Voter turnout in the first Romanian single-vote elections on Sunday was 39.26 percent, show figures centralised by the Central Electoral Bureau that were released after the voting ended at 9 p.m.

The Bureau spokesman Marian Muhulet said that turnout in the urban area was 35.63 percent, while in the rural area it was 44.24 percent.

Muhulet announced that voter turnout in 21 counties was above the national average, with the southern Teleorman county topping the list with 52.68 percent; it is followed by the counties of Vrancea with 47.17 pct, Ilfov with 46.61 pct, Giurgiu with 46.44 pct and Dambovita with 45.94 pct.

Next are placed the counties of Olt (45.66 pct), Mehedinti (45.39 pct), Dolj (44.8 pct), Hunedoara (44.73 pct), Neamt (44.38 pct), Bihor ( 44.01 pct), Valcea (43.71 pct), Salaj (43.57 pct), Buzau (43.44 pct), Constanta (43.33 pct), Mures (42.39 pct), Gorj (41.71 pct), Alba (41.09 pct), Suceava (40.92 pct), Harghita (40.29 pct), Bistrita Nasaud (40.27 pct), Botosani (38.58 pct), Caras Severin (38.57 pct), Ialomita (38.35 pct), Vaslui (38.34 pct), Bacau (38.18 pct), Braila (38.14 pct), Arges (37.56 pct), Cluj (37.55 pct), Prahova (37.48 pct), Galati (37.44 pct), Arad (36.04 pct), Maramures (36.02 pct), Iasi (35.96 pct), Calarasi (35.78 pct) and Satu Mare (35.7 pct).

A lower turnout was in the counties of Timis at 31.57 pct, Covasna at 33.51 pct, Tulcea at 35.03 pct, Brasov at 35.12 pct and Sibiu at 35.3 pct.

As regards the urban area, the southern Ilfov county is ranked first with 44.18 percent while the western Timis county is at the bottom of the list with 28.65 pct.

With respect to the rural area, Teleorman county had the highest voter turnout at 59.61 percent, followed by Dolj at 54.07 pct and Hunedoara at 52.49 pct. Bottom of the list are Calarasi with 34.83 pct and Timis with 36.89 pct.

Voter turnout in Bucharest was 30.37 pct, with most Bucharest residents going to the ballot box in District 1 at 34.79 pct and the least in District 3 at 26.29 pct.

More than 18 million Romanians were expected to cast their ballot in the single-vote election for Parliament on Sunday, Nov. 30.