Polling Stations Close on Moldovan Presidential Elections, Stoianoglo Leads the Counting
A Moldovan woman residing in Romania casts her ballot at a polling station during the second round of the presidential elections, in downtown Bucharest, Romania, 03 November 2024. Moldova is holding the second round of presidential elections, with former Attorney General of Moldova Alexandr Stoianoglo facing incumbent President of Moldova Maia Sandu. Photo: EFE/EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT
November 3, 2024 Hour: 4:33 pm
Polling stations for the second round of the Moldovan presidential elections closed at 21.00 local time (19.00 GMT), after which the counting began, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Moldova reported today.
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The candidate of the Party of Socialists of Moldova, Alexandr Stoianoglo, leads the elections with 51.5% of the votes, surpassing the current president Maia Sandu, who is seeking re-election, after the counting of 81% of votes according to preliminary data from the Central Election Commission.
The current president, the pro-European Maia Sandu, is competing for the Moldovan presidency against Alexandr Stonianoglo, the candidate from the Russia-friendly Party of Socialists of Moldova.
Sandu, 52, won the first round with 42.49 percent of the votes, clearly beating her rival, the former attorney general, who got 25.95 percent.
On the recent election day, 54.08% of the electoral roll, which amounts to more than 3.3 million voters, went to the polls, an increase in turnout compared with 51.74% in the first round.
Moldovans were also able to vote abroad, with 228 polling stations set up in 37 countries, the largest number—60—in Italy and over 300,000 citizens exercised their right to vote overseas, according to the Moldovan Foreign Ministry.
The CEC reported that voting had to be suspended at six schools abroad due to a bomb threat, and that by 6:30 PM local time, with just two and a half hours left before polls closed, a total of 191 irregularities had been detected in the country.
Most of these offenses, the electoral authority noted, were related to voters taking pictures of their ballots and vote buying.
Autor: ACJ
Fuente: EFE
