At Stake in this Election:

• The Presidency of Moldova

The first round was held on 20 October 2024.

Government Structure:

• Chief of State: President Maia SANDU (since 24 December 2020)
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Dorin RECEAN (since 16 February 2023)
• Assembly: unicameral Parliament with 101 seats

Electoral System:

• The President is directly elected by absolute majority vote in up to two rounds. The President may serve up to two consecutive 4-year terms.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the President after consultation with the Parliament.
• In Parliament, 51 members are directly elected by plurality vote in single-seat constituencies, and 50 members are directly elected by closed-list proportional representation vote in a nationwide constituency. All 101 members serve 4-year terms.

Last Election:

In the first round of the 2024 presidential election, Maia SANDU () led with 42% of the vote, followed by Alexandr STOIANOGLO with 26%. These two leading candidates advanced to the second round. Voter turnout was 52%.

New/Unique in this Election:

In 2022, a new Electoral Code was passed by Parliament including new standards for media coverage of elections, voter identification, and elections held during emergencies.

Information for Voters:

Campania de informare / Information campaign (in Romanian)

Key Deadlines:

• Candidate filing deadline: 20 September 2024
• Voter registration deadline: 13 October 2024

Main Candidates in this Election:

• Maia SANDU
• Partidul Acțiune și Solidaritate
• Incumbent
• Alexandr STOIANOGLO
• Partidul Socialiștilor din Republica Moldova

Population and Registered Voters:

• Population: 2,486,890 (2023 est.)
• Registered Voters: 3,300,790 (2024)

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 1,300,760 (2023 est.)
• CEDAW Status: Acceded 1 July 1994
• Gender Quota:  Yes; at least 40% of candidate slots on parliamentary candidate lists must be allocated to women and at least 40% must be allocated to men.
• Female Candidates in this election: Yes
• Number of Female Legislators (pre-election): 40 out of 98 (41%) in the Parliament
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 0.763, High, Rank 86 (2022)
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: 11 (2023)

Disability Data:

• CRPD Status: Signed 30 March 2007, Ratified, 21 September 2010
• Projected population with a disability: 397,902 (2023 est.)

IFES Resources:

• Does IFES have a presence in Moldova: Yes, country office  
• Election Snapshot: Yes
• ElectionJudgments: Yes, 1 judgment