Romania elects next president today
https://www.ipn.md/en/romania-elects-next-president-today-7965_979038.html
Over 18 million Romanian voters are expected today at the polling stations to vote for Romania's next president and also express their will in a referendum on the introduction of the unicameral parliament.
In recent years Romania has struggled with a high level of voter absenteeism, with a turnout of merely 31 percent in the elections for the European Parliament this summer. However the interest in the presidential polls is said to be higher; Insomar, Romania's largest polling organization, predicted a turnout of about 50 percent.
One novelty of the present polls are the 3,359 special stations that were opened for the persons who are not voting in their constituencies. To thwart multiple voting, the authorities placed surveillance cameras in such stations.
Another novelty are the individualized stamps with the number of the county and of the polling station. Each station has 5 such stamps.
294 stations were opened abroad; the first opened in New Zealand.
Also today the Romanian voters take part in a referendum proposing the introduction of the unicameral parliament and the reduction of parliamentary seats. 44 million ballots, or twice the number prepared for the presidential election, were printed for the referendum. The referendum ballots come in two colors, black and blue, with two different questions: “Do you agree to the transition to a unicameral Parliament in Romania?” and “Do you agree to the reduction of the number of parliamentarians to up to 300 persons?”
About 60,000 law enforcement officers will be on duty on Sunday to prevent voter frauds. A number of NGOs, including the Association Pro-Democracy, will join the battle against electoral fraud.
The first electoral violations were detected already at 01:00. Two persons were arrested in Giurgiu for offering money in exchange for votes, and one person was arrested in Craiova while distributing foodstuffs for the same purpose. Another incident occurred in Prahova county, where the stamps of all the 719 polling stations were mixed up.
The first exit-poll results will be released by Insomar at 21:00, followed by a final release at 23:00. The first official results will be released by the Central Election Bureau tomorrow at 8:00.
