At Stake in this Election:       

• The office of President of Romania

Government Structure:

• Chief of State: President Klaus IOHANNIS (since 21 December 2014)
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Viorica DĂNCILĂ (since 29 January 2018)
• Assembly: Romania has a bicameral Parliament (Parlament) consisting of the Senate (Senat) with 137 seats and the Chamber of Deputies (Camera Deputatilor) with 329 seats.

Electoral System:

• The president is directly elected for a five-year term by an absolute majority. If no candidate receives above 50 per cent of the total number of eligible voters, a second round between the two candidates with the highest number of votes is held within two weeks. In the second round, the candidate who receives the higher number of votes is elected.[1]
• Prime Minister is appointed by the president with the approval of the parliament.
• In the Senate (Senat) 176 members are elected through a modified mixed-member proportional system to serve 4-year terms.*
• In the Chamber of Deputies (Camera Deputaţilor), 412 members are elected through a modified mixed-member proportional system to serve 4-year terms.**

* Seats are distributed nationwide to parties in proportion to their vote shares, provided they have met a 5 percent threshold. This occurs after seats have been allocated to winners in single-member constituencies. A candidate must obtain an absolute majority of votes to win in any single-member constituency.

** As in the Senate, seats are allocated nationwide in proportion to parties' vote shares. This occurs after seats have been allocated to candidates winning majorities in single-seat constituencies. Various national thresholds apply: 5 percent for single parties (or at least 6 Chamber seats, or at least 3 Senate seats); 8 percent for alliances of two parties; 9 percent for alliances of three, and 10 percent for alliances of four or more parties.

There is no fixed number of reserve seats. These go to members of recognized minority groups (one per group) who do not win representation otherwise in either chamber. Such a candidate must have received 10 percent of the average number of valid votes cast for Deputies in the single-seat constituencies.

Main Candidates in this Election[2]:

The first round of the presidential election in Romania was held on Sunday November 10, 2019. No candidate won a majority of votes, so a second round was required.

• Candidate: Klaus IOHANNIS
  • Party: National Liberal Party/Partidul Național Liberal (PNL)
  • Earned 37.8% of votes in the last election.
• Candidate: Viorica DĂNCILĂ
  • Party: Social Democratic Party/Partidul Social Democrat (PSD)
  • Earned 22.2% of votes in the last election.

Population and Registered Voters:

• Population: 19,365,000[3]
• Registered Voters: 18,403,044 (2016)[4]

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 9,946,000[5]
• Is Romania a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (4 September 1980)[6]
• Has Romania ratified CEDAW: Yes (7 January 1982)[7]
• Gender Quota: No[8]
• Female Candidates in this election: Yes
• Number of Female Legislators: 68 (21%)[9]
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 52[10]
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very low[11]

Disability Data:

• Is Romania a signatory to CRPD: Yes (26 September 2007)[12]
• Has Romania ratified CRPD: Yes (31 January 2011)[13]
• Population with a disability: 3,249,953 (2019 est.)[14]