UPDATE Moldovan Electoral Committee: turnout at the referendum was 29.05% / The referendum cannot be validated 

29.05% of Moldovans with a right to vote turned out to vote on Sunday, Moldovan Electoral Committee president Iurie Ciocan declared in a press conference. To be validated, a 33% turnout was necessary.

There were 799,323 valid votes of which 87.8% in favor of the direct election for the President and 12.2% against.

Officials declared that the results are preliminary until results communicated electronically will be confronted with the reports from voting sections. It is not officially thus that the referendum was not validated, but the percent announced points to this decision.