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Moldova's Sandu Leads in 2nd Round of Presidential Election

CHISINAU (Sputnik) - Former Prime Minister of Moldova Maia Sandu is the winner of the presidential election in Moldova after securing 90 percent of the vote in the second round on Sunday, according to results of an exit poll conducted by the Intellect Group research company and the SPERO public association.
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According to the Central Electoral Commission, Maia Sandu is leading with 51,46 percent of the vote, while Moldovan incumbent President Igor Dodon stands at 48,54 percent. Under Moldova's legislature, the candidate who receives more than half of the valid votes wins the presidential election.

The deputy chairman of the Moldovan Central Election Commission, Vladimir Sarban, said that the second round of the presidential election was held without serious violations.

"The second round of the presidential election in Moldova is over, all polling stations inside the country have closed on time. The election was held without serious irregularities that could affect the results," Sarban said at a briefing.

On Sunday, a member of the Russian parliament's upper house, Vladimir Krugly, told Sputnik that the presidential election in Moldova complied with international democratic standards and Russia intends to cooperate with the president elected by the Moldovan people.

The lawmaker is currently in Chisinau as part of a delegation from the upper house monitoring the second round of the election.

"The election meets international democratic requirements, [held] without significant violations," Krugly said.

According to the lawmaker, special requirements connected with the epidemiological situation in the country were also respected.

"The position of Russia is that Moldova is our fraternal republic, we are determined to cooperate with the president chosen by the Moldovan people," he added.

The survey was conducted among 15,511 people from 77 Moldovan settlements, excluding residents of Transnistria and representatives of the Moldovan diaspora abroad, with the margin of error not exceeding 5.2 percent.

Earlier, Moldovan President Igor Dodon, who is running for a second presidential term, said that the inauguration ceremony of the next leader would take place after December 24.

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