2024 Moldovan presidential election

Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Moldova in autumn 2024.^[1]

2024 Moldovan presidential election

← 2020 TBD 2028 →

Incumbent President Maia Sandu PAS

Electoral system

Eligibility requirements

The Constitution of Moldova (Article 78, Clause 2) defines four conditions that a presidential candidate must satisfy: Moldovan citizenship, at least 40 years of age, residence in Moldova for at least 10 years, and ability to speak the state language. Article 80 of the Constitution establishes a term limit: one individual cannot serve more than 2 terms in a row.^[2]

Procedure

Candidates can be nominated by a political party, an electoral alliance, or run as independents. They have to collect at least 15,000 voter signatures in their support from at least half of Moldova's level 2 administrative territorial units with at least 600 signatures in each of them.^[3] The election results can be considered valid only if the turnout is above or equal to 33%. The candidate who receives an absolute majority of the votes is elected president. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, a second round between the top 2 candidates is held two weeks after the first round. The candidate with the largest number of votes in the second round then becomes president.^[4]

Candidates

Declared

Name	Born	Experience	Party		Ref
Maia Sandu	May 24, 1972 (age 51) Risipeni, Fălești District (Moldavian SSR)	President of Moldova (2020–present) Prime Minister of Moldova (2019) Minister of Education (2012–2015)		Independent supported by PAS	^[5]

Potential

As of February 2022, the following people have been subjects of speculation about their potential candidacy within the previous six months:

• Igor Dodon, fifth President of Moldova (2016–2020)^[6]
• Irina Vlah, Governor of Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia (2015–present)^[7]
• Natalia Morari, journalist, founder of TV8^[8]

Declined

As of March 2022, the following people have been subjects of speculation about their potential candidacy within the previous six months, but they rejected and announced they won't candidate:

• Ion Ceban, 34th Mayor of Chișinău (2019–present)^[9]

Opinion polls

Hypothetical candidates

Fieldwork date	Polling firm/ Commissioner	Sample size											Other	None/ Undecided/ Abstention
			Maia Sandu	Igor Dodon	Ion Ceban	Ilan Shor	Vladimir Voronin	Ion Chicu	Marina Tauber	Renato Usatîi	Andrei Năstase	Irina Vlah
			Independent	PSRM	MAN	ȘOR	PCRM	PDCM	ȘOR	PN	PPDA	Independent
13–28 Jun 2023	CBS-AXA–IPRE^[10]	1,120	32.6%	17.8%	5.3%	3.3%	4.3%	2.9%	3.0%	4.3%	0.4%	–	1.1%	24.0%
10–19 Jun 2023	CBS-AXA–WatchDog^[11]	1,121	37.9%	14.2%	6.2%	2.5%	4.7%	5.0%	3.5%	4.7%	–	–	3.0%	18.3%
2–19 May 2023	IMAS^[12]	1,112	28.5%	23.9%	8.3%	–	3.7%	7.2%	2.7%	3.8%	1.0%	–	3.1%	18.0%
27 Apr–8 May 2023	iData^[13]	1,049	30.4%	18.3%	6.7%	12.2%	–	5.9%	–	4.5%	–	2.8%	1.5%	17.7%
4–13 Apr 2023	CBS-AXA–WatchDog^[14]	1,015	38.3%	18.4%	6.2%	2.5%	3.2%	4.9%	2.2%	3.2%	–	–	1.9%	19.2%
15–26 Mar 2023	iData^[15]	1,065	29.4%	17.6%	7.2%	9.2%	0.9%	5.4%	–	1.7%	–	3.1%	1.7%	23.9%
24 Feb–3 Mar 2023	CBS-AXA–WatchDog^[16]	1,000	31.8%	17.8%	4.7%	2.0%	3.5%	3.3%	1.8%	2.0%	0.6%	2.1%	1.5%	28.8%
6–23 Feb 2023	IMAS^[17]	1,100	25.2%	20.4%	8.2%	–	4.9%	5.4%	4.3%	3.4%	0.5%	–	3.3%	24.6%
17–26 Jan 2023	CBS-AXA–WatchDog^[18]	1,001	28.2%	17.6%	8.5%	4.2%	3.9%	3.9%	2.4%	3.5%	0.6%	1.8%	3.4%	21.8%
15–26 Dec 2022	iData^[19]	1,006	27.2%	24.1%	10.0%	13.4%	0.6%	5.0%	0.2%	0.5%	0.4%	0.1%	2.6%	16.0%
10–29 Nov 2022	IMAS^[20]	1,100	26.9%	19.6%	8.8%	–	4.0%	7.1%	2.8%	2.2%	2.1%	–	5.2%	21.3%
29 Oct–10 Nov 2022	CBS Research/IPP^[21]	1,134	27.3%	15.4%	7.1%	9.1%	4.3%	–	–	2.9%	1.8%	–	1.7%	30.5%
29 Sep–11 Oct 2022	IDIS–CBS Research–IPRI^[22]	1,066	34.1%	19.1%	7.1%	6.3%	5.2%	2.5%	–	3.3%	1.8%	1.2%	1.4%	18.1%
6–18 Jul 2022	IMAS^[23]	1,007	24.4%	25.4%	9.2%	–	7.1%	5.2%	3.6%	2.8%	c. 1.0%	–	4.4%	16.0%

