Bucharest, Romania — Independent candidate Calin Georgescu has taken a narrow lead in Romania’s presidential election, securing 21.9% of the vote with 77% of ballots counted, according to partial results released late Sunday night.
Trailing closely behind is Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, chairman of the Social Democratic Party, with 21.3%. Elena Lasconi, leader of the Save Romania Union, holds third place at 16.3%, followed by George Simion of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians at 14.5%.
Key regions such as Bucharest and the diaspora remain largely uncounted, with 930,000 and 820,000 votes respectively. These areas account for 1.7 million of the 2.8 million votes still to be tallied and are expected to significantly influence the outcome of this election’s first round.
Exit polls suggest that Lasconi could perform well in these regions, potentially narrowing her 450,000-vote gap with Ciolacu. If she surpasses him, the anticipated runoff could shift from a Georgescu-Ciolacu contest to a Georgescu-Lasconi showdown.
With a substantial number of votes yet to be counted, analysts caution that the final standings are too close to call. The candidate who will challenge Georgescu in the runoff hinges on the uncounted ballots from these decisive areas. The nation awaits the final results with anticipation.
