[JURIST] Moldova's Constitutional Court [official website] on Sunday ordered the nation's Central Election Commission to conduct a recount of last week's controversial parliamentary election. The ruling Communist party won nearly 50 percent of the vote [official results], leaving them only one seat short of the 61 seats needed to select the next president unopposed. Opposition groups claim that falsified voter registration rolls allowed government officials to fabricate votes. Members of some opposition groups fear that a recount will only legitimize the falsified election results and have demanded new elections [BBC report]. Moldova's Liberal Democrats said they are in the process of obtaining voter registration lists, which they will check for accuracy [Reuters report]. Some international groups, including the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) [official website], approved [OSCE report, PDF] the voting process as being generally fair. The recount will take place Wednesday.

The order follows a request for a recount from Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin [official website, in Romanian], a member of the Communist party, who reportedly called for the recount to calm the protests and restore faith in the government [BBC report]. Last week anti-Communist protesters who want a stronger relationship with Europe stormed the parliament building [BBC report] in Moldova's capital city of Chisinau, smashing windows and furniture.