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Surprise of proportions in the presidential elections of the Republic of Moldova. Opposition candidate Maia Sandu is on track to win the first round of presidential elections in the Republic of Moldova, after the Central Election Commission began processing the results of the diaspora vote.
UPDATE 3:30 Maia Sandu’s difference with Igor Dodon increased to almost two percent, according to data provided by the Central Election Commission.
The PAS candidate has 35.28 percent of the vote, while the current president obtained 33.31 percent of the vote. The data totaled 98.93 percent of the polling stations. The situations in 23 polling stations, all in the diaspora, where voting continues in 16 of them, being located in other time zones, in America, have yet to be processed.
If Igor Dodon and Maia Sandu were three percent different from the vote in the country, after the results of the diaspora polling stations began to come in, where there were queues and around 140,000 people voted, the PAS candidate has taken the lead and is more than one percent ahead of the current pro-Russian president.
After centralizing the results indicated by the records of 2,111 polling stations out of a total of 2,143 (that is, 98.51 percent of the polling stations), Maia Sandu obtained 34.81 percent of the votes, while Igor Dodon – 33.68 percent of the votes. Renato Usatii is in third place with 16.98 percent of the votes.
How the diaspora voted
Also, in diaspora votes, Igor Dodon is not even second, but third. Second is Renato Usatii, the current mayor of Balti, a controversial, populist candidate, but who campaigned with an anti-Dodon speech.
After centralizing the results of the minutes of 107 of the 139 electoral colleges of the diaspora, Maia Sandu obtained 68.01 percent of the votes of the diaspora, followed by Renato Usatii, with 18.42 percent of the votes, while Igor Dodon had only 4.48 percent of the vote.
Chisinau voted with Maia Sandu
Voters in the capital of the Republic of Moldova also voted by majority with Maia Sandu. The pro-European opposition candidate definitely won in Chisinau against Igor Dodon, with 45.20 percent of the votes, while Igor Dodon won 34.17 percent of the votes. Renato Usatii ranked third with 9.55 percent of the votes of voters in the Capital.
Race relaunched for second round of voting
In the second round, which will take place on November 15, Maia Sandu and Igor Dodon will face off, but this reversal of the situation brought about by the diaspora vote gives new opportunities to the pro-Western opposition candidate.
There could be a greater mobilization in the second round, given that almost 43 percent of registered voters participated in the November 1 elections (compared to 50 percent in the 2016 elections, when in the second Igor Dodon and Maia Sandu they also clashed).
Sunday’s elections, which took place amid the pandemic and in unfavorable weather conditions, discouraged many voters from leaving their homes. The second round could mobilize more young people, who went to the polls in small proportions, could further mobilize the diaspora and, furthermore, observers believe that part of the Renato Usatii electorate will not vote with Igor Dodon.
The other pro-European candidates who participated in round 1 and who ranked in the last four places (Andrei Năstase, Octavian Țîcu, Tudor Deliu and Dorin Chirtoacă) gather around 8 percent who would normally go to Maia Sandu.
Editor: Luana Pavaluca
