Romania parliamentary elections: 20.56% turnout by 2.00 p.m as bad weather affects most of the country

20.56% of Romanian voters showed up to cast their ballots in the parliamentary elections by 2.00 p.m. on Sunday, according to data announced by the Central Electoral Office. As bad weather affects most of the country, turnout is slightly above the 2.00 p.m. level of the 2008 parliamentary elections (19.84%) and below the level of the referendum to dismiss president Basescu this summer (21.37%).

UPDATE 1 Turnout at 6 p.m., 3 hours before closing vote, stood at 36.54%

UPDATE 2 Turnout at closing polls (9 p.m.) stood at 41.72%

The highest turnout was reported in southern counties where top leaders of the governing Social Liberal Union (USL) are running for seats in the future Parliament. The lowest turnout was reported in Western counties, where some of the more prominent leaders of the opposition Right Romania Alliance (ARD) are running.

The total number of registered voters in the Romanian poll is 18.24 million. They are expected to vote in 452 uninominal colleges – 315 for the House of Deputies and 137 for the Senate. Some 2,400 candidates are running for seats in the Parliament.

Final turnout in the 2008 parliamentary elections stood at 39.2%, or 7.2 million voters of a total 18.46 million registered voters.