SINAIA, Romania — Voters are turning out in high numbers in Romania to choose their next president in a pivotal election that will determine the strategically significant country’s future direction in Europe.
The front-runner candidate, hard-right populist George Simion, has cast doubt on the process already, warning in a press conference that he is worried about potential fraud.
He said there were 1.8 million deceased people on the electoral register, adding that he hoped they did not “rise from the dead and vote.”
There are reports of long lines in the big cities of Cluj in the north and the capital of Bucharest. By 2 p.m. local time (1 p.m. CEST), 1.3 million more votes had been cast across the country in Sunday’s second round than had been at the same time in the first round of the contest two weeks ago, according to official data.
There was a sharp rise in turnout among young people aged 18-34 living in Romania, up 32 percent, as well as among citizens living in other countries.
Voting closes and exit polls will be published at 9 p.m. local time (8 p.m. CEST) though the final result may not be clear for several days if the outcome is contested.
The race for the Romanian presidency is seen as a critical moment for the country of 19 million people on the European Union’s eastern edge.
Simion, a punchy Trumpian nationalist who wants to unify Romania with neighboring Moldova and is banned in Ukraine, has been sharply critical of the EU, and intends to halt all aid to Kyiv.
His rival, Nicușor Dan, the moderate independent mayor of Bucharest, has vowed to stamp out corruption and play a more active role in EU affairs, while continuing to support Ukraine.
“I voted thinking of a lot of people who are quiet, honest and hard working and who have for long not felt represented,” said Dan as he voted in his home town of Fagaras in Transylvania on Sunday. “I voted for a change that brings prosperity and not one that brings adventure and discouragement of foreign investment.”
Simion voted in a small town outside Bucharest, with his political patron, the banned ultranationalist former presidential candidate Călin Georgescu.
He claimed he had heard official exit pollsters had been told to release data showing the race was neck-and-neck when they give their first indication of the results at 9 p.m. He has also accused Moldova of participating in a fraud by getting more people to vote in the election as expats.
He said his AUR party will conduct a parallel count of the votes across the country in an effort to make sure the election is fair. He announced a WhatsApp number for members of the public to report examples if they fear of the identities of dead friends or relatives have been used for vote fraud.
Romania’s constitutional court in December controversially canceled the presidential election amid fears of foreign interference after Georgescu came from nowhere to lead after the first round — although many questions remain unanswered about what happened.
This weekend’s vote is the rerun of that aborted contest. Simion has described the cancellation of last year’s election as a “coup d’etat.” On Sunday, he said: “It is the most important thing today to return to democracy, the vote of the people and to restore the faith of the Romanian people in democracy.”
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