law no.480-XIV of 02.07.99]

Article 172. Null Referendum

The Constitutional Court shall declare a referendum null throughout the republic or in certain administrative-territorial units, if serious violations of this Code occurred during the voting and vote counting and affected the results of the referendum.

Article 173. Repeat Republican Referendum

(1) In the event that the referendum is declared null, the CEC within one month shall organise a repeat referendum, throughout the republic or in certain administrative-territorial units.

(2) The electoral councils and bureaus guilty of fraud shall be replaced.

(3) The repeat republican referendum shall be organized and conducted under this Title and Code.

Article 174. New Referendum

A republican referendum for the same proposal may be held in at least two years after the day of the previous referendum.

Chapter 14. Local Referendum

Article 175. Local Referendum

Local referendum is the vote of the people on issues of special interest for the village (commune), town (municipality), district, special status administrative-territorial unit. Mayors of villages (communes) and towns (municipalities) are revoked through local referendum.

[Modified via Law no.31-XV of 13.02.03, in force as of 28.02.03]
[Modified via Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

Article 176. Restrictions on Holding Local Referendum

(1) A local referendum may not be held in territories under a state of war, occupation or emergency. If the referendum date is established for the day, on which later the state of war, occupation or emergency is declared, then the referendum shall be countermanded or postponed, pursuant to the terms of determining referenda provided for by this Code.

(2) Local referendum may not be conducted 120 days prior or after the day of conducting any type of elections or referendum in the same territory, unless conducted on the same day.

(3) The decision to postpone local referendum shall be adopted by the Central Electoral Commission at the recommendation of the local council or the representative authority of the special status administrative-territorial unit, which issued the decision to hold the referendum.

(4) Local referendums on revoking mayors may be initiated one year after the respective mayor has been in office or after the last referendum to revoke his/her mandate was held. Referendums to revoke mayors may not be initiated six months before the termination of their mandate.

[Modified via Law no.31-XV of 13.02.03, in force as of 28.02.03]
[Modified via Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

Article 177. Issues that May be Proposed for Local Referendum

(1) Issues that are of special importance for the respective locality and that fall in the competence of local public administration bodies may be proposed for local referendum.

(2) A referendum to revoke a mayor may be initiated when a mayor does not act in the interests of the local community, does not exercise his/her powers of local elected officer adequately and in accordance with current laws or breaches moral and ethical norms, which facts need to be confirmed in the established manner.

[Modified via Law no.31-XV of 13.02.03, in force as of 28.02.03]
[Modified via Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

Article 178. Issues which May not be Proposed for Local Referendum

The following issues may not be proposed for referendum:

1. taxes and budget;
2. extraordinary or emergency measures for establishing public order, health or security;
3. electing, appointing or dismissing persons for/on/from positions which are the competence of Parliament, Government or President of the Republic of Moldova;
4. the revocation of a mayor through a final decision of the court;
5. issues in the competence of Court and Prosecutor's office;
6. modifying administrative-territorial subordination of localities, except for the cases provided in the Law on Special Legal Status of Gagauzia (Gagauz-Yeri).

[Modified via Law no.31-XV of 13.02.03, in force as of 28.02.03]
[Modified via Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]
[Completed via Law no.268-XIV of 04.02.99]
[Completed via Law no.480-XIV of 02.07.99]

Article 179. Determining the Date of Local Referendum

The date of local referendum is determined by the Central Electoral Commission at the recommendation of village (commune), town (municipality), or rayonal council or representative bodies of special status administrative-territorial units.

[Article 179 modified via the Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

Article 180. Initiating Local Referendum

A local referendum may be initiated by:

1. half of the elected councilors;
2. mayor of the village (commune), town (municipality), except where a referendum to revoke the mayor is being initiated;
3. representative bodies of special status administrative-territorial units;
4. 10% of the citizens eligible to vote, residents of the respective administrative-territorial unit.

