Exit polls show Romania's incumbent president wins presidential runoff

BUCHAREST - Exit polls showed Romania's incumbent President Klaus Iohannis has led significantly in the presidential runoff on Sunday, with 64.8-66.5 percent of the vote.

Iohannis' rival, Viorica Dancila of the Social Democratic Party, got 33.5-35.2 percent of the vote, according to two local exit polls CURS-Avangarde and IRES.

Because of the relatively large gap between the votes for the two candidates, the current president is almost ensured a victory in the presidential runoff.

The data was only from the polling stations on the Romanian territory, without taking into account the stations from abroad.

It is generally believed that Iohannis' support rate among oversea voters will greatly exceed his opponent.

The turnout in the runoff was 49.87 percent at the national level, announced Mircea Preotescu, spokesman of the Central Electoral Bureau.

"Modern Romania, European Romania, normal Romania has won today," 60-year-old Iohannis declared after the announcement of the exit-poll results, stressing that he will be a president "fully involved" for Romania, a president of all Romanians, of both those who voted for him and of those who had another option.

Dancila, for her part, thanked the voters who wholeheartedly supported her and said that "over 3 million votes" she got "helps us, obliges us and in this respect we will do everything possible to win the local elections and the parliamentary ones" in the next year.

Dancila's Social Democratic government was replaced by the National Liberals several days before the first round of presidential elections, after being abandoned by its ruling partner and losing a vote of confidence in the parliament.

Romania held a second round of presidential elections on Sunday, two weeks after the first round of elections when a total of 14 candidates had competed for the state's top position and the leading two candidates, incumbent President Iohannis and Social Democratic leader Dancila, entered the runoff.

Romania's president is elected every five years, with two successive terms allowed. Iohannis, former mayor of central city of Sibiu, was first elected in 2014.