Romanians showed up in large numbers to vote in the second round of the country’s presidential elections, one of the most important democratic tests Romania has seen in the last three decades.

Update (15:00): The turnout increase has accelerated in the last hour. By 15:00, over 6.43 million Romanians voted in the country, up from 5.14 million in the first round. Of the 1.3 million extra votes, 830,000 are in urban areas and 460,000 are in rural areas.

Live turnout data is available here.

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At 14:00, exactly halfway through the voting process in the country, over 5.63 million Romanians have cast their votes, compared with 4.52 million voters recorded at the same time in the first round, on May 4.

Massive participation was also recorded abroad, where 1.11 million Romanians have voted, compared with 629,000 in the first round (as of Sunday, at 14:00).

If this trend maintains until the polls close at 21:00, the turnout could get close to the one recorded in the second round of the 2014 presidential elections, when over 11.7 million Romanians voted.

The high turnout points to a tight race between the two candidates, Bucharest’s pro-EU mayor Nicusor Dan and nationalist leader George Simion.

In the first round, on May 4, a total of 9.57 million Romanians voted. George Simion took 3.86 million votes (41% of the total) while Nicusor Dan got almost 1.98 million votes (21%).

Regional data indicates stronger mobilization in counties where Nicusor Dan got stronger scores in the first round. In Bucharest, the number of voters is about 150,000 higher. Participation is also higher in Cluj county as well as Harghita and Covasna, where ethnic Hungarians are likely to support the more moderate candidate.

The first exit-poll results, expected at 21:00, will not be very relevant because they don't factor in the votes in Diaspora. Unless these exit polls show an overwhelming difference for one candidate or the other, Romania's next president will only be known after all the votes are counted, sometime late in the night.

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos)