Voters in Moldova's autonomous Gagauzia region went to the polls on Sunday to elect a 35-seat regional parliament and a governor amid warnings of Kremlin interference.
More than 129,000 eligible voters were called to 67 polling stations open from 07:00 to 21:00 local time. They chose 35 deputies for the People's Assembly and eight candidates for the post of Governor, or Bashkan.
For the parliament, 132 candidates were registered, including 42 designated by political parties and 90 independents. Twenty-two were women and 110 men. For the governor's post, three candidates were party-designated and five were independents. Seven men and one woman ran for the position.
The Central Electoral Commission printed 258,780 ballots. These included 8,150 in Romanian, 100,740 in Russian and 20,500 in the Gagauz language. The vote was monitored by 149 national observers from five NGOs and 83 international observers from 14 diplomatic missions and two international organizations.
Moldova's intelligence service and the Atlantic Council have warned of Kremlin interference in the vote. A local source cited by the European Council on Foreign Relations claimed that Russia spent €4 million buying votes in the region's 2023 governor election. That election was won by Evghenia Guțul, an ally of fugitive pro-Kremlin oligarch Ilan Shor. Shor was later jailed for illegal party financing.
An IMAS poll conducted from 17-25 October showed former prosecutor general Alexandr Stoianoglo leading the governor's race with 45 percent support. Candidate Gagauz trailed at 18 percent. Koksal followed at 15 percent.
If no candidate wins over 50 percent, a second round will be held on 29 November. The interim governor is Ilia Uzun.
Police were deployed to ensure public order during the election period and to monitor the electoral process, according to the General Police Inspectorate.
