Romania Premier Ciolacu leads with 25% votes in first round of presidential election

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – Romanian Premier Marcel Ciolacu led the first round of Sunday's presidential election with 25% votes, exit polls showed, and a run-off seemed likely after two weeks.

Ciolacu, candidate of the Social Democratic Party, was followed by Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union party with 18%, the Antena3 broadcaster reported.

Some 9.4 million people cast vote in the polls that closed at 1900 GMT, indicating an over 50% voter turnout.

Voters were choosing between 13 candidates to replace outgoing President Klaus Iohannis.​​​​​​​

The top two move on to a run-off on Dec. 8 if no single candidate gets more than 50% of the vote in the first round.