Incumbent president leads Romania's presidential elections

Romanian incumbent President Klaus Iohannis has won the first round of the presidential election by 37.82 percent, announced the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) on Thursday after counts finished in all polling stations.

According to BEC spokesman Mircea Preotescu, Iohannis was followed by Social Democratic leader Viorica Dancila, with 22.26 percent and Chairman of the Save Romania Union Dan Barna who got 15.02 percent of the votes.

The other 11 candidates had far fewer votes, with the fourth place candidate winning less than 9 percent.

As none of the candidates secures a majority of votes, according to the constitution, Iohannis and Dancila are set to contest the presidential run-off on Nov. 24, two weeks after the first round, and the candidate who gets the highest number of valid votes will be the winner.

Iohannis, 60, is running for a second term under the banner of the ruling center-right National Liberal Party, while 55-year-old Dancila is backed by her center-left Social Democratic Party.

Romania's presidential elections were held on Sunday. The voter turnout was 51.19 percent of all registered voters, according to the BEC.

Romania's president is elected every five years under the constitution, with a maximum of two consecutive terms. Iohannis was first elected in 2014.