The candidate of the Party of Action and Solidarity Maia Sandu has won a new presidential mandate. According to preliminary data presented by the Central Election Commission, over 930,000 electors or 55.41% voted for Maia Sandu. The Party of Socialists’ candidate Alexandr Stoianoglo gained over 748,000 votes or 44.59% of the ballot, IPN reports.

CEC chairwoman Angelica Caraman said that 99.86% of the minutes drawn up by the electoral bureaus of polling stations were processed by 10 a.m.

The electoral legislation provides that the candidate who obtained most votes in the runoff election is declared elected. The current data are preliminary until the original documents are submitted to the CEC. The district electoral councils have 48 hours after the closing of pols to present the minutes on the election results in the constituency.

"At the same time, the Central Election Commission, in accordance with the Electoral Code, has five days to draw up a report on the tabulation of election results, which it then submits to the Constitutional Court, together with the report on the results of the presidential election," stated the CEC chief.

The second round of the presidential election involved 1,699 million electors or 54.31% of the eligible voters. The electoral legislation stipulates that the presidential runoff is declared valid if at least 20% of the number of persons put on voter rolls participated in it.