Disinformation about polling stations in Transnistria on Facebook: From “violated rights” to “imminent war”

The issue of polling stations for residents of the left bank of the Dniester, where the constitutional authorities of the Republic of Moldova have no control, sparked disputes and heated discussions in the second half of August and became one of the main tools for spreading disinformation in electoral context on Facebook.

• The narratives identified on 98 pages and public groups on Facebook, although presented in various forms – discrimination, “second-class” citizens, conspiracies related to Ukraine, preparation of war, or the cession of Transnistria – have a common point: delegitimizing the electoral process and eroding public trust in state institutions.
• The narratives were initially launched by political actors, who used this topic as a pretext to promote their electoral messages, as well as by unrecognized institutions in the region (Supreme Council from Tiraspol, representatives of “local soviets”), later amplified by partisan pages and Facebook groups visibly run by the same users.
• In all cases, similar techniques are observed – collective victimization, call to fear, conspiracies, documentary or audio fakes, ridicule and identity manipulation.

BACKGROUND

On August 24, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) announced that 12 polling stations would be opened for citizens from the left bank of the Dniester for the parliamentary elections of September 28, three times less than the 30 stations in the presidential elections of 2024. CEC deputy chairman Pavel Postică explained that the reduction was made according to the electoral legislation adopted in 2022, which sets the number of polling stations according to the average turnout in the last three ballots. The intention of the CEC to reduce the number of polling stations for the left bank was speculated in the weeks preceding the official decision. Representatives of the left-wing opposition criticized the decision and protested in front of the Central Electoral Commission. Previously, the unrecognized authorities from Tiraspol addressed Chisinau and European and international organizations on behalf of the “Supreme Soviet” and “local soviets” with the request to open at least 41 polling stations, as was the case at the 2021 early elections, where about 28,000 voters voted, although the alleged authorities from Tiraspol claim that there are over 276,000 Moldovan citizens with the right to vote in the region.

MAIN NARRATIVES IDENTIFIED

1.    Discrimination and limitation of fundamental rights

This narrative presents the reduction in the number of polling stations as a deliberate attack on the fundamental rights of citizens. Posts on this topic use emotional language, frame this decision as an electoral crime and discrimination, accuse the government of directly attacking constitutional rights, and use collective victimization, appeal to fear, exaggeration, and labeling as disinformation techniques.

The so-called Supreme Council of Transnistria writes on its official website that the leaders of the local councils of people’s representatives of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) consider that “the creation of such artificial obstacles to the exercise of electoral rights is an attempt to discriminate against the inhabitants of Transnistria on territorial and national grounds.” When the CEC decision was announced, the Council published the statement of the Presidium of the Supreme Council, which claims that it is “a discriminatory and politically motivated decision, which violates constitutional norms and international standards.” The statement was replicated on several thematic groups in the region, such as Приднестровский мир [Pridnestrovian World] and Мы сделаем Приднестровье СОВРЕМЕННЫМ!!!! [We will make Pridnestrovie Modern!!!!]. It is also quoted in the statement of the presidents of city and district councils of PMR, who say that “this way, the Republic of Moldova openly discriminates against its own citizens based on their residence in a certain territory. In the modern world, such an uncivilized practice seems absolutely unacceptable.”

The PSRM (Party of Socialists) quickly linked this topic to the country’s president and the ruling party, stating that “Maia Sandu and her party consciously promote a policy of segregation, depriving over 260,000 citizens of the Republic of Moldova of their legal right to vote. This is not just discrimination – it is a crime against their own people.” The PSRM page also distributed several videos from the protest organized by the party at the CEC headquarters. In one of them, Bogdan Țîrdea declares that “citizens are deprived of their rights. This is called a regime that discriminates against its own people – a dictatorship.”

Maxim Iordan, president of the Balti territorial organization of the Victory Bloc, wrote in posts distributed in groups that “the elections have turned into a farce in which their rights are simply ignored and trampled.”

2. “Transnistrians” are considered “strangers” and “second-class” by the Moldovan authorities, who divide citizens into good and bad

Another idea, close to that of discrimination, insinuates that the government divides the citizens into “good” and “bad”, marginalizing the Moldovans from the left bank of the Dniester, who are allegedly considered to be “second hand”. It is through these messages that identity manipulation, “us versus them” division, and victimization take place.

