[3] Incumbent president Igor Smirnov, running for re-election, had been in power since Transnistria declared independence in 1990, and was not term-limited.

[2] On 14 September, opposition MP and former speaker of the Supreme Council Yevgeny Shevchuk was the first to nominate himself at the CEC.

Shevchuk had been followed by Transnistrian Communist Party chairman and MP Oleg Khorzhan, as well as newspaper editor Andrey Safonov, who was also a candidate in the 2006 election.

[7] An exit poll taken showed Smirnov in the lead in the first round with 47.38%, with opposition vote split between Shevchuk (23.21%) and Kaminski (22.6%).

[9] Preliminary results (at 95% counted) showed that Smirnov was only in third place with 25.5%, with Shevchuk at 39% and Kaminski at 27.7% reaching the run-off round.