Polling stations opened in Moldova where on Sunday presidential elections are taking place. The voting started at 7:00 a.m. local time (05:00 GMT) and will end at 9:00 p.m. local time (19:00 GMT). A total of 1,981 polling stations opened in Moldova and 100 more – abroad, including 25 in Italy, 11 in Romania, eight in Russia and two in Ukraine, Sputnik reports.
More than 3 million Moldovans have the right to vote. The elections will not be held in the self-proclaimed Transnistria republic, seen by Moldova as an autonomous territorial unit with a special legal status, but the Moldovan citizens living there will be able to vote at the 30 polling stations on the right bank of the Dniester river.
In March, the constitutional court ruled that Moldova's president should be elected by popular vote for the first time since 1996, replacing the system that had the parliament pick the nation's leader. Nine candidates are seeking the presidency. According to political analysts, the major candidates are the Socialist Party’s Igor Dodon and the pro-European Action and Solidarity Party’s Maia Sandu. If no candidate wins an outright majority in the first round, there will be a runoff on November 13.
