Voter turnout in Romania 'on the rise'

The first results reported by the Romanian Central Election Bureau (CEB) show that voter turnout is on the rise in the present elections. According to CEB spokesman Marian Muculet, 6.17 percent of eligible voters cast their votes in Romanian polling stations by 10:00, almost twice the percentage registered in the 2004 election, when the figure was 3.17 percent. The most active voters were in the counties of Teleorman, Dambovita, Ilfov, Mehedinti. The turnout in Bucharest was 4.74 percent. The lowest turnouts are in the counties of Covasna, Maramures, Harghita. The final turnout in the 2004 presidential election was 10.5 million out of 18.5 million eligible voters. There are great concerns over the big number of the so-called electoral tourists, or those who practice multiple voting by traveling to different constituencies. The turnout at some special polling stations is bigger than expected. This is in particular the case of the station working at the Bucharest Northern Station and that opened inside the Law Faculty of the State University. Additionally, the Association Pro-Democracy, which watches the polls, has received more complaints of fraud than in previous years.