BUCHAREST (RFE/RL) -- A candidate in Romania’s general election has won a seat in parliament with only 34 votes.
Jozsef Koto, of Romania’s ethnic Hungarian union, UDMR, was awarded the seat in the lower chamber after running in a constituency for Romanians living abroad.
Under Romania’s new and complicated voting system, several constituencies were established for Romanians living abroad. Koto, who ran in the Africa and the Middle East constituency, was given the mandate after unoccupied parliamentary seats were redistributed among parties after the November 30 poll.
Critics say the new system allows for candidates who came second or even third in one constituency to win a seat after votes are redistributed among winning parties.