The tone in this regard was set, among other people, by Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry. According to her, “Moldovan citizens living in Transnistria turned out to be second-class voters,” there is discrimination against Transnistrians who hold Moldovan citizenship, and Chisinau deliberately filters voters “according to their reliability,” creating artificial obstacles to voter turnout. The statement, released several days before the CEC decision, spread across several Facebook groups

At the same time, the so-called Foreign Minister of the Transnistrian region, Vitali Ignatiev, says in a video report on local television that Chisinau’s reaction represents “panicked reluctance not to listen.” He uses this conflict as a pretext to bring the recognition of the region as a separate state back into discussion. In the text accompanying video, Ignatiev is quoted with the narrative that “if the government, in the person of Sandu, Grosu, and other representatives, do see the Transnistrians as ‘strangers,’ then it should probably say so directly. In this case, the question arises: Do we recognize the inhabitants of the left bank of the Dniester as part of our society, and the territory as part of the country? Or should we honestly recognize Transnistria as a separate state and stop playing with half measures?”

The post of the socialist Vladimir Odnostalco from the protest organized in front of the CEC was also redistributed in several groups, such as Земля Молдавская! [Moldovan Land!], Молдова за мир! [Moldova for peace!], and Россия и Молдова ВМЕСТЕ [Russia and Moldova TOGETHER]. The politician states that “after Maia Sandu and PAS came to power, the society was divided into ‘good’ citizens and ‘bad’ citizens. They continue to divide us by reducing the number of polling stations.”

On thematic Facebook groups on the left bank of the Dniester, netizens amplify this narrative even more. An example of a user on the Приднестровский мир [Pridnestrovian World] group illustrates a video with statements by several politicians from Chisinau, including false ones, accompanied by the text: “Like 30 years ago, the residents of PMR are second-class citizens for the Chisinau elite… And there is no need to be hypocrites and lie to Transnistrians!”

Another video, accompanied by a false voice and distributed on multiple groups and pages on Facebook, promotes the same narrative and targets MP and PAS member Radu Marian, who in an alleged telephone conversation about reducing the number of polling stations said that the inhabitants of the left bank of the Dniester are “Soves” (people with Soviet mentality), who should vote “in Siberia,” and that they are not Moldovans at all, which means they should not have the right to vote. In the group Приднестровская Правда: НОВОСТИ, СОБЫТИЯ, ЛЮДИ [Pridnestrovian Truth: News, Events, People], the recording is commented by reference to multiple other disinformation narratives: that the government that came to power with the help of “foreign forces” is maintained by means of dictatorial methods; that those in the government have the same attitude not only towards “Transnistrians”, but also the rest of the inhabitants of Moldova; that “the current government includes not only fake idiots and incompetent NGO workers, but also moral perverts and banal clowns”; that the people “became hostages of all kinds of garbage and a group of political prostitutes.” The administrator of СтопФейк Молдова / StopFals Moldova [StopFake Moldova] distributes this video in other thematic groups with the comment that such statements of PAS representatives take place according to a “familiar pattern,” meaning that when a scandal intensifies, it is followed by statements about “fakes” and “Kremlin provocations,” “but the essence does not change: people on the left bank of the Dniester again hear from representatives of the governments that they are ‘strangers’ and that their opinion can simply be excluded.” Other users comment on the fake audio recording of Marian citing Insider Moldova, but not including the link to source: “This is direct discrimination, this is selective segregation. The government divides people into ‘correct’ and ‘useless’, strengthening the status of Transnistrians as second-class citizens. And after that, Sandu keeps talking about ‘reintegration’?”

3. The authorities reduce the number of polling stations because they know that the votes will go to the opposition

This narrative interprets the CEC decision as part of a deliberate PAS strategy to prevent the opposition from accumulating votes in the Transnistrian region, with the help of a conspiracy theory, documentary fakes (“Note for Bolea”), or delegitimization of institutions.

