11 for Romania

11 names will appear on the ballots in Romania's May presidential election.

Daniela Budu, 20.03.2025, 14:00

11 candidates out of the 26 who submitted their candidacies for the presidential election will appear on the ballot in Romania’s May elections. The candidacies are final, starting from Thursday, after all the stages and deadlines provided for by the election calendar have been completed. Initially, 12 candidates had been validated by the Central Electoral Bureau and passed the challenges submitted to the Constitutional Court, but the leader of the Party of Young People, Anamaria Gavrilă, decided to withdraw in favor of the president of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), George Simion. The decision was made, according to the statements of the two, to give the sovereigntist movement more chances. Thus, voters will have to choose, on May 4, between 9 men and 2 women, seven representing political parties and four independents. Save Romania Union (USR) leader Elena Lasconi, ranked second in the elections annulled by the Constitutional Court last year, has entered the competition again.

The other candidate is Lavinia Şandru, from the Social-Liberal Humanist Party, a former deputy during the period when Traian Băsescu was president. In the May elections, the current mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, is running as independent. Crin Antonescu, former National Liber Party (PNL) leader and for a short period, in 2012, the country’s interim president, is now running for the ruling coalition (PSD-PNL-UDMR). He was the PNL candidate in the 2009 presidential election, when he came third in the first round. Victor Ponta, recently expelled from the Social Democratic Party (PSD), is running as independent. He was the leader of this party and prime minister between 2012 and 2015. George Simion, the president of AUR, also ran last year, but failed to reach the second round.

Another candidate in the May presidential race is Daniel Funeriu, former Education Minister. Cristian Vasile Terheş, from the Romanian National Conservative Party, and Silviu Predoiu, former head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, were also validated by the Central Electoral Bureau. Both ran last year. Sebastian Popescu, from the New Romania Party, and John Ion Banu Muscel, a Romanian-American businessman, also entered the race. In the case of the latter two, the Central Electoral Bureau notified the criminal investigation bodies to establish the authenticity of the lists of supporters that accompanied the candidacies. It should also be noted that within 48 hours from the date of the definitive establishment of the candidacies, that is, Saturday, March 22, the order of the candidates’ registration on the ballot will be established. We remind you that the electoral campaign for the first round will begin on April 4 and will end on May 3. Across Romania, voting will take place on Sunday, May 4, but Romanian citizens abroad will be able to vote over three days, on May 2, 3 and 4. If no candidate obtains an absolute majority, a second round will take place on May 18. (LS)