Second round

Fieldwork date	Polling firm/ Commissioner	Sample size			None/ Undecided/ Abstention
			Maia Sandu	Igor Dodon
			Independent	PSRM
2–19 May 2023	IMAS^[24]	1,112	38%	45%	17.0%

References

1. Political Will Was Not Enough for Justice Reform in Moldova Chatham House, 29 November 2019
2. "Republic of Moldova Constitution of 1994 with Amendments through 2006" (PDF). constituteproject.org. 12 May 2020. (PDF) from the original on 2016-02-02.
3. "Regulations" (PDF). old.cec.md. 3 July 2018. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
4. "Statutul și atribuțiile președintelui Republicii Moldova". www.presedinte.md.
5. "Maia Sandu to run for another term as president of Moldova". Romania Insider. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
6. condemd. (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 2022-02-21. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
7. "Irina Vlah despre intenția de a candida la prezidențiale: am acest drept". IPN (in Romanian). 2021-12-24. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
8. "Dezvăluiri în PREMIERĂ despre ambițiile POLITICE ale Nataliei Morari. Persoane APROPIATE mamei copilului lui Veaceslav Platon spun că fondatoarea Tv8 țintea funcția de PREȘEDINTE al R. Moldova și își dorea ca Dodon să o învingă pe Maia Sandu". www.ziarulnational.md. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
9. "Ion Ceban spune că nu are ambiții prezidențiale și nu a decis încă dacă va candida sau nu la un nou mandat de primar al Chișinăului". Replica Media (in Romanian). Retrieved 2022-03-18.
10. "Sondaj IPRE: Sandu, urmată de Dodon și Ceban. Cum ar vota moldovenii, dacă duminica viitoare ar avea loc alegeri prezidențiale". UNIMEDIA (in Romanian). 2023-07-11. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
11. "/INFOGRAFIC/ Sondaj WatchDog: Trei partide ar ajunge în Legislativ în cazul unor alegeri parlamentare. Preferințele cetățenilor" (in Romanian). tv8.md. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
12. "Maia Sandu, umăr la umăr cu pro-rusul Igor Dodon, dacă duminică ar fi alegeri în Republica Moldova / Dodon ar câștiga turul II - sondaj IMAS" (in Romanian). 2023-05-23. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
13. Petru Beșleaga. "(sondaj) În cazul unor alegeri parlamentare în Moldova, trei formațiuni politice ar intra în Parlament" (in Romanian). diez.md. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
14. "SONDAJ. PAS ar avea cele mai multe mandate de deputat, iar Maia Sandu ar câștiga detașat primul tur, dacă duminica viitoare ar avea loc alegeri" (in Romanian). tvrmoldova.md. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
15. "PREZIDENȚIALE: MAIA SANDU AR OBȚINE 29.4% DIN VOTURILE CETĂȚENILOR, IGOR DODON CU 17.6%" (in Romanian). tribuna.md. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
16. "Sondaj WatchDog: Trei partide ar accede în Parlament, dacă duminica viitoare ar avea loc alegeri" (in Romanian). tv8.md. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
17. "SONDAJ Dacă duminica viitoare ar avea loc alegeri, în Parlamentul R. Moldova ar accede trei formațiuni" (in Romanian). 2023-02-23. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
18. "Sondaj Socio-Politic Republica Moldova Ianuarie 2023" (PDF) (in Romanian). watchdog.md. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
19. "SONDAJ: Maia Sandu ar acumula cele mai multe voturi, în cazul în care duminica viitoare ar avea loc alegeri prezidențiale" (in Romanian). vocebasarabiei.md. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
20. "Ar ramana Maia Sandu presidentele Republicii Moldova daca duminica viitoare ar avea loc alegerile prezidentiale. Ce arata datele unui sondaj - FOTO". www.protv.md (in Romanian). Retrieved 2023-01-01.
21. "BOP 2022: Sandu continuă să se bucure de încrederea moldovenilor, iar în Parlament ar accede trei partide" (in Romanian). Radio Europa Liberă Moldova. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
22. "Dodon, nicio șansă să ajungă din nou președintele R. Moldova: Primii TREI favoriți la șefia statului" (in Romanian). twnews.it. Retrieved 2022-10-29.
23. ȘTIRILE, PUBLIKA MD-AICI SUNT (2022-07-20). "GALERIE FOTO: Foto: publika.md - SONDAJ IMAS: Moldovenii vor alegeri parlamentare şi prezidenţiale anticipate. Pentru cine ar vota? | PUBLIKA .MD - AICI SUNT ȘTIRILE". www.publika.md (in Romanian). Retrieved 2022-07-20.
24. "Maia Sandu, umăr la umăr cu pro-rusul Igor Dodon, dacă duminică ar fi alegeri în Republica Moldova / Dodon ar câștiga turul II - sondaj IMAS" (in Romanian). 2023-05-23. Retrieved 2023-06-20.