The Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Moldova announced that it has finished counting the votes for the 2024 presidential elections, as well as those for the referendum on the country’s accession to the EU.
The data show that Maia Sandu, who is running for a new mandate, and the representative of the Socialist Party of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM), Alexandr Stoianoglo, will face each other in presidential runoff in two weeks.
The preliminary results for the referendum, after counting votes from all 2,219 polling stations, show that the pro-EU Yes camp has a lead of 13,596 votes over the No camp.
The Central Electoral Commission (CEC) from Chisinau completed, on Monday evening, the counting of votes in all 2,219 polling stations established for the first round of the presidential elections in the Republic of Moldova. The data centralized by the CEC show that, in the first round of the presidential elections, 1,546,077 voters voted, and of these, the majority, 656,354, i.e. 42.45%, opted for the current leader from Chisinau, Maia Sandu.
The former general prosecutor Alexandr Stoianoglo, who is running on behalf of the Socialist Party of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM) and who accumulated 401,726 votes, representing 25.98% of all voters, ranked second.
The referendum results after the tallying of votes from 2,219 polling stations (100%), with a total of 1,488,874 valid votes:
YES votes: 50.46% (751,235 votes)
NO votes: 49.54% (737,639 votes)
“Moldova faced today and in the last months an unprecedented attack on freedom and democracy in our country. Criminal groups, together with foreign forces, hostile to our interests, attacked our country with tens of millions of euros, lies and propaganda, with the most wretched means, to bring our citizens and our country into an area of uncertainty and instability”. said Maia Sandu.
“We have evidence and information that the purpose of the criminal group was to buy 300 thousand votes, the size of the fraud is unprecedented. The aim was to compromise a democratic exercise. The aim was to induce fear and panic in the society. We await the final results.”
For instance, Cahul and Ungheni, cities that have benefited in recent years from the most European projects, voted NO in the constitutional referendum, Ziarul de Gardă reports. The preliminary data published by the Central Electoral Commission show that in Cahul, 56% of those present at the polls chose the “NO” option from the ballot, and the voters in Ungheni voted “NO” in proportion to 57%.
“While the results may change as more ballots are counted, particularly among the large diaspora in the West, they are almost certainly a shock to Sandu’s team,” Reuters comments.
What happened to the more that 50% that she would have got. Oups!