site.btaElection Day Ends in Romania, Citizens Vote for President in First Round

Romanians voted for a President in the first round on Sunday. Election day opened at 7 am and continued until 9 pm local time. 

The candidate of the Social Democrat Party, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, was in the lead in the first round of the presidential elections, with an estimated 25% of votes, according to exit polls carried out by CURS and Avangarde, quoted by Agerpres.

Elena Lasconi, candidate of the center-right Save Romania Union, is second with 18% of votes.

Independent candidate Calin Georgescu was in third place, with 16% of votes.

More than 9.2 million Romanians voted in the country by 8 pm, while 765,000 voted abroad, according to data from the Permanent Electoral Authority (PEA). This means that one hour before the end of election day, voter turnout reached 51.16%, Digi24 television reported. A little over 18 million Romanians were eligible to vote, and there were over 989,000 voters living abroad. Voting abroad began on Friday. 

A total of 13 candidates, ten men and three women,  ran for the presidential post. However, there were 14 on the ballot paper, as Ludovic Orban, Romania's presidential candidate from the Force of the Right, announced too late that he was withdrawing from the race. 

Romania's youngest presidential candidate is 37, the oldest 66.

A local referendum was being held in Bucharest alongside the first round of the presidential elections. Residents of the city of nearly two million people were invited to answer three questions printed on three separate ballot papers. PEA data indicates that the turnout in the referendum exceeded the 30% threshold required for its validity. By 8 pm, 39.40% of eligible voters, or 704,108 residents of Bucharest, had voted in the referendum.

The results of the referendum should be known on November 28 and those of the first round of the presidential elections on November 25. The run-off is on December 8.