Update: Thirteen in the race for president of Romania

Thirteen candidates have officially entered the race for president in Romania and had their candidacies validated by the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC).

Sunday, September 22, was the deadline for the candidates to submit their candidacies together with at least 200,000 signatures from their supporters.

President Klaus Iohannis, supported by the main opposition party - PNL, prime minister Viorica Dancila – leader of the governing party PSD, and Dan Barna - leader of opposition party Save Romania Union (USR) are the candidates with the highest chances to reach the second round of the presidential elections.

Actor Mircea Diaconu and former culture ministers Theodor Paleologu (PMP) and Kelemen Hunor (UDMR) are also in the race.

The outsiders are liberal businessman Viorel Catarama, Ramona Ioana Bruynseels, former MEP Catalin Ivan, and Alexandru Cumpanasu, known as the uncle of Alexandra Macesanu, a girl brutally murdered in July this year.

Catarama’s candidacy was initially rejected by the BEC for a high number of signatures that seemed not to be authentic, but the Constitutional Court overruled the bureau’s decision.

The last three candidates haven’t yet been validated officially, as they submitted their files on Sunday.

Update: The BEC announced on Tuesday that it validated the candidacies of Ramona Ioana Bruynseels, Catalin Ivan, and Alexandru Cumpanasu. The electoral bureau also validated three other independent candidates: Bogdan Stanoevici, Ninel Peia and John Ion Banu.

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