With the early opening of polling
stations abroad, the new round of presidential elections in
Romania opened.
The first section opened to Romanians in the diaspora was in
Auckland, New Zealand (at 7:00 a.m. local time). According to
the local press, the number of those who have already voted
abroad is almost three times as high as in the first round in
November 2024, which was won by surprise by right-wing extremist
Calin Georgescu and then annulled by the Constitutional Court
just two days before the runoff in December due to
irregularities in his campaign financing, and heavy Russian
interference.
Also in these new elections, the favorite is another
ultra-rightist, George Simion, leader of the sovereignist Aur
party, who, however, is expected to have to go to the runoff.
According to Digi24, by mid-day today more than 181,000 voters
abroad had turned out to the polls, and nearly 30,000 votes were
registered in Italy alone, where 161 polling stations have been
set up for the large Romanian community.
Tomorrow, polling stations in Romania will remain open from 7
a.m. to 9 p.m. local time (6 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time), and the
first exit polls are expected soon afterwards.
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