Moldova Begins Election Recount
By VOA News
15 April 2009
Election officials in Moldova are recounting votes Wednesday from the country's April 5 parliamentary elections.
President Vladimir Voronin called for the recount after violent protests left scores of people injured and led to 200 arrests. Police said one person died in the aftermath of the rioting.
Official results from the first vote count showed Mr. Voronin's Communist Party winning about 50 percent of the vote, and the three main opposition parties taking 35 percent.
That gave the communists 60 seats in the 101-member legislature - one short of the number needed to ensure that parliament elects their candidate as the next president.
Moldovan opposition party leaders said Tuesday that they will boycott the recount of election returns.
Leaders of the three main opposition parties, Our Moldova, the Liberal Party and the Liberal Democratic Party, called the recount a sham, designed to cover up election violations and to ensure the continuation of Communist Party rule.
The opposition said voter lists for the polls contained the names of underage or dead voters and citizens who have lived abroad for many years.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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