ANALYSIS The profile of Romanian voters in the second round of the presidential elections: Nicușor Dan vs. George Simion

With no absolutizations, Nicușor Dan won in the second round of the presidential election, gaining a comfortable majority among voters with higher education and among female voters.

Remus Ștefureac, director of INSCOP Research: "The INSCOP poll conducted on voting day, 18 May 2025, across Romania (without Diaspora) reveals differences in the voter profile of the two candidates, George Simion and Nicușor Dan, but they should not be absolutized. In reality, the distribution of the votes for the two candidates should be analyzed with nuances, as there are no categories of voters who voted exclusively for one candidate and categories of voters who voted exclusively for the other candidate. Even if there are stronger majorities among certain typologies, the significance should not be hyperbolized or simplified. The majority of college-educated voters voted for Nicușor Dan, but there are a not inconsiderable number of college-educated voters who chose George Simion. Just as a majority of voters with primary education voted for George Simion, but there is a very large number of voters with primary education who chose Nicușor Dan."

Nicușor Dan was voted by more women than men, by many 18-29 year olds and more elderly (over 65) than the other age groups, and by many more voters with higher education than with secondary or primary education.

George Simion was voted for by more men than women, by more 25-54 year olds than the other age groups, and by significantly more people with primary education than with secondary or higher education.

Correlation of the vote with gender and age

Nicușor Dan scored best among young women and those over 60, as well as among men over 65.

George Simion managed to get the most votes from men aged 30-44 (over 50%).

Correlation of voting with education level and age

People with primary education

People with primary education and under 55 voted in a proportion of more than 70% for George Simion. The difference between the two candidates was much smaller among people with a primary education but aged over 55. Moreover, the hierarchy was reversed in the 65+ segment. More than half of those over 65 with primary education preferred Nicușor Dan.

Middle-educated voters

Except for young people (18-24 years old) - who voted in a high proportion for Nicușor Dan (78.1%), in the rest of the age groups, the scores were more balanced.

Higher-educated voters

Nicușor Dan was the majority choice of voters with higher education, regardless of age category.

George Simion had much weaker support among people with higher education, especially those aged 35-54.

Methodology

The data are extracted from the INSCOP Research survey conducted on May 18 across Romania (without Diaspora) as part of an internal project to test and validate this research tool.

The survey is representative of Romania's non-institutionalized population aged 18 and over who say they have voted or will definitely vote.

Data were collected through telephone interviews with a sample of 4,454 respondents. The maximum allowable margin of error was 2%.