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Moldova to hold presidential election for first time in last 20 years

Voters will get a bulletin with the names of nine candidates

© Vadim Denisov/TASS

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Moldovan court issues warrant for arrest of opposition figurehead

CHISINAU, October 30. /TASS/. Moldova will hold direct presidential elections for the first time in the last 20 years on Sunday. The president had been elected by the parliament since 2000, but the Constitutional Court ruled this unconstitutional in March and reinstituted direct voting that was for the last time used to elect the president back in 1996.

Polling stations will open at 7am local time and close at 9pm. Voters will get a bulletin with the names of nine candidates. If no candidate gets more that 50% of votes, the second round of election will be held on November 13. Elections will be recognized as valid if at least a third of 3.2 million eligible voters participate.

The elections will be monitored by over 500 observers, including representatives of OSCE, EU, CIS and other organizations.

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