Voter turnout stays at 51 per cent in Moldova till 19:00

Chisinau, 13 November /MOLDPRES/ - More than 1.5 million voters (over 51 per cent of the citizens with right to vote) gave their suffrages till 19:00.

In the first round of the presidential polls, more than 1,380,000 electors (47.59 per cent) voted till this time, by over three per cent less than today.

The head of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), Alina Russu, has said that CEC found out an unprecedented mobilization. Thus, the situation is to be analyzed and the legislation in force should be adjusted, Russu noted. “About 53 per cent of the voters are women and about 47 per cent – men. About 11 per cent of all people who exercised their right to vote are aged between 18 and 25 years, over 27 per cent – between 26 and 40 years, about 26 per cent – between 41 and 55 years, about 28 per cent are aged between 56 and 70 years and approximately 8 per cent are older than 71,” Russu said.    

“At the same time, the district with the highest voter turnout recorded is the Chisinau municipality (55 per cent); the lowest one was registered in the southern Cantemir district (39 per cent). The settlement with the most active voters is Pocrovca, northern Donduseni district (84 per cent); the most passive voters are residents of the Caracusenii Vechi village, northern Briceni district,” Alina Russu specified.

The CEC head said that over 118,000 citizens voted abroad, or about 8 per cent. “The countries where the highest frequency of the electoral process was recorded are: Italy – over 43,000; Romania – 14,000, France – 9,000 and Russia - 8,000,” Russu said.    

According to the CEC members, the ballot papers ended at the polling station from London (England). “Civil servants undertook actions for the citizens to be able to vote at the other polling station in London. There are also polling stations in Italy, Romania, France and Russia, where the ballot papers are also at an end,” Russu noted.    

Also, at 18:00, about 15,000 electors with residence in the Transnistrian region came to vote; this is twice as much than in the first round of the polls and all ballot papers have already ended at a polling station in the Varnita settlement.  

At the same time, there are disconnections from power supply in 13 settlements of Moldova, because of bad weather. Also, several attempts of rigging the ballot have been discovered.  

As many as 2.8 million citizens are expected to vote at the presidential elections. The first preliminary data on the results of the polls will be unveiled at about 22:00.