Maia Sandu takes lead in Moldova’s presidential election: Preliminary results
Moldova's incumbent president overtakes rival after initially gaining just over 48% of vote based on around 86% of ballots counted
ISTANBUL
Incumbent President Maia Sandu has gained the lead against her rival in Moldova's presidential runoff, based on preliminary results from the country's electoral authority late Sunday.
According to Moldova's Central Election Commission (CEC), Sandu has gained slightly above 52% of the vote, while Alexandr Stoianoglo, the country's former prosecutor general, received nearly 48% with just over 95% of the ballots counted.
Based on data from the CEC, all polling stations in Moldova have been counted, with the vote of the diaspora, considered to be mainly pro-Sandu, set to determine the outcome of the election.
Initially, the CEC reported that Stoianoglo had gained more than 51% of the vote while Sandu managed above 48% after about 86% of the ballots were opened.
Voting in the runoff presidential election began at 7 a.m. local time (0500GMT) and continued until 9 p.m. (1900GMT) across 2,219 polling stations, 231 of which were located abroad in 37 countries.
According to the CEC, nearly 1.7 million of the country's citizens had cast their ballots as voting ended, corresponding to just over 54% of the electorate.
The final results are expected to be announced at a news briefing Monday at 10 a.m. (0800GMT).
The runoff follows an initial round of voting held two weeks ago, in which Sandu, who is viewed as pro-Western, fell short of securing 50% of the ballots needed to win a second term.
The election was marked by accusations of external influence, particularly by Sandu, who accused "criminal groups," which she said work with "foreign forces hostile to our national interests," of trying to keep the country "trapped in uncertainty and instability."
"We have clear evidence that these criminal groups aimed to buy 300,000 votes — a fraud of unprecedented scale. Their objective was to undermine a democratic process. Their intention is to spread fear and panic in the society," Sandu said on X.
Russian Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, responding to Sandu's accusations, challenged her to provide evidence of the alleged interference.
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