Romanians began voting overseas Friday in the presidential election with polling stations in London, Brussels, the Moldovan capital of Chisinau and Rome reporting the highest numbers of voters.
A record number of more than 675,000 Romanians voted abroad in the first round on Nov. 10.
By mid-evening Friday, some 102,000 people had voted, about 7,000 more than in the first round on Nov. 10, election authorities said.
Parliament changed the law in July to extending voting hours for voters abroad, following chaotic and angry scenes at polling stations from previous elections due to insufficient polling stations and long lines. The poor organization caused two foreign ministers to resign.
In this election, Romanians can now vote at 835 polling stations across the world, almost triple the number from the 2014 presidential election.
Romanian voters who live abroad favor pro-European candidates with incumbent President Klaus Iohannis and Dan Barna of the Save Romania Union getting the most votes in the first round.
Iohannis won 52.8% of the vote from overseas voters, while challenger Viorica Dancila, the former prime minister trailed in fifth position with just 2.7%.
The Romanian diaspora of 3.6 million is counted as the fifth largest in the world, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD.
Romanians can vote at 142 polling stations in Italy, at 79 polling stations in Germany, at 50 places in France and 72 stations in the UK.
At home, Romanians can vote on Sunday. Iohannis the clear favorite. In the first round, Iohannis, 60 polled more than 37%, followed by Dancila, who won about 22%.
