The armchair in Cotroceni awaits its occupant

With 54.3% of the total 11,641,866 votes cast, to the centralization of 98% of the minutes from polling stations in the country and abroad at the close of the edition, Nicuşor Dan was elected President of Romania yesterday, although no one expected him to overturn the 20 percent difference in favor of George Simion, which the latter had at the end of the first round of the presidential elections on May 4. Nicuşor Dan not only recovered the huge difference recorded after the first round, but also put almost 10 percent in his favor following the vote in the second round, which shows a stinging defeat for the candidate of the sovereignist camp.

Awakened to consciousness after the first round of the presidential elections and frightened by the possibility of George Simion becoming President of Romania and Călin Georgescu Prime Minister, Romanian citizens mobilized exceptionally in the second round, a mobilization that was felt from the opening of the polls and continued throughout the day. Unlike other elections, yesterday it was found that the urban electorate significantly exceeded the rural one, even if the urban electorate also included voters from the Diaspora. According to the data available on the AEP website, at the time of the polls closing, 11,641,731 citizens had voted, of which 7,334. 590 voters from urban areas and 4,307,142 voters from rural areas. Of the total number of voters present at the polls, 5,966,743 were women and 5,675,006 were men.

The high turnout could be seen both physically, as voters stood in line for several dozen minutes in front of many polling stations throughout the day, and also online, on the official website prezenta.roaep.ro, which between 12:10 and 12:20 recorded a record number of 204,000 votes in just ten minutes (20,400 votes per minute) in the second round of the 2025 presidential elections. In the immediately following interval, 12:20-12:30, 199,532 voters voted (19,953 votes per minute), the two intervals being the best in the first part of the day.

The highest voter turnout at the national level was recorded in Ilfov County - 81.06%, and the lowest in Vaslui County - 37.54%. It is worth noting that in Bucharest, a turnout of 61.26% was achieved, higher than the 39.26% recorded in June 2024 in the local elections, but also above the 40.96% recorded on November 24, 2024 when the local referendum convened by the mayor of the capital took place.

A significant turnout was also recorded in Harghita and Covasna counties, where Romanian citizens of Hungarian ethnicity mobilized more than in previous elections, and this fact is also evident from the data recorded on the AEP website: Covasna - 56.92% turnout, Harghita - 59.84% turnout.

We show that, at the closing of the polling stations, according to the exit polls presented at 9 p.m. (for data collected until 7 p.m.), Nicuşor Dan was in first place, with 54.9% of the votes in the country - according to the exit poll conducted by Avangarde and 54.1%, according to the exit poll conducted by CURS, followed by George Simion credited with 45.1% by Avangarde and 45.9% by CURS. The two polling institutes interviewed over 45,000 people who turned out to vote across the country. Only the poll conducted by Sociopol, Mirel Palada's polling house, gave the two competitors a tie, with 50% each.

Immediately after the exit polls were presented, the two competitors both claimed victory in the presidential elections.

Nicuşor Dan said: "Elections are not about politicians, they are about communities. In today's elections, a community of Romanians won who want a profound change in Romania, the functioning of state institutions, the reduction of corruption, a prosperous economic environment, a community that wants a society of dialogue and not one of hatred. I want to thank the tens of thousands of Romanians who campaigned for an idea. They have proven an impressive strength of society, far above the level of political debate. When Romania goes through difficult times, let us remember the strength of Romanian society. There is a community that lost the elections, which is rightly outraged by the way politics has been done in Romania and believes that the solution is revolution. It is our obligation to convince them that the solution is the reform of justice and administration so that Romania can move forward. I want to fight for one Romania, not two Romanias. We are living a moment of hope. Please be patient for the period to come. A to follow a difficult period, necessary to economically balance the economy, to lay the foundations of a healthy society. I ask for hope and patience. I want to assure all of you, those who voted for me, and those who did not vote for me, and Romanians in the country, and in the diaspora, that I will do everything in my power for the Romanian state to finally serve the citizens of this country. Let us all enjoy tonight and tomorrow, all together, to begin the reconstruction of Romania".

George Simion said: "We are the clear winners of these elections. We claim victory in the name of the Romanian people. The Romanian people decided today that they want a real change, a change for the better, that they want, finally, democracy. The parallel count will ensure the identification of any potential fraud, but so far with small exceptions, such as the problems with the ballot papers and the queues that are still ongoing, I am satisfied with today's vote. I want to thank the institutions of the Romanian state for their professionalism and the impartiality they have shown. I thank the Romanians in the diaspora who have traveled hundreds of kilometers to be with the country".

Under these conditions, we expect that in the coming days the result that will be officially ascertained by the Central Electoral Bureau will be contested, before validation, at the Constitutional Court of Romania, by the candidate who will lose the presidential elections.