The year 2016 is a busy one for Romania, with the local elections being scheduled to take place in June, and the parliamentary elections coming next in the fall. However, according to a recent poll conducted by the Institute of Social and Political Studies (ISSPOL), around half of the Romanians are either undecided on what party they would vote for or won’t vote at all.

If the local elections were organized tomorrow, 38% of the respondents wouldn’t know what candidate to vote, and 16% wouldn’t vote at all. Out of those who would vote and have clear preferences, 48% would give their votes to candidates of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), and 39% would vote for those from the National Liberal Party (PNL), the survey shows.

The situation is similar for the general elections: 34% are undecided on a candidate/party, and 13% won’t vote at all. Among those who would vote, 45% would give their vote to a PSD candidate and 39% would vote for PNL.

When asked about what party they wouldn’t vote for, 23% of the respondents said they would never give their vote to PSD, 21% would never vote for the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR ), and 15% wouldn’t vote for a PNL candidate.

The study also shows that 35% of Romanians think that Romania is going in a wrong direction. The corruption (mentioned by 18% of respondents), the bad roads (17%), and the lack of jobs (16%) are the top three issues in Romania, followed by poor medical services, high taxes, the bureaucracy of local institutions, and lack of parking and running water.

The study was conducted between February 1 and February 5, on a sample of more than 1,000 people.

Computerized polling stations to prevent illegal voting at this year’s elections in Romania

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com