Three hours before polls closed, 42.7% of eligible voters had cast their ballots in Moldova’s presidential election, according to the central electoral body. Additionally, the referendum on enshrining Moldova’s EU aspirations in the constitution has met the threshold to be binding, News.Az reports.
The presidential vote in organized concurrently with a national referendum that would amend the constitution to include a clause about Moldova making it its goal to join the European Union.The turnout for the presidential vote rose from 18.8% at noon local time to 42.7% by 5 p.m. For the referendum to be binding, at least one-third of all eligible voters must cast their vote. While not everyone who turned up at the polls opted to cast their vote in the referendum, the CEC announced that by 6 p.m. local time (GMT 1600), the turnout condition had been met.
Polls closed at 7 p.m. local time. Preliminary results are expected around 8 p.m. local time.
Traditionally, the Moldovan diaspora living in the West has turned up to vote in droves, with at least 162,000 Moldovans having voted abroad by, more than came to cast their ballots in the previous elections held in 2020.
