Romanian Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu called again Sunday on Romanians to go to the polls, which close in less than three hours.
Romanians vote in the parliamentary elections Sunday to elect anew parliament for next four years, with over 18 million registered for the vote. Voting began at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) and is to end at 9 p.m. (1900 GMT).
Tariceanu said it is alarming to see that voter turnout at 2 p.m. (1200 GMT) was "very, very low," much lower than that recorded at the parliamentary elections in 2004.
"I am calling on all the citizens to understand that an important change has occurred in Romania's voting system, from voting lists of candidates to voting individual candidates for parliament, which gives the parliament the largest representation for all Romanians," said Tariceanu.
Only 19.84 percent of voters cast ballots until 2 p.m. (1200 GMT), a much lower turnout than the 27.18 percent recorded at the same time in the 2004 election and the 27.25 percent recorded at the polls in 2000.
"The Romanian Parliament should reflect the options of all Romanians, but obviously what it will surely reflect will be only the options of those who have voted. Vote absenteeism, which seems to have characterized this election day up until a moment, will probably make very many Romanians unhappy the next days with the outcome of the vote, for the simple reason that they have decided today not to exercise their fundamental right granted to them by the constitution," said Tariceanu.
The Sunday election is for the first time in the Romanian polling history when voters will elect the new parliament by a uninominal vote, replacing the old voting system where ballots were cast for an entire list of candidates selected by each political party rather than choosing individual candidates.
A total of 2,965 candidates are running for seats in the parliament, with 2,070 of them for 315 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 895 for 137 members in the Senate, the Central Electoral Bureau said.
The candidates are mostly from six parliamentary parties: the Social Democratic Party, the Conservative Party, the National Liberal Party, the Democratic-Liberal Party, the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania and the Greater Romanian Party.
In addition, six non-parliamentary parties and 31 independents are also running in the race.
Romania has 43 electoral divisions, among which 41 for each of its counties, one for the capital city of Bucharest and one for Romanians residing abroad.
Source:Xinhua
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