BUCHAREST, Romania — Exit polls from Sunday’s balloting showed a runoff will be needed Nov. 24 to decide Romania’s presidential contest.
Official results are not expected before today, though two exit polls found center-right President Klaus Iohannis collecting nearly 40 percent of the votes, followed by Viorica Dancila, the recently ousted prime minister, with around 22 percent. A candidate needs more than 50 percent of the votes to win the election outright.
“Exit polls show that millions of Romanians in the country and abroad voted for our project, for a normal Romania,” said Iohannis, who is seeking a second five-year term.
He said that all Romanians, including those who voted for Dancila, wanted the same thing from the country’s leaders: “Public money used correctly for schools, hospitals and highways, stable pensions” as well as institutions that serve the citizens and just laws that are “respected by everybody.”
Pollster IRES had the center-right Iohannis capturing 38.7 percent of the votes and Dancila, of the Social Democratic Party, taking 22 percent. The poll by CURS-Avangarde showed Iohannis garnering 39 percent and Dancila, 22.5 percent.
Both polls had Dan Barna, of the center-right Save Romania Union, winning 16 percent of the votes.
None of the remainder of the 14 candidates were seen getting more than around 8 percent of the votes.
Voter turnout, without yet counting ballots cast by some of the 4 million Romanians working and living abroad, was close to 48 percent.
The presidential campaigns were overshadowed by the country’s political crisis, which saw a minority government installed just days ago.
A member of the European Union since 2007, Romania has been struggling to contain its state budget deficit, which is projected to reach 4.4 percent of GDP next year, well above the EU limit of 3 percent. Poverty is also widespread. According to a World Bank study last year, over 25 percent of Romania’s people live on less than $5.50 a day.
Over the past three years, as Romania has had four prime ministers and endured massive anti-corruption protests, Iohannis has cultivated the image of a staunchly pro-European leader with a calming influence.
Iohannis is a former leader of the National Liberal Party, which last week formed a minority government led by Prime Minister Ludovic Orban.
