46.84% of voters had cast their votes in the polling stations in Romania on Sunday’s presidential election, by 20:00hrs, more precisely 8,537,997. Turnout in the urban areas is higher than in the countryside.
Turnout reported at 19:00 hrs was 45.08% in the presidential election on Sunday, lower by 3 pc than the previous elections five years ago, when 48.89% of the voters had come to cast their vote. Overall, 8,212,964 Romanians had voted by 19:00hrs, with higher turnout among city dwellers than among locals in the villages.
Turnout stood at 37.97% in the presidential election on Sunday by 17:00hrs, with 6,910,900 voting in the polling stations in Romania. Turnout was higher in the urban areas than in the countryside.
5.48 million Romanians had voted in the polling stations in the country in the Sunday’s presidential election by 15:00hrs, which means 30% of the voters.
The highest turnout was reported in the counties in southern Romania like Ilfov, Teleorman, Olt, Dâmbovița, but also in others such as Constanța, Cluj, Sibiu or Brașov. Bucharest is right within the average limits.
Over 4 million Romanians had voted by 13:30hrs in the presidential election, meaning around 22% of the voters.
The vote turnout in the presidential elections on Sunday stood at 15.82% at 12:00hrs, meaning over 3 million Romanians had voted by then. The highest turnout was reported in Ilfov, Constanța, Teleorman, Brașov, Argeș.
According to Central Electoral Bureau (BEC), the turnout in the urban areas was higher than in the countryside. Therefore, 1,724,928 Romanians living in the cities (59,8%) had voted l while only 1,157,147 voters living in the villages had gone to polls (41,2%).
The vote turnout stood at 3.52 percent of the voters countrywide at 09:00hrs, and at 11.08% by 11:00hrs. It means that 2,019,704 Romanians had voted by 11:00hrs. The highest turnout was reported in such counties as Ilfov, Teleorman, Olt, Constanța and Dâmbovița.
14 candidates are running for Presidency in 2019 in the first round. The first exit polls results will be announced when the polls close, at 9 p.m.. Three opinion poll institutions are accredited for this ballot: IRES, Curs and Avangarde.
The Permanent Electoral Authority (AEP) has announced that the presidential election is running smoothly under the best circumstances, announcing the launch of the presidential election web page prezidentiale2019.roaep.ro, where posted in a graphic format will be information of public interest at the end of the electoral process.
Information can be viewed separately for the country and abroad, by polling stations, county and sector, as the case may be.
The incumbent President, running for a second mandate at Cotroceni on behalf of the National Liberal Party (PNL), Klaus Iohannis, said on Sunday after casting his vote that he had voted for “normal Romania”.
“Today is extremely important to Romania, and for me as well. I voted for normal Romania. I wish Romania an excellent future and I hope to receive confirmation today that many Romanians want the same thing. Today, election day, is the day the Romanians decide on the future of Romania in the coming years. Voting day is the most important day to Romanians who want to participate in the democratic process. So, my dear Romanians, I am waiting for you at the ballot box,” said Iohannis upon leaving the polling station the Jean Monnet High School in Bucharest.
He was impressed by the large numbers turning out to the ballot. “There are so many people turning out to vote!,” Iohannis exclaimed before casting his vote.
PSD’s candidate, former PM Viorica Dancila stated she had voted for “a Romania of welfare and guaranteed rights.”
“I voted for a Romania of welfare, a Romania of guaranteed rights, a secure and benefiting Romania, where Romanians should not live in fear of the next day, of not having what to put on the table, of not having money for medicines or bills. I voted against cuts in pensions and salaries, I voted against austerity, I voted for a united Romania,” Dancila said after she had voted at a polling station set up at “Sfantu Sava” National College.
USR chairman Dan Barna, the candidate of the USR-PLUS (Save Romania Union – Liberty, Unity, Solidarity Party) Alliance, stated he had voted for a change and that he was very optimistic about the result.
“I have voted today for a change, for a Romania that will start changing right now, and not five years or ten years from now. I have voted at the end of the process during which I think that the generation born after 1989 understood what’s the stake of this elections and they are getting involved. This is a vote for the future and I trust this vote very much. (…) I am optimistic about the result,” Dan Barna stated , while urging Romanians to turn out to vote.
“It’s quite simple: take your friends, colleagues, family, everyone that is dear to you and go to vote,” said Dan Barna.
People’s Movement Party (PMP) candidate, Theodor Paleologu said that he had voted for a “Romania of respect.”
“I voted for a Romania of respect: respect for work, respect for education, respect for the cultural and spiritual heritage of Romania and Europe, respect for all ages, for the young and the old, for Romanians in Romania and abroad, for Romania of respect for all Romanians. And also, Romanians should demand respect from their rulers,” said Paleologu said at the Spiru Haret High School in Bucharest, adding this is the high school where his father had also studied graduated, along other great intellectuals such as Mircea Eliade, Nicolae Steinhardt, Octavian Paler and Andrei Plesu.
He stressed that voting means fulfilling a duty, “a sacrosanct act in democracy.”
“I voted for my son to have many more reasons to work in Romania, I voted for young people like him, people of his generation, to have a reason to stay in Romania and to contribute to the wellbeing of this country,” said Paleologu.
Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) national leader and presidential candidate Kelemen Hunor voted at Carta, Harghita County, saying he voted for Romania’s future, for respect and for trust.
“I voted for the future of Romania, for respect and for trust. I voted for a society and a country that will invest in the two important resources, people and nature, in education and in environmental protection and in supporting the economy. I am convinced that today there will be a great turnout and I say go to the vote, vote and choose the best solution for Romania,” said the Kelemen.
Former President Ion Iliescu has asked for the mobile box to vote, as his medical condition prevented him for going to the polling station.
Another former President, Traian Basescu, has called on young people to turn out and vote, adding there plenty of choices in today’s presidential election.
“As a man who went through all of state positions, and I think that this election is the fundamental moment of a change of generations. My generation has done its job as much as it could: the country is a NATO member, a member of the European Union; it is time for a generation that will make the country whole and steer it toward prosperity. That is all we could do. (…) I have a message for voters: statistics indicate that the youth turnout has been at it slowest so far, now it is the time for them to show up and vote because there are plenty of choices,” Basescu said on Sunday after voting at a polling station at the Jean Monnet High School of Bucharest.
Prime Minister Ludovic Orban urged Romanians to come to polls, underscoring that it is a fundamental right for every Romanian to decide what where the country should be heading to.
“The President is the one who sets the tone. I urge Romanians to exercise their right to vote, it is a right earned through sacrifices, it is a fundamental right which allows every Romanian citizen to decide what happens to his/her country and in what directions it should be heading, in a good direction or not,” Prime Minister Orban stated upon exiting the polling station set up at School No.1 in Dobresti, Ilfov County.
PLUS leader, Dacian Cioloș, who voted in Brasov, said he had voted so that the common-sense people should be able to build their living in Romania and to not be forced to leave the country. He added that today’s elections should be end for good the situation of voting the lesser of two evils.
“I think people have understood after having been in the street for the past 2-3 years and since EP elections onwards. This part of society begins to get itself more and more heard (…) We have 2 years of elections that will be crucial for what’s going to happen in Romania till 2028-2030”, Ciolos pointed out.
ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats) leader Calin Popescu-Tariceanu said that, for the first time in the past 30 years, the presidential election unfolded “perfectly anonymously, without an election campaign,” which represents “a serious democratic deficit in Romania.”