BUCHAREST, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Moldova's incumbent President Maia Sandu was projected to win the second round of the country's presidential election, with more than 99 percent of the votes counted Monday morning, local media reported.

Sandu, former leader of the Party of Action and Solidarity, led with 55.35 percent of the vote, outpacing her opponent, former Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo, who secured 44.65 percent, said the country's Central Electoral Commission (CEC) after 99.68 percent of the votes were counted.

Addressing her supporters, Sandu celebrated the democratic process, thanking voters both at home and abroad. "You have provided a lesson in democracy worthy of history textbooks. Nobody lost today. Freedom and truth won," she said after the preliminary official results confirmed her win in the second round of the presidential elections.

According to CEC data, as of 1 a.m. local time on Monday (2300 GMT on Sunday), more than 330,000 people from the diaspora, voted, almost 100,000 more than in the first round. Sandu won 82 percent of the diaspora vote, up from 70 percent in the first round.

Stoianoglo, supported by Moldova's Socialist Party, acknowledged the results with a call for calm and respect for the democratic process. "Democracy means, first of all, maturity in front of the result," he said.

An estimated 2.7 million eligible voters could cast their ballots at 2,219 polling stations, including 231 abroad.

Moldova held the first round of presidential election on Oct. 20 and decided the runoff election would take place between the top two candidates, as none of the 11 candidates competing in the presidential race received an absolute majority of the votes -- 50 percent plus one vote -- during the first round of the election. Enditem

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