section_path: Results/By county
section_name: By county
paragraph_text: By county
  
  The results of the first round of voting were widely described as a shock, with both second round contenders Călin Georgescu and Elena Lasconi outperforming polling expectations. The underwhelming performance of Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu led to the first presidential election in the history of post-communist Romania in which the Social Democratic candidate did not make it to the second round of voting. The National Liberals marked their worst ever result in a presidential race, as Nicolae Ciucă ended up in fifth place with 8.79% of the vote. Right-wing populist George Simion also registered a weak result, after it was widely speculated he would advance to the second round in December.
  
  Turnout was higher than in 2019, with 9,465,257 Romanians showing up to the polls, representing 52.56% of the eligible electorate.