Overview

• Polls opened at 7 a.m. and close at 9 p.m. local time, with surveys placing the pro‑EU PAS generally ahead but the large diaspora and undecided voters keeping the outcome uncertain.
• The Central Electoral Commission said more than 1.2 million people, about 43% of eligible voters, had cast ballots by 5 p.m.
• Prosecutors conducted hundreds of searches and made dozens of arrests in recent weeks, including 74 people detained on Sept. 22 over alleged plans for unrest, with investigators citing training trips to Serbia.
• Election officials removed the pro‑Russian Heart of Moldova and Greater Moldova parties from the ballot over suspected illegal financing, decisions the opposition condemned.
• Authorities and researchers flagged large‑scale disinformation networks, with platforms reporting major takedowns, and false bomb threats briefly disrupted overseas voting, including an evacuation at Moldova’s embassy in Brussels before balloting resumed.