Iulia Carciog

In the November 24 presidential runoff, Klaus Iohannis won 65.88% of the valid votes to his challenger Viorica Danncila's 34.12%, after the count of the votes from 99.67% of the polling stations, Spokesman for the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) Mircea Preotescu said on Monday.

More than 46,000 children in Romania are dropping out of school early every year, according to a "Child Rights Now" Romania report released at a news conference on Wednesday. The report is part of the global initiative "Child Rights Now!" designed to highlight worldwide progress with children's rights 30 years after the entry into force of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Incumbent President Klaus Iohannis is leading the first round of the presidential election, with 36.91%, followed by PSD candidate, Viorica Dancila - 23.45%, and candidate of USR-PLUS Alliance, Dan Barna - 14.19%, after counting the votes from 18,781 polling stations, Spokesman for the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) Mircea Preotescu said on Monday.

Voter turnout in today's presidential election as of 13:00hrs was 20.68pct nationwide, according to BEC Spokesman Mircea Preotescu. The turnout in the urban area was 21.66pct, while in the countryside it was 19.38pct, he added.

The nationwide voter turnout in the presidential elections on Sunday, before 9:00, stood at 3.52 percent of the voters, according to Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) Spokesman Mircea Preotescu. In the urban area, the turnout was 3.48 percent, and in the rural area 3.57 percent, while in Bucharest it stood at 3.32 percent, he added.

Over 15,000 prisoners have announced their intention to vote in Sunday's presidential election, according to the National Penitentiary Administration (ANP). ANP says that the centralisation of the figures nationwide as of Thursday indicates that 15,043 enfranchised prisoners announced their intention to participate in the poll on Sunday, out of a total of 17,660.

The total number of voters registered on the permanent electoral lists is 18,217,156, for Sunday's poll, according to a statement of the Permanent Electoral Authority (AEP).

First deputy head of the Special Telecommunications Service (STS), Ionel-Sorin Balan, said on Monday that voter wait times at the polling stations abroad will be much shorter at the upcoming presidential election. "We did the statistics of the electoral process this May.

The Reform Fund Linked to the Inclusion of Roma and Other Vulnerable Groups had approximately 28,000 beneficiaries in such fields as education, healthcare, housing, community and economic development, according to the Ambassador of the Swiss Confederation to Romania, Arthur Mattli.

Wednesday is the final day in which the citizens who want to vote abroad in the presidential elections can register on www.votstrainatate.ro Those who wish to vote abroad in the presidential elections can register as voters abroad through an online form, until 23:59:59 at the latest.