Moldova Votes in Presidential Election and Referendum on EU Path, Preliminary Results Available

The Central Election Commission of Moldova has announced the preliminary results of the presidential election and the referendum on the country's accession to the European Union, which took place on 20 October. This was reported by ZdG.

After processing about 36% of the ballots, incumbent President Maia Sandu is in first place with 35.05% of the vote, followed by Alexander Stoianoglo, who's received 29.57% of the vote so far, and Renato Usatîi in third place with 14.66% of the vote.

After processing 500,000 ballots out of 1.4 million, the results of the referendum are as follows: 43.72% of voters voted in favour of adding an irreversible path to the EU to the Constitution of Moldova, and 56.28% voted against.

The incumbent president and favourite in the race, Maia Sandu, is running for the ruling Action and Solidarity Party, which she founded. 

Former President Igor Dodon decided not to run in these elections and, together with the Party of Socialists he leads, supported the candidacy of former Prosecutor General Alexander Stoianoglo.

Another opposition candidate is Renato Usatii, leader of the Our Party and former mayor of Balti. This is Usatii's second attempt to compete for the presidency. He came third in the first round in 2020.