Over 18.2 million Romanians are expected to polls today to vote in the local elections. The first exit polls results will be announced at 21:00hrs. This year, the elections are held under special conditions due tot he coronavirus pandemic.
The turnout countrywide at 20:00hrs stood at 44.54% and 34.87% in Bucharest.
The turnout till 19:00hrs stood at 41.48% in Romania, while in Bucharest it was 31.86%. Low turnout were reported in Iasi and Vaslui, while the highest (higher than 50%) were in Giurgiu, Olt and Teleorman.
58% of the Bucharesters who had cast their vote by 18:00hrs are in the 45-64 age group and over 65. The least numerous voters were aged from 18 to 24. More women than men had voted in Bucharest.
6,983,136 Romanian had cast their vote by 18:00hrs in the local elections across the country, namely 38.16%. The turnout in Bucharest at 6 p.m. stood at 29%. The highest turnout was in Olt, Giurgiu, Teleorman, higher than 48%.
People living in the city voted to a greater extent (3,820,382), in the countryside- 3,162,754.
The right-wing candidate for the Bucharest mayor seat, Nicusor Dan has urged Bucharest residents to keep on coming to polls, saying that if the existing turnout continues, common sense will win, and the Capital “will finally enter normality”.
Nicusor Dan called on Bucharesters to come out and vote now to avoid the overcrowding of late hours tonight and to ignore the deceitful messages from the propaganda TV stations.
The turnout countrywide stood at 34.58% at 17:00hrs, with 26.28% in Bucharest. Olt, Giurgiu and Teleorman counties report the highest turnout, almost 45%.
Over 5.6 million Romanians had cast their vote by 16:00hrs, namely 30.94%. The turnout in Bucharest remains low-23.73%, on the bottom in the turnout ranking countrywide. The turnout is near 40% in Olt, Giurgiu, Teleorman.
USR leader Dan Barna has called voters to come to polls, arguing that information available so far point to a tie score between Gabriela Firea and Nicusor Dan in Bucharest. “This is serious. Get out to vote. A day that counts for the next four years“, Barna said in a Facebook video post around 16:30hrs.
The turnout countrywide stood at 27.38% by 15:00hrs. Bucharest yet ranks on the bottom on turnout- 21.2%. The highest turnout was reported in Olt, 35.27%, followed by Giurgiu ( 34.96%) and Teleorman (34.92%).
By 14:00hrs, 4,338,179 voters had gone to polls in the local elections in Romania, with a turnout of 23.71%, according to the data announced by the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC). The turnout stood at 24.96% in 2016.
The highest turnout by 14:00hrs was in the countryside (2,326,602) than in the urban environment (2,011,577).
In Bucharest the turnout stood at 18.41% at 14:00hrs, higher than in 2016 (16,13%).
The highest turnout per counties was reported in Olt – 31.11%, Teleorman – 30.87%, Giurgiu – 30.55%, Mehedinți – 30.24% and Gorj – 28.79%.
The lowest turnout by 14:00hrs was in Bucharest- 18.41%, Covasna 19.16%, Vaslui – 19.67%, Iași – 19.77% and Harghita 20.30%.
The turnout stood at 20.6% in the country at 13:15, with 16.46% in Bucharest.
By 13:00hrs, 3.6 million voters had cast their vote, meaning 19.8%. The highest turnout was reported in such counties as Olt, Mehedinti, Teleorman.
The turnout for the local elections, nationwide, was, on Sunday, until 12.00, of 15.69 per cent, respectively 2,870,898 voters, according to the reports of the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC).
In urban areas, the turnout was 1,346,073 and in rural areas 1,524,825 voters.
In Bucharest, 12.14 per cent of the electors voted until this hour. In district 1, the turnout was 14.08 per cent of the total registered voters, in district 2 – 12.45 per cent, in district 3 – 10.21 per cent, in district 4 – 12.30 per cent, in district 5 – 12.23 per cent and in district 6 – 13.02 per cent.
In 2016, the turnout until 12.00 am was 16.53 per cent.
The turnout had been until 11:00, of 11.35%, more than four years ago.
In Bucharest, 89.5% of the voters had voted till 11:00hrs, more than four years ago (7.23%).
The highest turnout by this hour was in Teleorman, Olt and Giurgiu, where over 16% of the voters had gone to polls until 11:00hrs.
The turnout had been until 10:00, of 7.64%. In urban areas, the turnout was 3.59% and in rural areas 4.05%.
According to the BEC, 6.06% of voters cast their ballots in Bucharest.
In Sector 1, 7.15% of the total registered voters voted, in Sector 2 – 6.34%, in Sector 3 – 5.01%, in Sector 4 – 6.14%, in Sector 5 – 5.91 % and in Sector 6 – 6.54%.
The highest turnout is registered in the counties of Teleorman – 11.60%, Olt – 11.40%, Giurgiu – 11.23%; and the lowest in Covasna counties – 5.01%, Harghita – 5.14% and Iasi – 5.99%.
Political leaders have voted
President Klaus Iohannis said after he had cast his vote that it was very important for citizens to go to the polls on Sunday and choose candidates who could do something for their communities.
“It is a very important day today – the day of voting for local elections. Today we are electing our mayors, local councilors, county leaders. Whenever there are elections it is very, very important to go to the polls, not to let others decide for us and today, when choosing those who lead the communities in which we live, it is very important to look carefully at the candidates and to choose those who can do something for the community in which we live, because in the end what the hospital looks like, how they works, what the school looks like, if the roads are maintained, if the parks are well maintained, if the traffic is directed properly depend on them. I invite you all: Go to the polls!”, Iohannis said on Sunday, after casting his vote at the “Jean Monnet” High School in Bucharest.
Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, the National Liberal Party (PNL) chairman, said he had voted in local elections for people who guarantee that they can improve people’s lives in local communities.
“You know very well our whole campaign concept, it was a very clear concept, the development of local communities through investments, through the creation of jobs, through the development of infrastructure, through the increase in the quality of services and, finally, the increase of civilization. For that I have voted. For people who guarantee that they can improve people’s lives in local communities, for candidates who have serious local community development projects,” Ludovic Orban said on Sunday morning after casting his ballot at no.1 school in Dobroesti, Ilfov County.
Nicușor Dan, the candidate endorsed by PNL-USR-PLUS for the Bucharest City Hall, came to the polling stations accompanied by his wife and little girl. Nicusor Dan said “he had voted with a thirst”, while urging Bucharesters to come to polls and to choose between “decency and arrogant superficiality”.
“I voted to take out of the Bucharest City Hall an octopus of interests, relatives, godfathers, family friends who kept the city underdeveloped. They were not able to solve issues like hot water, not to mention about road traffic and pollution,” Dan said.
The Social Democratic Party (PSD) candidate for Bucharest City Hall, Gabriela Firea, said she voted in the local elections thinking of all the children in Bucharest, all our young people, adults and grandparents.
“I am glad that also this time I was the first voter in this polling station. I voted thinking of all the children in Bucharest, all the young people, all the adults and our grandparents. All of them are very important. It is true that we all want investment in infrastructure, also to fight pollution, very large investments, because the need was felt in this period of pandemic, in all hospitals, in schools, but the most important are the people.”
Former President Traian Basescu, the People’s Movement Party candidate for the Capital City Hall, urged Bucharest residents to cast a “useful vote for them” in order to change things in the city.
“I have voted, I think the people of Bucharest will manage to cast a useful vote for them. For now, the television stations have advised them to cast a useful vote for the parties. I advise them to cast a useful vote for them, to choose the one who can change things in Bucharest. I wish a good day to the people of Bucharest”, Basescu said.