A man votes at a polling station in Mogosoaia, near Bucharest, Romania, Dec. 1, 2024. Romanian voters cast ballots for a new parliament on Sunday, shortly after the dark horse independent candidate Calin Georgescu's lead in the first round of the presidential election. More than 18 million Romanian citizens, including those living abroad, cast ballots to fill 332 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 137 in the Senate. (Photo by Cristian Cristel/Xinhua)
BUCHAREST, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Romania's Social Democratic Party (PSD), part of the ruling coalition, is projected to win the most seats in Sunday's parliamentary elections, according to exit polls by the Center for Urban and Regional Sociology and ARA Public Opinion SRL.
The exit polls projected PSD to secure 26.1 percent of the vote for the Senate and 26 percent for the Chamber of Deputies, giving it a lead of around 7 percentage points against the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR).
Another coalition partner, the National Liberal Party (PNL), is forecast to receive 15.9 percent and 15.5 percent of votes for the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, respectively, while the Save Romania Union (USR) is expected to follow closely with 15.6 percent and 15.5 percent.
Some other parties, such as SOS Romania and Young People's Party, may also surpass the 5 percent threshold required to enter parliament.
Over 8,000 candidates competed for 332 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 137 in the Senate.
With more than 18 million registered voters, turnout reached 53.33 percent, surpassing the rates of the last two elections in 2016 and 2020. ■