Maia Sandu and Alexandr Stoianoglo, in the second round of the presidential elections in the Republic of Moldova. Suspension of the referendum

The President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, leads in the voters’ preferences in the first round of the presidential elections held on Sunday, while her main opponent, Alexandr Stoianoglo, supported by the pro-Russian socialists, seems to have registered a surprising score, much higher than the pre-election polls indicated.

The CEC data showed that, after counting the votes from over 76% of the total of 2,219 polling stations, Maia Sandu obtained over 36% of the votes, while the PSRM candidate attracted the votes of over 29% of the voters, as the data indicated from midnight. The final results will be announced on Monday.

After processing 1,738 minutes out of 2,219, not taking into account the diaspora (representing 78.32%):

1. Maia Sandu – 36.7%;

2. Alexandr Stoianoglo – 29.1%;

3. Renato Usatîi – 14.01%;

4. Irina Vlah – 6.05%;

5. Victoria Furtună – 5.42%;

6. Vasile Tarlev – 3.62%;

7. Ion Chicu – 2.28%;

The other four candidates have less than 1%.

The fate of the referendum could be decided by a few thousand votes

The results of the pro-European referendum in the Republic of Moldova know a spectacular evolution, the difference between those who voted YES and those who said NO – which at one point was around 10 percent – narrowing significantly as the votes of Moldovans from diaspora.

As of Monday morning, at 04:00, there is a difference of only 0.20 percent, or less than 3,000 votes, between the two camps, after processing data from 2,163 polling stations out of 2,219. And the counting of votes, as well as the vote itself, continues in the diaspora.