[Modified via Law no.31-XV of 13.02.03, in force as of 28.02.03]
[Modified via Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

Article 181. Registration of Citizen Initiative Group

(1) In the event that the initiative to hold a referendum comes from citizens, a citizen initiative group shall be established, including no less than 20 citizens eligible to vote and residing in the respective administrative-territorial unit. At least 30 citizens should participate at the founding meeting of the initiative group. At least three days before the meeting, the initiators shall communicate to the mayor in written form the time, place and aim of the meeting.

(2) A citizen initiative group is registered by the local public administration bodies, within five days of the date of submitting the application, the protocol of establishment, and the questions proposed for the referendum. Where a referendum on revoking the mayor is being initiated, the initiative group is to be registered by the district or municipal court where the respective locality is situated.

(3) In the decision of registration the term for signature collection, no less than 30 days and no more than 60 days, as well as the questions subject to the referendum shall be stated.

(4) Upon registration of the citizen initiative group, its members shall be issued certificates according to a design established by the Central Electoral Commission.

(5) The information regarding the registration of the citizen initiative group shall be published in the local press.

[Modified via Law no.31-XV of 13.02.03, in force as of 28.02.03]
[Modified via Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]
[Modified via Law no.1217-XIV of 31.07.2000]

Article 182. Collecting Signatures

(1) Members of the citizen initiative group registered in keeping with Article 181 shall have the right to collect signatures for holding local referendum.

(2) Signatures shall be collected according to Article 42 of this Code, to be correspondingly applied.

(3) For holding a local referendum, at least 10% of voters signatures entitled to vote and residing in the relevant administrative-territorial unit are necessary.

Article 183. Special Requirements for Petitions

The question (questions) proposed for referendum shall be written on each sheet of the petition. Collection of signatures on petitions without the text of questions being written on them is prohibited.

Article 184. Responsibility for Accuracy of Petitions

(1) The person collecting the signatures shall sign each sheet of the petitions. Above the signature collector's signature at the end of each sheet of names shall appear an attestation to the effect that the collector personally collected the signatures and verified the identity of the persons whose names appear on that sheet, based on their ID. Each petition shall be authenticated by applying the stamp of the local authorities.

(2) Persons collecting signatures on the petitions shall bear responsibility for the authenticity of the data on the petitions, and shall avert the person who signs that he/she may sign only one petition list.

(3) Petitions on which data have been entered before the initiative group was registered or petitions which have not been signed by the signature collector, or have not been certified by the stamp of the local public administration bodies, shall be considered null and void.

Article 185. Submission and Review of Petitions

(1) Petitions shall be submitted, after authentication, to the local council or to the representative bodies of the special status administrative-territorial units. Where a referendum to revoke the mayor is being initiated, petitions are submitted to the district or municipal court where the respective locality is situated.

(2) Petitions submitted by citizen initiative group shall be reviewed within 15 days. Signatures by persons who have signed the petitions twice or more times, shall be excluded. If upon the review it is found out that the required number of signatures has not been collected, then the procedure shall be suspended and the registration of the citizen initiative group shall be cancelled.

[Modified via Law no.31-XV of 13.02.03, in force as of 28.02.03]
[Modified via Law no.1217-XIV of 31.07.2000]
[Modified via Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

Article 186. Adoption and Publication of the Decision Regarding The Conduct of Local Referendum

(1) Within 15 days after submitting the petitions or the adoption of the decision of the local council, of the executive body of the administrative-territorial unit or of the mayor, the respective local council or the representative bodies of special status administrative-territorial unit shall either approve or reject the proposal to hold the local referendum.

(2) The decision on conducting the referendum shall contain:

1. proposal on the date of the referendum, no sooner than one month and no latter than 45 days of the day the decision was adopted;
2. questions proposed for referendum;
3. the reasons for revoking the mayor, where a referendum to that effect is proposed.

(3) Language of the questions subject to referendum shall be clear so that a double interpretation is not possible. Conflicting issues may not be proposed for the same referendum.

(4) The decision to conduct local referendum shall be made public within three days of the day of adoption.