On August 19, the website Независимое Приднестровье [Independent Pridnestrovie] published an article titled “Why it is not in Chisinau’s favor for the citizens of the Transnistrian region to vote in the parliamentary elections.” According to the article, the right to vote of residents from the left bank of the Dniester is intentionally limited by Chisinau by reducing the number of polling stations. The decision is called “discrimination” and “a crime against its own people,” suggesting that it could be the result of “secret agreement with Kiev.” In several Facebook groups, the article is shared with a focus on the key message: “It seems that the answer to this question can be given immediately. The participation of Transnistrian voters in the parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova is disadvantageous because the majority will not support the pro-European PAS, which might change the political balance in the parliament.”

Another fake identified in groups and appealing to a conspiracy theory is the photo of a document allegedly called “Information for V. Bolea”, which allegedly included a list of instructions with actions planned for voting day with the aim to limit the vote of people in the region. According to the text, “the story of the reduction of the number of polling stations in Transnistria to 10 turned out to be only the first episode. Now, the Note for Bolea came into the public space – a document that looks like a plan not just to limit, but to actually disrupt the vote for people on the left bank. The list of instructions includes an entire set of dirty technologies: recruitment of heads of commissions, pressure on observers, turning off lights, blocking roads. We are not talking about random excesses on site, but about a conscious strategy.” The author of the post also explains why PAS would resort to these actions: because “the voters of Transnistria are an electorate that does not vote for the government. Their additional vote turns into a threat.”

Several posts identified in the analysis, distributed and redistributed in various groups, accuse the PAS government of limiting electoral and constitutional rights, explaining such actions by the fear that the inhabitants of the region would vote with the opposition. They include:

• “Today, in a shameful and criminal way, the power and members of the CEC have de facto limited the right to vote of more than 260 thousand Moldovan citizens living in Transnistria. The reasons are, of course, obvious – the opinion of the Transnistrians differs from the political program of the ruling party.”
• Fewer polling stations means fewer votes. It is apparently not just a simple organizational mistake, but a “well-thought-out strategy.”
• The opposition “is convinced that the authorities are acting consciously. Long queues at polling stations can be presented as ‘organized transportation’ of voters and, therefore, as a reason to accuse Tiraspol and Moscow of interference. Vote buying, pressures, ‘outside influence’ – all these could become a convenient pretext to question or even cancel election results.” All this “strategy” is allegedly aimed at “minimizing the number of votes on the left bank of the Dniester.”
• “The reasons for such actions are obvious: The huge rating problems of the ruling party, which means that Transnistrians who are skeptical of the current government in Moldova could play a role in their collapse in the parliamentary elections, as well as Chisinau’s almost manic policy of discriminating against the inhabitants of Transnistria.”

From the same spectrum of posts, an image of Maia Sandu with Vlad Plahotniuc is accompanied by a text about two “coincidences,” as the author calls them – the alleged delay in bringing Plahotniuc into the country and the CEC’s decision to reduce the number of polling stations on the left bank of the Dniester by three times. “In reality, the reason is obvious: The Transnistrians support the opposition more. This means that their votes can influence the outcome of the elections. It seems that the situation is as follows: The authorities fear Plahotniuc and, at the same time, try to limit the participation in the vote of those who can support the opposition,” the user concludes.

4. „Limitation of vote” would lead to the division of the country and cession of the Transnistrian region

The reduction in polling stations is being presented as part of a plan to break Moldova in two by limiting voting in the Transnistrian region. It is also implied that these actions are a step towards ceding the Transnistrian region to Ukraine through secret agreements.

In this case, too, the PSRM is one of the sources that sets the framework, launching the idea that “Maybe Sandu and PAS are preparing the cession of Transnistria? Is the denial of vote part of secret deals with Kiev? Why do Moldovan authorities give up territory, industrial potential, power plants, metallurgy? Who would the transformation of Transnistria into a ‘broken piece’ suit?” In the same post, the party addresses PAS with appreciations about “a policy of segregation,” “irresponsible policy that leads the country to division, isolation, and chaos,” “we will support the unity of the country, despite all the attempts of the power to divide it.”

Unimedia quotes the PSRM with the question about “ceding Transnistria” in the foreground. At the same time, these statements were promoted on multiple platforms. For example, the group Новости Гагаузии и юга Молдовы [The News of Gagauzia and the South of Moldova] shared a text produced by Бельцы 24 [Balti 24], which mentioned the accusations of discrimination brought by Igor Dodon, and also the fact that he “also recognized that the government’s actions might be related to ‘secret agreements with Kiev’.”

