Based on the results of the audit, the Accounts Chamber concluded that “the Central Election Commission ensured compliance with the budgetary funds allocated for the organization of the 2024 presidential election and the republican constitutional referendum, and did not identify any material violations in the management of the funds allocated for these purposes with respect to the current regulatory framework.”
The auditors still had questions regarding the planning of the expenditure estimate, the budget of the autonomous organization as a whole, and—as has become customary—the organization of elections at overseas polling stations, contractors, and the enterprises involved, in particular the state-owned enterprise “Poşta Moldovei.”
However, the Court of Auditors classified a number of discrepancies between “identification data in the CEC’s records and the contractors’ payment schedules” as incidental.
“The discrepancies were caused, to a large extent, human error, unauthorized interventions, and gaps in the functioning of control mechanisms within the information systems used,” the auditors concluded, without specifying the amount of the discrepancies or the nature of the “unauthorized interventions.”
This concerns the payment of wages to election commission staff at overseas polling stations, who received so-called “election allowances” via certified mail requiring a personal signature. And these amounts did not match the statements submitted by the CEC.
In this context, the audit “revealed the need to improve and harmonize established procedures with the actual situation.”
“Lavish” Elections
The Court of Auditors also identified a number of problematic aspects in the procurement process for goods and services intended for the organization of the presidential election and the republican constitutional referendum.
These include “discrepancies between the estimated amounts included in the procurement plans and the planned amounts totaling 8.7 million lei, as well as – the procurement by second-level electoral commissions of goods and services totaling 7.8 million lei without including them in the annual public procurement plans approved by the CEC and related to the elections.”
Discrepancies were identified in public procurement procedures totaling over 12 million lei (including 7.8 million lei related to the 2024 election process), which were not reflected in the CEC’s annual plans, even though the needs were included in the budget.
In other words, the procurement plan was exceeded. The audit also identified “insufficiently documented justifications for the procurement of goods and services.” Examples include office supplies, information services, and internet services.
The audit also revealed the splitting of procurement for protocol services by entering into contracts for smaller amounts, as well as “certain shortcomings in monitoring the execution of public procurement contracts.”
