Epoch Times - Romanian Diaspora May Have Tipped the Scale in Presidential Vote

Epoch Times - Romanian Diaspora May Have Tipped the Scale in Presidential Vote:

BUCHAREST, Romania—The Romanian election was a nail-biter, but with the results now final it appears that voters in North America may have handed incumbent Traian Basescu another five-year term.

In a reverse of what pollsters predicted, Basescu won the vote by a margin of less than 1 percent—50.3 to 49.7 percent—over leftist leader Mircea Geoana. Three out of four local research institutes had predicted on Sunday evening that Social Democrat Geoana would win 51 percent and Traian Basescu 49 percent. Voter turnout was 57.94 percent.

The turnaround in favor of center-right Basescu may have been a result of the Diaspora vote. Of the 294 polling stations abroad more than 147,600 Romanian citizens abroad voted. Most of the Romanian Diaspora in Canada and the U.S. consider Basescu to be the only alternative to oppose leftists.

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