Incumbent candidate Klaus Iohannis smiles as he casts his ballot in the first round of a presidential election, in Bucharest, Romania, November 10, 2019. Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERS
November 10, 2019
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romania’s incumbent President Klaus Iohannis won the first round of a presidential election on Sunday, and is likely to face opposition Social Democrat leader and former Prime Minister Viorica Dancila in a Nov. 24 runoff, exit polls showed.
An exit poll conducted by IRES pollster showed Iohannis garnered 38.7% of votes followed by Dancila with 22%. Save Romania Union head Dan Barna got 16.1%. Another poll by Curs-Avangarde ranked Iohannis first with 39% and Dancila with 22.5%.
Data by the electoral bureau, which is expected to unveil partial official results from Monday morning, showed robust turnout of 48% with a record high diaspora voter presence of 660,000 – which was not taken into account by the exit polls.
(Reporting by Radu Marinas)