[Modified via Law no.31-XV of 13.02.03, in force as of 28.02.03]
[Modified via Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

Article 187. Electoral Districts and Precincts

(1) For conducting local referendum, the following electoral districts (according to the case) shall be established: villages (communes), towns (municipalities), district, or special status administrative-territorial units.

(2) Electoral districts shall be established by the Central Electoral Commission at the recommendation of local public administration bodies, at least 30 days prior to local referendum.

(3) Precincts shall be formed by the relevant district electoral councils at least 20 days prior to local referendum.

(4) Precincts shall be formed pursuant to administrative-territorial principles, by dividing localities into precincts including at least 30 and at most 3,000 voters. Precincts shall be numbered.

(5) Where the electoral district includes only one locality and only one precinct has been established, the district electoral council shall exercise the responsibilities of the precinct electoral bureau.

[Modified via Law no.842-XV of 14.02.2002]

Article 188. Establishment of Electoral Councils and Bureaus for Local Referendum

(1) District councils for referendum shall be formed by the Central Electoral Commission, at the recommendation of local councils or representative bodies of special status administrative-territorial units, including 5-11 members, no later than 25 days prior to the date of local referendum.

[Paragraph 1 art.188 modified via the Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

(2) Precinct bureaus established for the local referendum shall be formed by district electoral councils established for the local referendum, at the recommendation of local public administration bodies, including 5-11 members, no later than 20 days prior to the date of local referendum.

[Paragraph 2 art.188 modified via the Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

(3) Chairpersons of rayon electoral councils, Chisinau municipality electoral council and special status administrative-territorial units' electoral councils established for the conduct of local referendum shall be elected by the relevant councils.

[Paragraph 3 art.188 modified via the Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

(4) Electoral councils and bureaus formed to conduct the referendum may not include councilors of local councils, members of the initiative group, members of parties or other socio-political organizations running in elections.

[Paragraph 4 art.188 modified via the Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

(5) During the first session of the second level administrative-territorial unit district electoral council established for the conduct of local referendum, the deputy-chairperson and the secretary of the council shall be elected by a vote of the majority of its members, whereas at the first session of the village (communal), city (municipal) electoral council and precinct electoral bureau the chairperson, deputy-chairperson, and the secretary of the bureau shall be elected.

[Paragraph 5 art.188 modified via the Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

(6) Within two days of the date of establishment, electoral councils and bureaus shall make public their membership, address, and telephone numbers.

(7) The authority of the electoral councils and bureaus shall expire after validation of the referendum results.

Article 189. Cumulating Electoral Councils and Bureaus Mandate

In the event that the local referendum is held simultaneously with (local, parliamentary) elections or republican referendum, electoral councils and bureaus established and functioning pursuant to Chapter 3 of this Code, shall exert the functions and responsibilities of the councils and bureaus for the conduct of the referendum.

[Article 189 modified via Law no.1227-XIV of 21.09.2000]

Article 190. Granting Assistance, Organizing the Activity, Modifying the Composition, and Disbanding Councils and Bureaus for Referendum

Granting assistance, organizing the activity, modifying the composition, and disbanding the councils and bureaus for referendum shall be conducted pursuant to Article 31-34 of this Code, to be correspondingly applied.

Article 191. Responsibilities of Councils and Bureaus for the Conduct of the Local Referendum

Electoral councils and bureaus established for the conduct of local referendum shall have the responsibilities provided in Articles 28, 30 of this Code, to be correspondingly applied.

Article 192. Lists of Citizens Eligible to Participate in Referendum

The lists of citizens eligible to participate in the local referendum (voter rolls) shall be developed pursuant to Chapter 5, (Article 39-40) of this Code, to be correspondingly applied.

Article 193. Ballot Papers

(1) The ballot papers shall contain the text of the question proposed for referendum, to the right of the text on the horizontal two rectangles shall be placed with the words "for" and "against", and under them two circles shall be placed.

