Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
A man exits a voting booth before casting his vote in the first round of the presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
People register before voting in the first round of the presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Presidential candidate George Simion, right, casts his vote next to Calin Georgescu, winner of the first round of last year's annulled election, during the first round of the presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Calin Georgescu, winner of the first round of last year's annulled election, exits a voting booth before casting his vote in the first round of the presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Presidential candidate George Simion, left, holds a religious icon as he walks with Calin Georgescu, winner of the first round of last year's annulled election, after they casted their votes in the first round of the presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Presidential candidate George Simion exits a voting booth before casting his vote in the first round of the presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A woman exits a voting booth before casting her vote in the first round of the presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A man receives a voting stamp before casting his vote in the first round of the presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - Romanians are casting ballots Sunday in a critical presidential election rerun after last year's annulled vote plunged the European Union and NATO member country into its worst political crisis in decades.
Eleven candidates are vying for the presidency and a May 18 runoff is expected. Polls opened at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT) and will close at 9 p.m.
By 5 p.m. 7.1 million people - about 39.6% of eligible voters - had cast ballots, according to the Central Election Bureau, with 799,000 votes cast at polling stations set up in other countries.
Romania's political landscape was shaken last year when a top court voided the previous election in which the far-right outsider Calin Georgescu topped the first round, following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow has denied.
As in many EU countries, anti-establishment sentiment is running high in Romania, fueled by high inflation and cost of living, a large budget deficit and a sluggish economy. Observers say the malaise has bolstered support for nationalist and far-right figures like Georgescu, who is under investigation and barred from the rerun.
While data from local surveys should be taken with caution, a median of polls suggests that hard-right nationalist George Simion will enter the runoff, likely pitting him against Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, or the governing coalition's candidate, Crin Antonescu.
Appearing with Georgescu at a polling station in the capital, Bucharest, on Sunday morning, Simion told reporters: "We are here with one mission only: the return to constitutional order, the return to democracy. I have no other goal than first place for the Romanian people."
Georgescu called the vote rerun "a fraud orchestrated by those who have made deceit the only state policy," but said he was there to "acknowledge the power of democracy, the power of the vote that frightens the system, that terrifies the system."
Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician and former anti-corruption activist who founded the Save Romania Union party (USR) in 2016, is running on a pro-EU "Honest Romania" ticket. After casting his ballot, he said he voted "for hope and a new beginning" for Romania. "I voted with realism, because Romania is going through a difficult time," he said.
Antonescu, 65,