Election day in Moldova: voters from Russia-controlled Transnistria are driven in

This was reported on November 3, by Chișinău TV channel TV8 and the Unimedia portal.

“Three polling stations have opened in the village of Varniţa in the Anenii Noi district, where long queues have formed. Hundreds of people from Transnistria came to vote. This situation was also seen during the 2020 presidential elections when there were instances of organized transportation of voters supporting Igor Dodon,” TV8 noted.

Dodon, a Putin supporter and leader of the Socialist Party of Moldova, lost the 2020 election to Maia Sandu, who is now running for re-election.

This time, former Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo, who is running for Dodon's party, has made it to the second round of elections.

Most voters arriving in Varniţa from the “Transnistrian Moldovan Republic” (“TMR”), an unrecognized state where Russian troops are stationed, say they came by private car or public transport. Local residents said that bus route 7, which goes from Tiraspol to Varniţa, is running more often today but is crowded at the first stop.

However, some people mentioned that certain businesses in “TMR” provided transportation for employees to travel to Varniţa and vote, according to TV8.

There’s been a traffic jam on the road bridge between the towns of Rezina and Rîbniţa (“TMR”) since early morning, according to Unimedia. People are traveling from Rîbniţa to Rezina to vote at polling stations.

Russian propaganda also shared a video from a flight between Moscow and Minsk showing many passengers with Moldovan passports. They claim these voters couldn’t cast their ballots in Moscow due to a lack of polling stations, so they went to Minsk “of their own free will” to vote.

• The second round of the presidential election in Moldova is happening on Sunday, November 3.
• On October 20, Moldova held a national referendum on EU accession alongside the first round of presidential elections. Incumbent President Maia Sandu received 42% of the vote, while former Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo got 26%, allowing them to advance to the second round. Supporters of EU accession won the referendum with 50.35% in favor.
• Before the first round and the referendum, Moldovan police uncovered a major Russian vote-buying scheme in the country, funded by the fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor.