Seven out of ten citizens of the Republic of Moldova consider electoral corruption to be either very widespread or fairly widespread in the country, while nearly three in ten people say that they or someone close to them were exposed to attempts of electoral corruption during the most recent elections. These are among the key findings of the study “Electoral corruption: a fact of life? Study on perceptions and prevalence of exposure to electoral corruption in the Republic of Moldova”, conducted by the Partnership for Development Center, with the support of the “Strengthening democratic resilience in Moldova” project, implemented by UNDP Moldova and funded by Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.

The study is based on a survey conducted by CBS Research between 14 and 26 April 2026 among a sample of 1,101 respondents, excluding the left bank of the Nistru River, with a maximum margin of error of ±3%.

According to the survey, the population largely recognizes the main forms of electoral corruption. Offering money in exchange for a vote is considered an act of corruption by 90.3% of respondents, followed by offering gifts or goods, such as food and alcohol (87.4%). At the same time, 81.4% consider threats and pressure against voters to be forms of corruption, while 81.1% identify the fictitious registration of voters in another electoral district as a corrupt practice.

According to the research, the electoral corruption awareness index stands at 0.78 out of 1, indicating a high level of recognition of electoral corruption practices among the population. At the same time, the electoral corruption resistance index is 0.66 out of 1, reflecting a moderate to high level of opposition towards such practices.

The study reveals that 69.2% of respondents consider electoral corruption to be a widespread phenomenon in the Republic of Moldova. At the same time, nearly 28% of respondents say that they or someone from their close circle have been exposed to attempts to influence their vote. Among them, 7.9% report that they were directly offered money, goods, or favors, while 24.9% know of such cases involving relatives or close acquaintances.

The most frequently reported forms of electoral corruption are offering money (2.7%) and offering goods, such as food products or alcohol (2.3%). In addition, 2.3% of respondents say they were threatened with losing their job, while 1.3% report threats of criminal charges. Representatives of political parties are most frequently identified as the initiators of such actions (33.6%), followed by people from the community (16.4%).

The data show that women, rural residents, people with lower levels of education, and those with lower incomes are more frequently exposed to attempts of electoral corruption. Women report higher exposure to such attempts (8.8%, compared to 6.3% among men), while people with lower levels of education have a direct exposure rate of 12.2%, compared to 6.5% among those with higher education. At the same time, people with lower incomes are more frequently exposed to electoral corruption (11.7%) compared to those with relatively higher incomes (5%).

Regarding trust in institutions responsible for electoral processes, local public authorities (59.8%) and electoral observers (58.4%) register the highest levels of trust. The Central Electoral Commission is trusted by slightly more than half of respondents.

The majority of respondents (70%) say they would report attempts of electoral corruption. The main reason cited by those who would choose not to report such cases is the lack of trust in authorities (40.1%), followed by the perception that reporting such cases is not important (26.2%) and fear of consequences (19.8%). At the same time, 26.5% of respondents say they are not aware of any channels for reporting cases of electoral corruption.