2004 Romanian general election

Presidential election
28 November 2004 (first round) 12 December 2004 (second round)
Turnout	58.49% (first round) 55.21% (second round)
File:Traian Băsescu 2005Mar09.jpg Nominee Traian Băsescu Adrian Năstase Party Democratic Party (Romania) PSD Alliance Justice and Truth Alliance National Union PSD+PUR Popular vote 5,126,794 4,881,520 Percentage 51.23% 48.77%
President before election Ion Iliescu PSD Elected President Traian Băsescu Democratic Party (Romania)
Parliamentary election 28 November 2004 Turnout 58.47% Party Leader % Seats ± National Union PSD+PUR 36.61 132 Justice and Truth Alliance 31.33 112 PRM 12.92 48 Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania 6.17 22 Romanian ethnic minority parties 2.17 18 National Union PSD+PUR 37.13 57 Justice and Truth Alliance 31.77 49 PRM 13.63 21 Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania 6.23 10 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. File:2004 Romanian legislative election - Vote Strength.png Results for the Chamber of Deputies and Senate Prime Minister before Prime Minister-designate Adrian Năstase Adrian Năstase PSD Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu PNL (DA) Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu

General elections were held in Romania on 28 November 2004, with a second round of the presidential elections on 12 December between former Prime Minister Adrian Năstase of the then ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) and then incumbent Bucharest Mayor Traian Băsescu of the opposition Justice and Truth Alliance (DA), more specifically of the Democratic Party (PD). Băsescu was elected President by a narrow majority of just 51.2%. The 2004 presidential election was the fifth of its kind held in post-1989 Romania.

Following 2003 amendments to the constitution which lengthened the presidential term to five years, these were the last joint elections to the presidency and Parliament in Romania's political history thus far.

Campaign

Parliamentary elections

The main contenders were the left-wing alliance made up of the then incumbent Social Democratic Party of Romania (PSD) and the Romanian Humanist Party (PUR), and, on the other hand, the center-right Justice and Truth Alliance (DA; Romanian: Dreptate și adevăr) comprising the conservative-liberal National Liberal Party (PNL) and the initially social-democratic Democratic Party (PD) which later adopted a center-right Christian democratic ideology.

Other significant contenders were the Greater Romania Party (PRM) (right-wing nationalists), the ethnic Hungarian party Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), and the Union for Romanian Reconstruction (UPRR), a group of right-wing technocrats.

Conduct

The opposition alleged fraudulent use by the PSD of "supplementary lists", designed to help Romanians in transit to vote. Traditionally, Romanians voted with a cardboard identity card, which was stamped when they voted. Most Romanians now have laminated plastic IDs, to which a printed stamp is affixed when a person votes. However, the stamps can be easily removed. In spite of this, electoral fraud is nearly impossible to commit, as every citizen is assigned to one local voting station, the only location he/she can vote at.

The opposition claimed that there were organized "electoral excursions" of PSD supporters who were bussed to various towns to vote several times. This was corroborated by several teams of journalists, who followed the buses.

The government attacked the opposition by arguing that 'rumours of fraud' affect Romania's economy and its external credibility.

In January 2005, the IMAS institute of statistics released an analysis of the voting results in the 16,824 precincts. In the top 1,000 precincts with the most votes on the supplementary lists, the PSD had 43% to the DA's 23%, while in the precincts with fewest votes on supplementary lists, the PSD had 30% to the DA's 34%. The same trend was true in the precincts with most void votes. Wayback Machine

