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Maia Sandu, the opposition candidate who is credited with great chances of entering the second round of the presidential elections in the Republic of Moldova, accused the existence of “attempted fraud” of the first round, held on Sunday, informs the correspondent of Agerpres.
He told a press conference shortly after the polls closed that the political party he leads, the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), had filed more than 300 complaints with district police inspections for cases of illegal transportation of voters and notified the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Moldova about try to bribe voters.
“Today we saw several attempts to defraud the elections. Voters were taken to the polls in an organized manner, although prohibited by law, there were attempts to pay some voters, there were attempts to divide society and challenge the citizenry. We found the application by some electoral contestants of various fraud techniques and extended in frequency, “said Maia Sandu.
At the same time, the PAS candidate thanked Moldovan citizens abroad for the massive mobilization to vote, since more than 140,000 citizens of the Republic of Moldova voted in the 139 polling stations abroad. “Dear inhabitants of the diaspora, today has been truly amazing. So far, more than 140,000 people in the diaspora have voted. It is an extraordinary mobilization, it is a mobilization that is a model of activism and civic involvement and that inspires us all”, Maia Sandu added.
Polling stations in the Republic of Moldova closed at 9pm on Sunday, but some from abroad remain open, where voters still queue. According to data from the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), up to 9:00 p.m. 1,214,378 people attended the polling stations, representing 42.7%. In this participation, the ballot is validated.
The validation of the elections is conditioned by the presence at the polls of at least one third of the number of registered voters on the electoral lists (3,287,140 citizens with the right to vote).
The data shows a lower turnout than in the 2016 elections, when more than 50.95% of voters registered to vote.
According to the CEC, the majority of voters in Sunday’s elections were women, about 53 percent, and the most active were citizens between the ages of 50 and 70. Only eight percent of the citizens who went to the polls were young people under 25 years of age.
Editor: Luana Pavaluca
