CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Moldovans on Sunday cast ballots in a tense parliamentary election plagued by claims of Russian interference, a vote seen as a choice between integration with the European Union or a drift back into Moscow’s fold.

Sunday’s pivotal vote will elect a new 101-seat parliament, after which Moldova’s president nominates a prime minister, generally from the leading party or bloc, which can then try to form a new government. A proposed government then needs parliamentary approval.

Polls opened at 7 a.m. and close at 9 p.m. The Central Electoral Commission reported that 750,000 people, or about 26% of eligible voters, had cast ballots by 1 p.m.

The race pits the governing pro-Western Party of Action and Solidarity, or PAS, which has held a strong parliamentary majority s

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