The partial results in the second round of the presidential elections in the Republic of Moldova began to be published shortly after the polls closed in the country. The polling stations in the Republic of Moldova closed at 21.00, but the voting process continues in the diaspora, in Western Europe and the USA.
The results can be consulted in real time here.
23:20
“Victory!” is shouted at Maia Sandu's campaign headquarters.
After processing 93.20% of the minutes, the difference between Maia Sandu and Stoianoglo increases.
MAIA SANDU: 50.45%
ALEXANDER STOIANOGLO: 49.55%
23:15
Maia Sandu officially took first place in the vote count. Here's the moment:
23:04
Maia Sandu wins the capital. In Chisinau, Maia Sandu has 57.29%, after processing 96.7% of the total minutes.
22:59
Alexandr Stoianoglo had a new statement, at a time when the dynamics of the vote processing seem to suggest that Maia Sandu will take the lead. The Socialist candidate had a conciliatory message and called for an end to “hate and division”.
“I sincerely hope that from now on we will put an end to the hatred and division that has been imposed on us. I call on every citizen to look beyond narrow interests, and the mass media and NGOs affiliated with power to find their vocation to objectively inform society, giving up manipulation, hysteria and artificial division of society”, declared Stoianolgo.
22:56
Interestingly, the president Maia Sandu defeated the convicted fugitive Ilan Şor in the fiefdom. In Orhei, the head of state accumulated 52.24% of the total votes, writes Deschide.md.
22:53
After processing 90.54% of the minutes, the difference is minuscule.
ALEXANDER STOIANOGLO: 50.50%
MAIA SANDU: 49.50%
22:47
After processing 13% of the minutes from abroad, the score from the diaspora is clear: 83.48% of Moldovans abroad voted for Maia Sandu.
The diaspora is about to overturn the result of the presidential final, and the news for Maia Sandu is good.
22:41
After processing 88.6% of minutes, Stoianoglo fell below 51%.
ALEXANDER STOIANOGLO: 50.98%
MAIA SANDU: 48.97%
Approximately 11% of the minutes from the diaspora have been processed.
22:33
After processing 87.34% of the minutes, the results are as follows:
ALEXANDER STOIANOGLO: 51.15%
MAIA SANDU: 48.85%
Only a little over 6% of the minutes from the diaspora were processed.
22:29
The political atmosphere in Chisinau is restrained, both camps refrain from making predictions or clear statements. But there is an optimism on the part of some in government, even censored.
Radu Marian, vice president of PAS, Maia Sandu's party, told HotNews that “I can't give estimates on the vote now, but we are very happy that an unprecedented number of citizens went out to vote, both in Moldova and abroad . And in Chisinau there was an exceptional presence. Among young people, too, we had an unprecedented presence. And in the diaspora, obviously, over 300 thousand, almost 320 thousand votes”.
Here are the latest reactions, from the HotNews correspondent in Chisinau, Oxana Bodnar.
22:17
The gap between the two is slowly decreasing.
After processing 81.80% of minutes, the results are as follows:
ALEXANDER STOIANOGLO: 51.50%
MAIA SANDU: 48.50%
Only a little over 5% of the minutes from the diaspora were processed.
22:04
After processing 76.48% of the minutes, the results are as follows:
ALEXANDER STOIANOGLO: 51.98%
MAIA SANDU: 48.02%
Attention, only 4.76% of minutes from the diaspora have been processed. There, the vote is expected to be strongly pro-Maia Sandu.
22:04
By 10:00 p.m., 1,690,958 Moldovans voted, i.e. 54.2%.
21:50
Ten minutes until the first official partial results.
21:46
In India, writes Ziarul de Gardà, 12 citizens voted. All those present at the polling station in India voted for Maia Sandu, Alexandr Stoianoglo having 0 votes.
21:35
The Central Electoral Commission will announce the first partial results at 22:00. Note: the initial count is not necessarily relevant to the final result.
21:30
The first results appeared on the Ziarul de Gardă sources, from the countries that voted first. It's a hint, but not a very clear one about the final result.
In the capital of Japan, in Tokyo, Maia Sandu accumulated 74 votes, and Alexandr Stoianoglo was supported by 13 voters. The voters in Beijing chose Maia Sandu by majority. She collected 36 votes while her opponent collected 7 votes.
In the United Arab Emirates, where the ballots ran out, with only 500 available, the majority of votes went to Maia Sandu (430). Alexandr Stoianoglo was voted by 68 citizens.
In Azerbaijan, where authorities said there were “reasonable indications of organized land and air transport to polling stations in Russia,” most citizens favored Alexandr Stoianoglo (149). Maia Sandu accumulated 42 votes.
The first official results. When they appear
The first official results of the second round of the presidential elections in the Republic of Moldova, in which Maia Sandu and Alexandr Stoianoglo face off, are expected shortly. HotNews will stream the numbers and update them non-stop throughout the night.
Two weeks ago, the first results began to appear at 10:00 p.m., just one hour after the polls closed. As in the first round of voting, there is no exit poll to estimate the results.
However, it is expected that the counting of votes will continue for several hours, which means that the name of the Moldovan president will not be known immediately.
The two candidates, Maia Sandu and Alexandr Stoianoglo, thanked the voters and said that they were paying attention to the counting of votes.
How it was voted in the country and abroad
Moldovan citizens voted in large numbers, both in the country and in the diaspora.
In total, by 9:00 p.m., over 1.6 million citizens of the Republic of Moldova showed up at the polling stations. That means over 54%.
By comparison:
Voter turnout in the first round of October 20, 2024 – 51.4%
Voter turnout in the 2020 elections, round II – 52.7%
Voter turnout in the 2016 elections, round II – 53.4%
The level of attendance in the first round was exceeded as early as 6:25 p.m. when official data showed that 1,564,127 Moldovans voted, representing 51.12% of voters. In the first round of the presidential elections, the final turnout was 1,562,705 people.
The total increased by the hour. 1,682,530 Moldovans had voted by 8:50 p.m., ten minutes before the polls closed in the country. That's slightly over 54%. Voting in the diaspora will continue even after the polls close in the Republic of Moldova.
Voters turned out in large numbers to vote both in Western Europe and in Bucharest, where it is expected that the vote will favor Maia Sandu, and in Russia, where the socialist candidate, Alexandr Stoianoglo, could be favored.
Analysts avoided speculating on who exactly would benefit from the large turnout at the polls in this second round of the presidential elections.
It was a tense day, with numerous reported incidents and fears of electoral fraud.
The servers of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of the Republic of Moldova were the target of a cyber attack, on the day of the second round of the presidential elections, the president of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), Angelica Caraman, announced in a press briefing on Sunday.
At the same time, several false bomb alerts were announced at several polling stations in the diaspora.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Chisinau assured that the false alarms are intended to stop the voting process.
An iData survey published the other day gave Maia Sandu the first chance in today's elections.
However, the factor of electoral fraud could matter a lot, warned analysts and officials from Chisinau, who accused Russia.
The BBC wrote that the defeat of Maia Sandu in the current elections could represent a serious blow to her political camp before the most important parliamentary elections, which are to be held next year.
