By james art 
In the first round held on 20 October, Ms Sandhu received 42% of the vote, but fell short of an outright majority.
She will face Alexander Stoyanoglo, a former prosecutor general who topped the polls in the first round with almost 26% of the vote.
A poll published by research company iData shows a tight race tipping for a narrow victory for Sandu, a result that could count on Moldova’s large diaspora.
The role of president carries significant powers in areas such as foreign policy and national security and has a four-year term.
The Moldovan diaspora played a key role in the nationwide referendum, also held on October 20, when a narrow majority of 50.35% voted in favor of securing Moldova’s path to EU membership.
But the results of the vote, including Sunday’s vote, were overshadowed by allegations of a major vote-buying scheme and voter intimidation.
Instead of winning the overwhelming support Ms. Sandu had hoped for, the results in both races exposed Moldova’s judiciary as unable to adequately protect the democratic process.
On Friday, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recan said people across the country had received “anonymous death threats via phone calls” in what he called an “extreme attack” to scare voters in the former Soviet republic, which has a population of about 2.5 million people.
“These acts of intimidation have only one purpose: to create panic and fear,” Mr Recean said in a statement posted on social media. “I assure you that the state institutions will ensure order and protection of citizens.
After the two votes in October, Moldovan law enforcement said a vote-buying scheme was orchestrated by Ilan Shor, an exiled oligarch who lives in Russia and was convicted in absentia last year of fraud and money laundering.
Mr Shore denies wrongdoing.
Prosecutors say $39 million (£30 million) was paid to more than 130,000 recipients through an internationally sanctioned Russian voter bank between September and October.
Anti-corruption authorities have carried out hundreds of searches and seized more than $2.7m (£2.08m) in cash as they try to crack down.
In one case in Gagauzia, an autonomous part of Moldova where only 5% voted in favor of the EU, a doctor was detained after allegedly forcing 25 residents of a nursing home to vote for a candidate they did not choose.
Police said they had received “compelling evidence”, including financial transfers from the same Russian bank.
On Saturday at a church in Komrat, the capital of Gagauzia, Father Vasily told The Associated Press that he urged people to go and vote because it was a “civic duty” and that they were not naming any candidates.
“We use the goods that the country offers us – light, gas,” he said.
“Whether we like what the government is doing or not, we have to go and vote. … The Church always prays for peace.”
On Thursday, prosecutors also raided the headquarters of a political party and said 12 people were suspected of paying voters to choose a candidate in the presidential race.
A criminal case has also been opened in which 40 employees of the state agency are suspected of taking election bribes.
Cristian Kantir, a Moldovan associate professor of international relations at Oakland University, told the AP that whatever the outcome of the second round, it “will not reduce” geopolitical tensions.
“On the contrary, I expect geopolitical polarization to be intensified by the campaign for the 2025 legislative elections,” he said.
Law enforcement in Moldova needs more resources and better trained personnel working at a faster pace to tackle voter fraud, he added, to “create an environment where anyone tempted to buy or sell votes , knows there will be clear and swift consequences.”
A pro-Western government has been in power in Moldova since 2021, and parliamentary elections will be held in 2025.
Observers in Moldova warn that next year’s vote could be Moscow’s main target.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moldova applied to join the EU. The sharp shift to the West irritated Moscow and significantly worsened relations with Chisinau.