Telegraph Moldova also quoted the politician – in an excerpt from a video interview with Igor Dodon, initially distributed on his official page, in which he suggestively asks whether “this is an attempt to effectively exclude Transnistria from the electoral process. To whom do you plan to give this region? Ukraine? Our citizens live there. And you just abandon them.” Молдавский Календарь [Moldovan Calendar] quotes Vasile Tarlev, who declared on his Telegram channel that “it is not just a restriction of rights, but a concrete step towards the division of the country.” Tarlev also referred to European integration, insinuating that it can lead to internal division of the country and that for the sake of this desideratum the authorities are willing to sacrifice part of the population.

5. Reduction of polling stations is tantamount to preparing for war

The alarmist narrative presents the reduction of polling stations as a step towards military conflict and destabilization.

A post distributed by a netizen in the ПМР [PMR] group is a classic example of a conspiracy theory and call to fear, which insinuates a secret collaboration between the Moldovan and Ukrainian authorities to start a war with Russia. The post suggests that the detention of a Moldovan with explosives at the Palanca customs post was part of a provocation organized by the Ukrainian secret services, designed to blow up a checkpoint of Russian troops in the region and thus draw Moldova into a military conflict with Russia. It is stated that the operation had the consent of the Chisinau leadership and that the ultimate goal was to open a “second front” against the Russian Federation, but the plan was allegedly thwarted by customs officers.

An interview with Serghei Mișin, presented as a PhD in Law, distributed in several groups, sends the message that the reduction of polling stations for residents from the left bank of the Dniester is not a simple technical decision, but a strategic step with serious consequences. In the end of the text, the author states that “this policy is dangerously reminiscent of what happened in Donbas between Kiev and Donetsk with Lugansk in the period of 2014-2022… and it could lead to the definitive loss of Transnistria.” This narrative, which equates the electoral situation in Moldova with the precedent of Donbas and induces the idea that the Moldovan authorities are deliberately pushing the Transnistrian region towards a definitive break, is echoed in a larger text published on Moldanalytics and distributed in several groups.

In another group we identified a post suggesting that Moldova is favored in the European integration process to the detriment of Ukraine. The text quotes a publication in Politico, after which it mixes facts with opinions and correlates them with the subject of the number of polling stations. In the end, the author concludes: “Europe is betting on Moldova as a more ‘convenient’ candidate, even if it means turning a blind eye to violations inside the country. The Moldovans, looking at this scenario, involuntarily wonder: Will Chisinau repeat the Ukrainian path of 2014, only in a ‘better packed’ package?”

Another post elaborates in an alarmist tone on a conspiracy theory that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his “globalist sponsors” were preparing major provocations, including drone attacks on Russia, the Kursk power plant, and the Druzhba pipeline. The post cites as its source a Telegram channel and introduces Moldova as part of a “secondary plan.” The central quote is formulated as follows: “The probability of provocation by Ukraine and Moldova in relation to Transnistria is 98%… The war will take place 100% only under the conditions of two factors: Sandu’s party must maintain the monopoly on power; the Ukrainian crisis must continue for at least another year.”

Through this narrative, the parliamentary elections in Moldova are transformed into an existential choice between “war or peace.” The ruling party is presented as an instrument of “globalists” that is allegedly pushing the country into a military conflict against Transnistria and, implicitly, Russia, while the opposition appears as a guarantor of peace. The post exploits fear and resorts to manipulation through a simplistic dichotomy: “PAS = war, opposition = peace.”

CONCLUSION

The topic of participation of citizens from the Transnistrian region in the vote is instrumentalized on social networks such as Facebook not only to challenge the legitimacy of the CEC decision, but also to build a broader narrative about the inability of the PAS government to respect the fundamental rights of all citizens, about the betrayal of national interests and a dangerous future for Moldova. This convergence of messages indicates that the issue of polling stations is not treated as an administrative matter, but is transformed into a vector of political mobilization and propaganda.

The monitoring was carried out within the project “Resilient Media, Informed Voters: Safeguarding Moldova’s Elections from Disinformation”, funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Moldova. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the donor.