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CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) \u2014 Moldovans are casting votes in a decisive presidential runoff Sunday that pits pro-Western incumbent Maia Sandu against a Russia-friendly opponent, as ongoing claims of voter fraud and intimidation threaten democracy<\/a> in the European Union candidate country.<\/p>\n In the first round held Oct. 20<\/a>, Sandu obtained 42% of the ballot but failed to win an outright majority. She will face Alexandr Stoianoglo, a former prosecutor general, who outperformed polls in the first round with almost 26% of the vote. Polls opened Sunday at 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) and will close at 9 p.m. (1900 GMT).<\/p>\n A poll released by research company iData indicates a tight race that leans toward a narrow Sandu victory, an outcome that might rely on Moldova\u2019s large diaspora. The presidential role carries significant powers in areas such as foreign policy and national security and has a four-year term.<\/p>\n Moldova’s diaspora played a key role in a nationwide referendum also held on Oct. 20, when a narrow majority of 50.35% voted in favor of securing Moldova’s path toward EU membership. But the results of the ballots including Sunday’s vote have been overshadowed by allegations of a major vote-buying scheme<\/a> and voter intimidation.<\/p>\n Instead of winning the overwhelming support that Sandu had hoped, the results in both races exposed Moldova\u2019s judiciary as unable to adequately protect the democratic process<\/a>.<\/p>\n On Friday, Moldova\u2019s Prime Minister Dorin Recean said that people throughout the country were receiving \u201canonymous death threats via phone calls\u201d in what he called \u201can extreme attack\u201d to scare voters in the former Soviet republic, which has a population of about 2.5 million people.<\/p>\n \u201cThese acts of intimidation have only one purpose: to create panic and fear,\u201d Recean said in a statement posted on social media. \u201cI assure you that state institutions will ensure order and protect citizens.”<\/p>\n In the wake of the two October votes, Moldovan law enforcement said that a vote-buying scheme was orchestrated by Ilan Shor, an exiled oligarch who lives in Russia and was convicted in absentia last year<\/a> of fraud and money laundering. Shor denies any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n Prosecutors say $39 million was paid to more than 130,000 recipients through an internationally sanctioned Russian bank to voters between September and October. Anticorruption authorities have conducted hundreds of searches and seized over $2.7 million (2.5 million euros) in cash as they attempt to crack down.<\/p>\n In one case in Gagauzia, an autonomous part of Moldova where only 5% voted in favor of the EU, a physician was detained after allegedly coercing 25 residents of a home for older adults to vote for a candidate they did not choose. Police said they obtained \u201cconclusive evidence,\u201d including financial transfers from the same Russian bank.<\/p>\n On Saturday at a church in Comrat, the capital of Gagauzia, Father Vasilii told the Associated Press that he’s urged people to go and vote because it’s a \u201ccivic obligation\u201d and that they do not name any candidates. \u201cWe use the goods the country offers us \u2014 light, gas,\u201d he said. \u201cWhether we like what the government does or not, we must go and vote. … The church always prays for peace.\u201d<\/p>\n On Thursday, prosecutors also raided a political party headquarters and said 12 people were suspected of paying voters to select a candidate in the presidential race. A criminal case was also opened in which 40 state agency employees were suspected of taking electoral bribes.<\/p>\n Cristian Cantir, a Moldovan associate professor of international relations at Oakland University, told the AP that whatever the outcome of the second round, it \u201cwill not deflate\u201d geopolitical tensions. \u201cOn the contrary, I expect geopolitical polarization to be amplified by the campaign for the 2025 legislative elections,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Moldovan law enforcement needs more resources and better-trained staff working at a faster pace to tackle voter fraud, he added, to \u201ccreate an environment in which anyone tempted to either buy or sell votes knows there will be clear and fast consequences.”<\/p>\n A pro-Western government has been in power in Moldova since 2021, and a parliamentary election will be held in 2025. Moldova watchers warn that next year\u2019s vote could be Moscow\u2019s main target.<\/p>\n In the wake of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moldova applied to join the EU. It was granted candidate status in June of that year, and in summer 2024, Brussels agreed to start membership negotiations<\/a>. The sharp Westward shift irked Moscow and significantly soured relations with Chisinau.<\/p>\n Since then, Moldovan authorities have repeatedly accused Russia of waging a vast \u201chybrid war,\u201d from sprawling disinformation campaigns to protests by pro-Russia parties to vote-buying schemes that undermine countrywide elections. Russia has denied it is meddling.<\/p>\n \u2014\u2014<\/p>\n Stephen McGrath reported from Bucharest, Romania; Nicolae Dumitrache from Comrat, Moldova.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n