CEC: last polling stations in USA, Canada closed

Chișinău, Oct 21 /MOLDPRES/- By 10:00 AM, 1,562,238 voters had turned out at polling stations, representing 51.67% of the voters on the electoral lists. Central Electoral Commission (CEC) head Angelica Caraman made the statement today.

Preliminary information shows that none of the 11 candidates for the position of President of the Republic of Moldova obtained at least half of the votes. Therefore, runoff election will be organized, involving the two candidates who picked up the most votes in the first round.

It is about PAS candidate Maia Sandu, who got 42.16% of the votes, and Alexandr Stoianoglo from the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova, who received 26.19%, after 98.87% of the reports were processed. The runoff election will take place two weeks after the first round, with the date set by the CEC.

According to the CEC head, the highest voter turnout among districts was recorded in Dondușeni, with 50.96% of eligible citizens participating.

“The lowest turnout was recorded in Basarabeasca, where 39.03% participated. In Chișinău, 361,786 people voted, or 54.13% of the voters on the electoral lists. At the polling stations opened for citizens from the left bank of the Dniester River, 16,131 voters showed up. More than 240,000 voters turned out at polling stations abroad,” said Caraman.

This morning, at 7:00 AM (Moldova time), the last polling stations in the US were closed: Sacramento, Seattle, Las Vegas and Vancouver, Canada.

The voter profile shows that 54.55% of voters present at the polls yesterday were women, and 45.45% were men.

According to preliminary data, 50.16% of voters answered YES to the referendum question, while 49.84% voted NO.

“For the constitutional republican referendum to be valid, at least one-third of those on the electoral lists must participate. The law will be considered adopted if the majority of citizens who participated in the referendum vote for it. The Commission will present a report to the Constitutional Court, which within 10 days will confirm or reject the results of the plebiscite,” said Caraman.

According to police data, on election day, 146 cases of electoral process violations were recorded, including photographing ballots, damaging ballots, removing them from polling stations, prohibited electoral campaigning, unauthorized electoral posters, organized voter transportation, reasonable suspicion of voter bribery, violation of the right to vote and obstruction of electoral body activities.

The information is preliminary until the original electoral documents are presented to the CEC. Constituency electoral councils have 48 hours after the polling stations close to present the report on the election results. Subsequently, the CEC will announce the final results of the constitutional republican referendum and the elections for the President of the Republic of Moldova.