Voters who will go to the polls in the second round of the presidential elections must put their stamp on one of the two candidates who want to occupy the highest office in the state – George Simion (The Alliance for the Union of Romanians, AUR) and Nicusor Dan (independent).

The valid vote cast is when the stamp marked ‘VOTAT’/VOTED:
* is affixed inside a single square;
* goes beyond the boundaries of the square, without touching another square, and the voter’s choice is obvious;
* has been affixed more than once in the same square;
* it has been applied more than once, both within and outside any other square;
* it is affixed inside a square, but the ballot paper is handwritten with various details of the voter (the vote is considered valid irrespective of the details on the ballot paper).

At the same time, the vote is valid also when it is cast in accordance with the legal conditions, but the ballot paper has been inserted by the voter in another ballot box than the one corresponding to the ballot for which it is used.

The vote exercised at the polling station in the country or abroad is validly cast also in the situation when the ballot paper is printed on the other inside page as a result of folding the ballot paper bearing the mention TATOV and/or the ballot paper was printed/transferred also on the back of the sheet where the square on which the stamp with the mention ‘VOTAT’ was affixed.

The following are considered invalid and do not count as valid votes cast:

* the ballot paper on which the control stamp of the polling station’s electoral bureau has not been affixed until it is handed to the voter. The control stamp affixed to a page or pages other than the last page of the ballot paper shall not invalidate the vote cast by the respective ballot paper;

* ballot papers other than the legally approved model;

* ballot papers which have not been stamped ‘VOTAT’;

* ballot papers on which the ‘VOTAT’ stamp is affixed on more than one square or outside several squares, including where one of the impressions of a stamp has been made in holograph form or there are holograph entries only as to the validity of one of the impressions;

* the stamp marked ‘VOTAT’ goes beyond the boundaries of the square and touches another square;

* ballot papers on which a stamp with the word ‘VOTAT’ has been affixed in a different model than the legally approved one.

As regards postal votes, they are validly cast when the ‘VOTAT’ sticker corresponding to the ballot paper:

* is applied inside a single square;

* exceeds the boundaries of the square, without touching another square, and the voter’s choice is obvious;

* it is affixed inside a square, but on the ballot paper there are other handwritten details of the voter (the vote is considered valid irrespective of the details on the ballot paper) or other stickers are affixed in a different model than the legally approved model for the ballot.

The postal vote is validly cast even if the ballot paper unsealed by the postal voter, in accordance with the law, contains only the page on which the voter’s choice was expressed by affixing a sticker with the word ‘VOTAT’.

Postal ballots do not bear the control stamp of an electoral office.

In the case of postal votes, they are considered invalid and do not count as valid votes cast:

*** ballot papers to which the stamp marked with the word ‘VOTAT’ has not been affixed;

*** ballot papers to which the ‘VOTAT’ sticker corresponding to the ballot paper is affixed on more than one square or outside the square, including where the sticker has been cut off/removed or there are holographic indications as to its validity;

*** the ‘VOTAT’ sticker goes beyond the square and touches another square;

*** the ballot paper on which a ‘VOTAT’ sticker has been affixed is of a different model than the one legally approved for that ballot;

*** the ‘VOTAT’ sticker is of a different design than the legally approved one.

If two or more ballot papers of the same type (corresponding to the same round of voting) have been placed in the same inner envelope, they are declared invalid by decision of the electoral bureau of the polling station abroad that fulfills the duties provided by law for the electoral bureau for postal voting, the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) states.

At the same time, in the case of postal voting, the following outer or inner envelopes are void:

* the outer envelope that does not contain the voter certificate;
* the outer envelope not containing other envelopes or documents;
* the inner envelope not containing any ballot paper;
* the outer and/or inner envelope showing tears or damage likely to affect the integrity of the ballot paper.

The outer envelopes delivered after the expiry of the legal deadline shall be annulled by a decision of the polling station’s electoral bureau abroad that fulfills the duties provided by law for the electoral office for postal voting.

***

If on the ballot paper the voter draws a square in which he writes the name and surname of a person, real or fictitious, other than the two validated by BEC, that person will not be entered in the minutes drawn up for the recording of results, according to AEP.

The drawing of that square on the ballot paper does not make it possible to count the votes for the person thus added.

***

Two out of 11 candidates reached the final of the electoral competition.

On May 9, the Central Electoral Bureau established the ballot paper layouts for the second round of the presidential elections, with the order of candidates’ registration based on the number of valid votes cast in the first round of voting, namely: first – George Simion (40.96%) and second – Nicusor Dan (20.99%).

AGERPRES