Romanians voted on Sunday to choose their next president, with Prime Minister Victor the overwhelming favourite to win despite fears he could roll back reforms. But anger was mounting over obstacles faced by Romanians trying to vote abroad in the second-round runoff, where a large turnout could threaten a Ponta victory.
The election is seen as pivotal for one of the poorest countries in Europe which has struggled to combat an entrenched culture of public corruption. A victory for Ponta, 42, would make him Romania's youngest ever president and cement his Social Democrat party's hold on power in the former communist state. "I voted so that our parents can live in a better country and our children have a future here in Romania," Ponta said as he cast his vote, with his wife and two children in tow.
Ponta headed into the second round of voting with 54 percent support, according to the latest opinion polls, clearly ahead of his conservative opponent Klaus Iohannis. In the first round on November 2, Ponta took 40 percent of the vote against 30 percent for Iohannis.
But 46 percent of the ballots cast abroad were for Iohannis compared to just 16 percent for Ponta. Turnout about five hours before polls close at 1900 GMT was about 45 percent of more than 18 million registered voters, an increase of 1.7 million over the same time in the first round.
First results are expected overnight from the seventh presidential election since the fall of dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu 25 years ago. Ponta has support from the hugely influential Romanian Orthodox Church, as well as his party's traditional electorate of the rural population, small business employees and the eldery and has been able to count on generally steady economic progress.
However, the economy fell into recession in the second quarter of 2014, although the government is forecasting 2.2 percent growth over the year.
Iohannis, 55, from Romania's ethnic German minority, seems uncomfortable in front of the cameras, and has faced accusations he is a not a "real Romanian".
Casting his ballot, he said he hoped Romania would "enjoy respect and prosperity".
Rodica Avram, a 56-year-old teacher, said after casting her ballot in Bucharest that she had voted for change. But one thing could dash Ponta's chances of clinching the presidency, experts claim: turnout.
"The key of the second round is getting out the vote," said Christian Ghinea of the Romanian Centre for European Politics.
Another great unknown is the vote of the diaspora, which numbers about three million. Only 160,000 were able to cast their ballots in the first round, due to an insufficient number of polling stations in countries including France, Germany and Britain. On Sunday, long queues of people snaked outside polling stations in Paris, London and the Italian city of Turin, according to pictures shown by Romanian television.
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