Republic of Moldova to hold presidential election on October 20

The Republic of Moldova will elect its president on October 20, 2024. It will be only the fifth presidential election since the country's independence in which the president is chosen through direct universal suffrage.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Moldova announced that as of October 2, 2024, over 3.3 million Moldovan voters were registered. According to the United Nations, in 2020, approximately 1.15 million Moldovan citizens lived abroad.

Alongside the presidential election, a referendum will also take place, asking citizens: "do you support amending the Constitution for the purpose of the Republic of Moldova’s accession to the European Union?" This referendum will be the fifth since Moldova's independence, and the second proposing constitutional changes.

Given that a third of registered voters must participate for the election and referendum to be validated, the diaspora vote could play a decisive role. To accommodate this, the CEC will organize 234 voting stations abroad for the referendum and presidential elections. Most stations will be set up alongside Moldovan diplomatic missions, and voters abroad can participate using valid or expired passports and IDs, according to ProTV.

The largest number of stations abroad will be in Italy (60), with 16 in Romania, including three in Bucharest. In total, 2,221 polling stations will open, including 234 abroad across 37 countries.

For the first time, ballots will be available not only in Romanian but also in five minority languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Gagauz, Bulgarian, and Romani.

A special case is also made for voters in Transnistria, where 30 stations will open under the control of Moldovan authorities. The CEC expressed concerns about irregularities in voter registration, particularly involving Moldovans unexpectedly registered to vote in Russia without their consent.

To guard against this, observers from international organizations, including the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and OSCE, will monitor the 2024 elections and referendum.

A record turnout in the diaspora was registered in the 2020 presidential elections, with over 260,000 voters. The diaspora, which tends to support pro-European candidates, accounted for about 15% of the electorate in that election.

(Photo source: Maia Sandu on Facebook)