Moldova’s Central Electoral Commission (CEC) suspended the use of digital identity documents from the government’s EVO app for voter identification in the Nov. 1 local elections and referendum, citing cybersecurity incidents targeting the country’s digital public services. Voters had to present physical identity documents at polling stations instead.
The decision dropped plans to pilot EVO digital IDs for voter identification in that vote. EVO is Moldova’s government application for digital identity documents and public services, including digital versions of identity cards.
The commission said the measure was meant to prevent potential risks to voter identification while authorities assess the security of the affected systems. “The CEC remains in dialogue with the Electronic Governance Agency on using digital identification mechanisms for voters in future elections, once all security checks have been completed and the safety of the services concerned has been confirmed,” the commission said in a statement.
The CEC also temporarily suspended its online “Electoral Complaints” module, citing cybersecurity incidents and identified risks related to electronic authentication. Until the technical issues are resolved, complaints can be filed by email or in person at the commission’s headquarters.
The vote covered early local elections in six localities: the villages of Cairaclia and Novosiolovca in Taraclia district, the town of Costești in Rîșcani district, Hăsnășenii Mari in Drochia district, and the villages of Tomai and Chirsova in the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia. Five localities were choosing mayors and Tomai a new local council, while Delacău village in Anenii Noi district held a local referendum.
The suspension follows a cyberattack on government information systems between Oct. 19 and 23. Preliminary findings show personal data linked to about 750,000 State Identification Numbers was extracted without authorization, possibly including names, identification numbers, family details, pension records, driver’s licence information and some financial data.
The Electronic Governance Agency ordered security checks of 82 digital public services after the incident and temporarily suspended vulnerable systems. As of Oct. 30, 61 services had been restored and 21 remained unavailable pending further checks. Authorities said they found no unauthorized changes to state registers and that bank card data was not compromised.
The Chisinau Municipal Prosecutor’s Office opened a criminal investigation into the incident on Oct. 30, citing reasonable suspicion of privacy violations and the disclosure of information from a criminal investigation.
Sources: Moldova 1, Logos Press, Radio Moldova
–
By the ID Tech Editorial Team
