#2019PresidentialElection/ Voting process under way in New Zealand, Australia, Tokyo

Five of the six polling stations in Australia for the election of the President of Romania opened on Friday at 12:00 hrs local time (3:00 hrs Romanian time) in Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide, followed by the Perth section. The polling station organized at the Romanian Embassy in Tokyo, the only one in Japan, has also opened, while the electoral process has been under way for several hours in New Zealand, in Auckland, where voting abroad began. For the first time, this year Romanians from outside the country have three days to vote at 835 polling stations. The respective sections are open as follows: Friday between local time 12:00 hrs and 21:00 hrs, and Saturday and Sunday between local time 7:00 hrs and 21:00 hrs. Voters who at 21:00 hrs are at the polling station headquarters, as well as those who are outside the polling station headquarters to enter the polling place, may exercise their voting right until 23:59 hrs. There are 14 candidates running in the presidential race. According to the Central Election Bureau, their order on the ballot papers, established by draw, is as follows: Klaus Iohannis - National Liberal Party, Theodor Paleologu - People's Movement Party, Dan Barna - USR-PLUS Alliance, Kelemen Hunor - Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania, Viorica Dancila - Social Democratic Party, Catalin Ivan - the Alternative for National Dignity, Ninel Peia - Romanian People's Party, Sebastian-Constantin Popescu - New Romania Party, John-Ion Banu - Romanian Nation's Party, Mircea Diaconu - One Man Alliance, Bogdan Marian-Stanoevici - independent, Ramona-Ioana Bruynseels - Party of Humanist Power, Viorel Catarama - the Liberal Right Party, Alexandru Cumpanasu - independent. In the event of a second round, Romanians from the diaspora can vote at the polls, according to the same schedule as in the first round, on November 22, 23 and 24. Most polling stations abroad are in Spain - 143, in 99 localities - some open in hotels, cultural centers, shopping centers or, for example, in Guissona, in "Aventura Park" - a space dedicated to children's events. In Madrid, the Permanent Electoral Authority (AEP) approved the organization of nine polling stations. In Italy, as many as 142 polling stations were approved, five of them in Rome, divided between the Embassy, the Consulate and the Romanian Cultural Institute. In Milan, there are three polling stations on the AEP list, all on Via Oglio 20, where there is a school. In Germany, the AEP approved 79 polling stations, and in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - 72, of which 18 are in London. Restaurant "Dracula" is among the spaces where there will be a polling station in London. Romanians in France can vote in the presidential elections in one of the 50 sections approved by the AEP. Five of these sections are in Paris. All the three polling stations established for the Romanians in Marseille are in hotels, according to the list published by the Permanent Electoral Authority. The right to vote can be exercised at any of the sections organized outside the country, based on an identity document valid on the day of the voting: the electronic identity card; provisional identity card; identity card or diplomatic passport; the electronic diplomatic passport / the service passport / the electronic service passport / the simple passport / the electronic simple passport / the temporary simple passport; in the case of students from military schools, the military service ID. Romanian citizens who are at least 18 years old may vote in the presidential elections, if this age has been reached by the day of the elections, included; and if they were not banned or were not allowed to exercise the right to vote, for the duration established by a final court decision. Besides those who can express their option at the ballot box, as many as 43,003 Romanians chose to vote by mail, according to the official portal www.votstrainatate.ro. The map and the list of polling stations abroad and the Guide for the Romanian voter at the polling station are available on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.AGERPRES(RO - editor: Mariana Ionescu; EN - author: Simona Iacob, editor: Maria Voican)