This archive report was first published on 24 November 2019.
President Klaus Iohannis, a centre-right former physics professor, is running for re-election in Romania, 30 years after the fall of communism.
He faces off against Social Democrats (PSD) leader Viorica Dancila, the former prime minister whose government fell last month following a no-confidence vote.
On November 10, Iohannis gained 38 percent of the vote in the first round, ahead of 13 other candidates, with Dancila coming second with 22 percent.
Analysts say voters who backed lower-placed candidates can be expected to largely swing behind Iohannis on Sunday, amid deep resentment towards the PSD over controversial judicial reforms.
The PSD government has been at odds with Brussels and Iohannis, who backed the EU, over allegations it was trying to push through measures to neuter the judiciary and benefit PSD politicians.
The left-wing party is seen as the successor of the elite that dominated the country before the overthrow of communism in 1989 and is accused of harbouring corruption in its ranks.
As Iohannis bids for a fresh five-year mandate, he has promised to build up a "normal Romania" with functioning institutions and without corruption.
Former foreign minister Cristian Diaconescu said Iohannis guaranteed "predictability" in Bucharest's foreign policy.
"Mr Iohannis represents the only European and Euro-Atlantic option," Diaconescu told AFP.
Under the constitution, Romania's president is responsible for foreign affairs as well as approving the appointment of judges and top prosecutors.
Hundreds of thousands of Romanians have protested against the judicial reforms proposed by the PSD, seen as giving politicians a way to avoid corruption sentences.
One sociologist Alin Teodorescu has estimated that introducing the controversial judicial reforms has cost the PSD over a million votes.
The PSD has accused Iohannis of being a "dictator" and "coward and an arrogant man," while Dancila has highlighted the strong economic growth recorded during the PSD's time in office.
However, this largesse has sparked concerns by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has warned that a new pensions law could double the country's fiscal deficit.
Analysts say Dancila's survival as the head of PSD is at stake on Sunday, with her 22 percent of the vote in the first round being half of what PSD got in 2016 elections.
