▶Voting for the 2025 Romanian presidential elections has begun for the diaspora
The first polling stations abroad for the first round of the 2025 presidential elections opened on Thursday at 9:00 PM CET (10:00PM Romanian time), in Auckland, New Zealand, more specifically. The diaspora have three days to cast their votes.
Due to the change in the voting schedule for Sunday, May 4, Romanians in most countries around the world will be affected. However, those voting from countries such as Greece, Bulgaria, or the Republic of Moldova, which share the same time zone as Romania, will not be affected
▶These are the candidates who are considered to have a realistic shot at finishing top 2 in the first round:
Crin Antonescu, the conservative candidate of the "România Înainte" system coalition, PSD-PNL-UDMR
Nicusor Dan, the independent centre-right candidate backed by USR
USR's own Elena Lasconi, the candidate who reached the second round of the cancelled elections, she has now lost the support of her own party in favor of Dan
AUR's far right extremist George Simion, who has positioned himself as the ideological successor to Călin Georgescu, the winner of the first round of the now cancelled elections who was barred from running.
Independent candidate Victor Ponta, who is making a return in politics after his career has been overshadowed by persistent accusations of corruption
▶The following list of candidates are considered to have only marginal support, with limited chances of succes:
PNCR's Cristian Terheș
PUSL's Lavinia Șandru
Former Minister of Education, independent candidate Daniel Funeriu
Independent candidate John Ion Banu Muscel
PLAN's Silviu Predoiu
PNR's Sebastian Popescu
▶UPCOMING DATE: Voting for the 1st round of the presidential elections begins TOMORROW, 4th of May, in Romania. Only the top 2 candidates are qualified for the 2nd round.