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As many as 1,970 polling stations divided into 37 electoral constituencies of second level were opened inside and outside Moldova for scrutiny. Nine out of the total number of polling stations were opened for Moldovan citizens who reside the Transnistrian region, settlements under jurisdiction of the Chisinau authorities, while another 23 polling stations worked in diplomatic missions and consular offices of Moldova abroad.
Taking part in the parliamentary scrutiny were 23 electoral competitors, including two electoral blocs, nine parties or social-political movements, and 12 independent candidates. To cross the electoral threshold, parties needed six percent of votes, blocs of two parties nine percent, and blocs of more than two parties 12 percent, and these thresholds were introduced at the 2005 parliamentary elections for the first time in Moldova’s election history, after amendment of the Election Code in 2002. Like at the 2001 parliamentary elections, a three-percent threshold was in effect for independent candidates.
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.
Only the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM), the Moldova Democrata Bloc (BMD), made up by the Our Moldova Alliance, the Democratic Party of Moldova, Social Liberal Party, and the Christian Democratic Peoples Party (CDPP) succeeded the threshold. Thus, the PCRM won 45.98 percent of valid votes, the BMD gained 28.53 percent, while the CDPP garnered 9.07 percent. The PCRM received 56 mandates of parliamentarians, the BMD 34 mandates, and the CDPP got 11 mandates after proportionate distribution of 16.42 percent of votes given to the other 20 electoral competitors.
As many as 817 international observers, 158 foreign journalists and more than 2,300 independent local experts monitored the 2005 electoral scrutiny. The International Election Observation Mission (IEOM), which brought together observers of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the OSCE’s Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the European Parliament, concluded that the March 6, 2005 parliamentary elections were generally in compliance with the international election standards.