Hi all,

Today it’s the 2nd round of presidential elections in Moldova. The candidates are:

  • Maia Sandu - the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), pro-EU
  • Alexandr Stoianoglu - Socialists (PSRM), less pro-EU, rather pro-Russia, supported more or less by the Kremlin.

Get your Moldovan friends to the ballots if you have any. I’ll try to keep you posted about any updates as much as I can (I’ll be on a hike so I likely won’t have that much cell service).

Here’s the Election Commission’s official website where you can see the presence in real time (as well as the results after the polls close): pv.cec.md/

Right now it’s around 10:00 AM here in Romania, I guess it’s the same in MD

Edit: if you know any Romanian/trust Google Translate enough, here’s a live feed: hotnews.ro/live-alegeri-in-rep…

  • Update 11:33 PM local time:

    Maia Sandu is leading in the polls!

    This time, on the official CEC page too!

    i.postimg.cc/mDN7GLqq/image.pn…

    Still 5.95% of the votes left to process, but 20% of the diaspora votes have been counted already, and the remaining ones are most likely in favor of Maia Sandu too (they’re in Western countries, and the diaspora there is less exposed to the Kremlin narratives). Polling stations are still open in the US.

    HotNews (Ro) also says that 320,000 people voted in the Diaspora until 10 PM local time, a record figure.

    In other news, the Police is investigating a 40-year-old woman in the Ungheni county for voter corruption. Investigators say that the woman was the local leader of the Criminal Organization Șor, who paid people to vote in a certain way.

    Other cases of voter corruption were recorded in Chișinău (6), as well as the counties of Cantemir (1), Nisporeni (1), Rîșcani (1), Rezina (2), Anenii Noi (2), Orhei (2), Glodeni (1), Leova (1), Soroca (1), Șoldănești (1), Ungheni (1), Căușeni (1), Fălești (1), Hăncești (1), Ștefan Vădă (1) and in the autonomous territorial unit of Găgăuzia (1).

    In Russia, Moldova opened just 2 polling stations, both in Moscow, citing security concerns. Ballot papers finished a little before 9 PM, when the vote was officially closed. People were angry, some chanting Down with Maia Sandu (in Romanian) (Source).