Bucharest, Oct 21 (IANS): Moldova is set to hold a runoff presidential election on November 3, as none of the candidates gained the required over 50 per cent of the votes in the first round after almost all the votes were counted early Monday morning.

Under the country's constitution, a candidate must win an absolute majority (50 per cent plus one vote) of the votes to be elected as president; otherwise, the two candidates with the most votes proceed to a runoff, Xinhua news agency reported.

The runoff will be held between incumbent President Maia Sandu and former Prosecutor General Alexandru Stoianoglo, as the two are far ahead of the other 11 candidates with 37.7 per cent and 28.8 per cent of the votes, respectively, according to the latest preliminary results of the Central Election Commission (CEC) after processing 90.3 per cent of the votes.

According to the CEC data published after the polling stations closed, 1,559,452 voters, or 51.61 per cent, participated in the election, well over the minimum threshold of one-third of the total number of registered voters required for an election to be valid.

Moldova held elections on Sunday to choose a new president, with over 2,000 polling stations being open to voters from 7 a.m. local time until 9 p.m.