Romania parliamentary elections 2020: Exit polls show tight race at the top and surprises at the bottom amid record-low turnout

The opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD) had a small lead over the ruling National Liberal Party (PNL) in the elections for Romania’s Parliament, according to the exit polls presented by all the major networks in Romania on Sunday evening, December 6, after the polls closed. PSD was credited with a score of 30.5% while PNL had a little over 29%. Third was the USR-PLUS alliance, with a score of 15.9%.

The big surprise comes from a relatively unknown party – AUR (the Alliance for Romanians’ Union), which scored 5.3% according to the exit polls. The party has an ultra-nationalistic, anti-Hungarian, and anti-European rhetoric, according to Digi24.ro.

The Hungarian Democratic Union (UDMR) got 5.7% of the votes, according to the exit polls, while PRO Romania, the party of former PM Victor Ponta, and PMP, the party of former president Traian Basescu, had scores of 5%. However, it remains to be seen which of these four parties will make it past the 5% threshold and into the Parliament, given the margin for error and the fact that the Diaspora votes were not included in the exit-polls.

Only 5.8 million Romanians went to the polls, resulting in a turnout rate of 32%, the lowest of all national elections in the last 30 years. In 2016, the turnout was close to 40%, while in the presidential elections last year the turnout was over 47%. The pandemic and the cold weather are probably to blame for the low turnout, but not entirely. For example, the local administration elections in September, which also took place in special conditions due to the pandemic, had a turnout rate of 46%.

Close to 260,000 Romanians abroad also voted in the parliamentary elections this year, more than double compared to four years ago, when there were only 106,000. However, the presence was under a third of that recorded in the second round of the presidential elections in 2019, when over 900,000 Romanians voted abroad.

Close to 48,000 Romanians voted in Italy, 32,700 in Spain, 30,000 in Germany, 29,000 in the UK, and 11,500 in France, according to data centralized by the Permanent Electoral Authority (AEP). There were also close to 38,000 voters in the Republic of Moldova.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos)