Moldova’s Central Electoral Committee (CEC) announced that according to preliminary results (based on counted votes from 16% of polling stations), incumbent President Maia Sandu leads after the first round of voting, with former prosecutor general and candidate of the pro-Russian center-left populist Democratic Party, Alexandr Stoianoglo, as runner up, with 30% of the vote, APA reports citing TVP.
The second round of voting will take place on November 3.
Preliminary results for the concurrently held referendum that would amend the constitution, however, suggest that Moldovans have decided not to enshrine a pro-EU course in the constitution, voting down the constitutional amendment that would make EU accession a Moldova’s constitutional goal.
Preliminary results (based on counted votes from 23.4% of polling stations) indicate that Moldovans have rejected the proposition by a majority of 58% of votes, Moldovan TV8 channel’s website reported.
CEC said that the turnout in the presidential vote amounted to 54.5% of the eligible voters. The turnout for the referendum is still being calculated but the CEC announced prior to the polls closing, that the turnout met the requirement of one-third of eligible voters casting their ballots that makes the vote binding.