[Paragraph 1 art.193 modified via the Law no.480-XIV of 02.07.99]

(2) In case the referendum proposal contains more than one separate question, each question shall be printed on a different ballot-paper. In the event that several referenda are held at the same time or the referendum is held at the same time with elections, the ballot papers shall be of different color.

(3) Ballots shall be compiled pursuant to the Law on languages spoken on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.

(4) Ballots shall be printed in a quantity that does not exceed the number of voters in the district.

[Paragraph 4 art.193 modified via the Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

(5) Ballots with the same question shall be printed in the same format, with the same font, on paper of the same color and density.

(6) Design of the ballots and of the protocols of councils established for local referendum shall be established by the Central Electoral Commission, whereas the text of the ballots by the district electoral councils.

(7) Ballots shall be distributed to precinct bureaus two days prior to the date of the referendum.

Article 194. Agitation

Free debates upon the issues proposed for local referendum shall be conducted pursuant to Article 47 of this Code, to be correspondingly applied.

Article 195. Voting

(1) Voting in the referendum shall be carried out pursuant to Chapter 9, (Articles 50-55) of this Code, to be correspondingly applied.

(2) Voters shall fill out the ballot by applying "Voted" stamp inside one of the two circles under the rectangles with the words "for" and "against", thus expressing their will.

[Paragraph 2 art.195 in the wording of the Law no.480-XIV of 02.07.99]
[Paragraph 2 art.195 modified via the Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

Article 196. Counting the Votes and Summing up Local Referendum Results

(1) Local referendum results shall be summed up pursuant to Chapter 10 (Articles 56-60) of this Code, to be correspondingly applied.

(2) The number of the votes cast for "for" and "against" shall be entered separately on a protocol on summing the results.

[Paragraph 2 art.196 modified via the Law no.480-XIV of 02.07.99]

(3) The results of the referendum shall be examined by the district electoral council which shall adopt a resolution in this respect.

Article 197. Validation of the Local Referendum Results

(1) The district council, within two days of the determination of results, shall submit to the court of the respective territory the report on the conduct of the referendum, to which the protocol and the complaints, as well as a description on their solution, shall be attached. Chisinau municipality council shall submit the respective acts to the Tribunal of the Chisinau municipality.

(2) The court, within ten days of receiving the acts mentioned in paragraph (1) of this Article, shall confirm or not the legality of the conduct of local referendum and its results.

(3) Within 24 hours of adoption, the court rulings shall be transmitted to the Central Electoral Commission and district electoral council established for referendum, which shall publish the final results of the local referendum.

[Paragraph 3 art.197 completed via the Law no.268-XIV of 04.02.99]

Article 198. Adoption, Repeal, and Amendment of Referendum Proposal by Referendum

(1) A local referendum proposal shall be considered adopted by referendum if it gains the majority of voters votes who participated in the referendum. A referendum proposal is referred to as being adopted on the day upon which the referendum was conducted.

(2) When a mayor is revoked through referendum, the Central Electoral Commission determines the date of new elections for mayor, pursuant to Title V (Articles 118-140) thereof, which is to be applied correspondingly.

(3) Adopted referendum proposal may be repealed or amended by local referendum, or by the decision of the relevant local council, adopted by the vote of 2/3 of the councillors, pursuant to the Law on Local Public Administration.

[Modified via Law no.31-XV of 13.02.03, in force as of 28.02.03]
[Modified via Law no.796-XV of 25.01.2002]

Article 199. Invalid Local Referendum

The referendum shall be declared invalid, if less than half of voters included on the voter rolls have voted.

Article 200. Null Local Referendum

Local referendum shall be declared null by court throughout the entire district or only in the precinct, if serious violations of this Code occurred during the voting and vote counting affecting the results of the referendum.

Article 201. Repeat Local Referendum

If the referendum is declared null, bodies which adopted the decision to conduct the referendum shall organise, within two weeks, a repeat referendum. The councils and bureaus for conduct of referendum, held responsible for frauds, shall be replaced.

Article 202. New Local Referendum

New local referendum on the same issues may be conducted no sooner than a year of the previous referendum.

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