The voter turnout in the September 5 referendum was 29.05%, according to the data presented by the Central Election Commission (CEC) on Monday at 11am. The CEC specified this is the preliminary result obtained after processing the electronic reports. The final outcome will be made known on September 8, after verifying the printed reports of the district electoral offices, Info-Prim Neo reports. 87.8% of the participants in the referendum voted in favor of direct election of the head of state, while 12.2 – against. CEC secretary Iurie Ciocan said only 1.54% of the voters cast their ballots under additional lists. “This fact is encouraging as the number of persons voting under extra lists decreases with every election. This shows the main electoral rolls are of a better quality,” Ciocan said. As many as 19,703 Moldovans voted at the 78 polling places established abroad. Of them, 19,278 voted in favor of electing the President by popular vote, while 397 voted against.