Earlier preliminary results had indicted a majority “no,” but a surge of ballots from abroad provided last-minute support for EU membership. The referendum comes amid allegations of Russia-backed voter fraud
With more than 99% of the votes counted, the “yes” vote for EU membership in Moldova’s referendum was slightly ahead at 50.28% — only 8,000 votes more than the anti-EU camp.
Earlier, Moldovans appeared to have rejected plans for the former Soviet republic to add its goal of joining the EU to the constitution, according to preliminary results from 70% of ballots in the country’s referendum from Sunday evening.
However, ballots from Moldovans living abroad were counted towards the end, giving the “yes” camp a last-minute push.
A largely agricultural country of around 2.5 million people, Moldova has sought to cut ties with Moscow and move closer to the EU since Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine in 2022.
The former Soviet republic began EU membership talks in June.
U.S. elections work differently. A Republican does not need to win the popular vote to win an election here. Our electoral college system heavily favors Republicans as it gives unfair weight to sparsely populated rural states.
If a Democrat wins the popular vote by that narrow of a margin, they have lost the election.