CHISINAU -- More than 1.14 million people -- or about 41 percent of registered voters -- cast ballots in Moldova’s municipal elections, surpassing the required 25 percent in most areas, in a vote marked by accusations of Russian meddling in the former Soviet republic.
The Central Electoral Commission on November 5 said that as polls closed at 9 p.m. local time, only eight of the 898 villages, towns, and cities voting to elect local leaders had failed to reach the 25 percent threshold to make the elections valid.
As the polls closed, 41 percent of voters had cast ballots in the capital, Chisinau, the commission said.
The elections come as the landlocked country of 3.4 million -- Europe’s poorest, sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine -- tries to advance its bid to join the European Union and leave Moscow's orbit.
Dozens of parties, including President Maia Sandu's ruling Party of Action and Solidarity and the pro-Russian Revival party linked to fugitive businessman Ilan Shor, are taking part in the race to elect some 12,000 officials.
Sandu on November 1 accused Moscow of funneling money to pro-Russian parties, including the Revival party, to “buy” voters. Sandu claimed that Russia has channeled nearly $5 million in two months in financing for what she called "criminal groups."
Just two days before the elections, Moldova's Commission for Exceptional Situations (CSE) barred the pro-Russian Chance party's candidates from taking part in the vote for allegedly using illegal money from Russia in the campaign.
The decision was made "for reasons of state security" and a "hybrid war" being waged by Russia against Moldova, Prime Minister Dorin Recean told reporters on November 3.
Moldova also suspended the broadcast license of several Russian television stations and blocked access to the websites of major Russian news media last month, claiming that Moscow is using them to try to influence the elections. They include the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda and website Lenta.ru, as well as TASS and Interfax.
Sandu said authorities made the decision to protect the “state and democracy from the Russian Federation's attempts to interfere in the electoral process."
According to Recean, the decision by the CSE was proposed by the county’s intelligence services.
He said the banned media outlets, including several TV channels, were subordinate to organized criminal groups that had "joined forces to destabilize the country” and had pursued interests outside of Moldova.
Alexandru Musteata, director of the Intelligence and Security Service, said that in recent months Russia has been trying to influence the elections through illegal party financing, vote buying, candidate corruption, and a "well-placed" disinformation campaign through certain TV stations, websites, and social networks.
"These are part of the arsenal of the hybrid war waged by Russia against our country," Musteata said in late October, proposing the suspension of the broadcasting licenses of six Russian broadcasters, including ITV, Channel 2, and Channel 3.
In a joint statement, ITV and other stations rejected the accusations, calling them "gross falsehoods without any proof or legal justification," and accused the Moldovan government of an "unprecedented attack" on the freedom of the press.
Moldova has accused Moscow of trying to overthrow its pro-Western government since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Russian troops occupy Moldova's mainly Russian-speaking breakaway region of Transdniester, and Moldova's main opposition parties have long had close ties to Moscow.