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Turnout | 54.37% (first round) 58.02% (second round) | ||||||||||||||||
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![]() Second round vote strength by county | |||||||||||||||||
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Presidential elections were held in Romania in 2009. They were the sixth presidential elections held in post-1989 Romania. The first round took place on 22 November, with a run-off round between the top two candidates Traian Băsescu (supported by the Democratic Liberal Party or PDL for short) and Mircea Geoană (supported by the Social Democratic Party or PSD for short) on 6 December 2009. Although most exit polls suggested a victory for Geoană in the runoff, the authorities declared Băsescu the narrow winner with 50.33% of the votes.[1][2] To date, it is the closest presidential election in the political history of Romania.
The opposition contested the results, citing a "high number of void ballots, modified voting protocols, and massive electoral tourism", vowing to challenge the result in the constitutional court.[3][4] The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) declared that the election "was held generally in line with OSCE commitments",[5] but also urged the authorities to investigate claims of fraud.[6] On 8 December, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) submitted a request to annul and repeat the run-off to the Constitutional Court, claiming it had been rigged.[7] On 14 December, the Constitutional Court rejected the request after recounting all the annulled votes.[8]
A referendum was held alongside the first round of voting on introducing a unicameral parliament of up to 300 deputies (replacing the existing bicameral parliament) and reducing the number of MPs to 300 but retaining the bicameral structure.