Presidential candidates

Name	Lifespan	Public Administration Experience	Affiliation and endorsements	Alma mater and profession	Candidacy Announcement dates
x160px Traian Băsescu	Born: November 4, 1951 (age 53) Basarabi, Constanța County	Mayor of Bucharest (2000-election day) Deputy (1992–2000) Minister of Transport (1991–1992, 1996–1998, 1998–2000) Sub-Secretary of State for Naval Transportation with the Ministry of Transport (1990-1991) Director of Civil Navigation Inspectorate with the Ministry of Transport (1989-1990)	Affiliation: Justice and Truth Alliance Alliance members: PNL and PD	Mircea cel Bătrân Naval Academy (1976) seaman
Adrian Năstase	Born: June 22, 1950 (age 54) Bucharest	Prime Minister of Romania (2000-election day) Deputy (1990-election day) President of the Chamber of Deputies (1992-1996) Minister of Foreign Affairs (1990-1992)	Affiliation: National Union PSD+PUR Alliance members: PSD and PUR	Faculty of Sociology, University of Bucharest (1978) Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest (1973) jurist
Corneliu Vadim Tudor	Born: November 28, 1949 (age 55) Bucharest Died: September 14, 2015, Bucharest	Senator (1992-election day) Former presidential elections: 2000: 28.3% (2nd place, 1st round), 33.2% (2nd place, 2nd round) 1996: 4.7% (5th place, 1st round)	Affiliation: PRM	Faculty of Philosophy, University of Bucharest (1971) journalist, writer
Béla Markó	Born: September 8, 1951 (age 53) Târgu Secuiesc, Covasna County	Senator (1990-election day)	Affiliation: UDMR	Faculty of Philology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca (1974) journalist, poet
Gheorghe Ciuhandu	Born: June 15, 1947 (age 57) Timișoara, Timiș County	Mayor of Timișoara (1996-election day)	Affiliation: PNȚCD	Faculty of Constructions, Politehnica University of Timișoara (1970) building engineer
x160px Gigi Becali	Born: June 25, 1958 (age 46) Vădeni, Brăila County		Affiliation: PNG	"Iuliu Maniu" High-school, Bucharest (1978) shepherd, football club owner
Petre Roman	Born: July 22, 1946 (age 58) Bucharest	Senator (1996-election day) Minister of Foreign Affairs (1999-2000) President of the Senate of Romania (1996–1999) Deputy (1990-1996) Prime Minister of Romania (1989-1991) Former presidential elections: 2000: 3.0% (6th place, 1st round) 1996: 20.5% (3rd place, 1st round)	Affiliation: Democratic Force	Faculty of Energy, Politehnica University of Bucharest (1968) hydroelectric powerplant engineer
Gheorghe Dinu	Born: unknown birthdate unknown birthplace		Affiliation: none	unknown education intelligence officer
Marian Petre Miluț	Born: December 29, 1955 (age 48) Craiova, Dolj County		Affiliation: People's Action	Faculty of Automation, Computers and Electronics, University of Craiova (1980) IT engineer
Ovidiu Tudorici	Born: October 16, 1969 (age 35) Câmpulung Moldovenesc, Suceava County	Deputy Mayor of Câmpulung Moldovenesc (2004-election day)	Affiliation: Union for Romania's Reconstruction	Faculty of Law, Petre Andrei University of Iași (1997) salesman, marketing specialist
Aurel Rădulescu	Born: August 13, 1953 (age 51) Adamclisi, Constanța County		Affiliation: Christian Democratic People's Alliance	Faculty of Law and Faculty of Tehology, unknown universities (unknown years) priest
Raj Tunaru	Born: November 12, 1959 (age 45) Țânțăreni, Gorj County		Affiliation: Democratic Youth Party	University of Petroșani (unknown year) mining engineer

Results

President

Winner by county in the first round

Winner by county in the runoff

Corneliu Vadim Tudor positioned himself against Băsescu, without openly endorsing Năstase. Marko Bela openly endorsed Adrian Năstase. Gheorghe Ciuhandu openly endorsed Băsescu.

Aftermath

On 13 December, the PUR president Dan Voiculescu hinted that they have more in common with the DA (both have a center-right orientation) and that they might break from the PSD, but one day later said that he would remain with PSD. It has been suggested by the press that this could be result of a blackmail about his communist past. By 25 December both UDMR and PUR signed a protocol of alliance with DA (Justice and Truth), with the designated prime minister being Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu. Thus, the PSD was left in opposition while Justice and Truth Alliance (DA), the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), and the Humanist Party (PUR, renamed Conservative Party in 2005) formed the government.

External links

• Central Electoral Bureau
• Fraud worries in Romanian poll BBC News