LIVE TEXT. The second round of the general local elections // The polling stations have opened
Today, the second round of mayor election takes place in 273 localities in the country. In the second round of voting, the re are 544 candidates for the position of mayor. 488 of them are nominated by political parties, and 56 are independent candidates. 2 candidates, who accumulated the highest number of votes in the first round of the elections, are listed on the ballot. Exceptions are the village of Cotova, from Drochia district as well as Todiresti commune from Ungheni district, where only one candidate is listed on the ballot.
UPDATE 8:18: The Central Electoral Commission President Angelica Caraman: In two localities from Hincesti district - Carpineni and Aneni villages from Lapusna commune - the electricity was out for about 20 minutes. The issue has already been fixed and voting has been resumed.
UPDATE 8:15: The Central Electoral Commission President, Angelica Caraman: 11 polling stations were open in the eight localities, where repeated voting is taking place and about 23 thousand ballots were printed. 12,131 voters are registered in the basic lists in these localities.
UPDATE 8:10: The Central Electoral Commission President Angelica Caraman: The district with the most localities where elections are held today is Orhei with 20 administrative-territorial units. In Basarabeasca, Donduseni and Taraclia districts the election takes place in one locality each. In Chisinau, citizens with the right to vote from eight suburbs are expected at the polls to elect their mayors. For the second round, 609 polling stations were organized, and over 839 thousand voters are expected at the ballot box for whom 828 thousand ballots were printed.
UPDATE 7:00 At this hour, the polling stations for the second round of general local elections have opened in those localities where none of the mayoral candidates received more than half of the valid votes cast in the first round. At the same time, repeated voting is held in eight other localities from the country, where the elections of November 5 were declared invalid.
At every polling station open in the country, there are policemen who will monitor and ensure the smooth running of the electoral process, informs the General Police Inspectorate. Also, the law enforcement officers are prepared to react promptly to any notification of the citizens. They are urged to notify the authorities if they observe electoral violations or other deviations from the law.
Throughout Sunday, the Central Electoral Commission and the Promo-LEX Mission will disseminate information of public interest and organize briefings.
We mention that, according to the electoral legislation, in the second round of voting, the elections are declared valid in each electoral district, if at least 20 percent of the number of people registered in the electoral lists in that locality participate in them.
We remind that, in the first round, 617 mayors were elected. PAS obtained the most mandates - 225, followed by PSRM with 99 mandates - an analysis by the Association for Participatory Democracy "ADEPT" shows. 83 of the mayors elected in the first round have an independent candidate, and 73 are from the European Social Democratic Party.
