The Romanian presidential election was too close to call last night as both candidates declared themselves the victor after a run-off ballot produced a statistical dead heat

The Romanian presidential election was too close to call last night as both candidates declared themselves the victor after a run-off ballot produced a statistical dead heat. One exit poll gave both the Prime Minister Adrian Nastase, a former Communist, and the pro-Western mayor of Bucharest, Traian Basescu, 50 per cent of the vote. Another gave Mr Nastase 50.7 per cent to Mr Basescu's 49.3 per cent. There were fears of a legal stand-off as both candidates claimed the presidency. Mr Nastase said: "I will be a strong president," although he added that he was waiting for votes to be counted. Mr Basescu, meanwhile, thanked voters, declaring: "I assure them I will be a president for Romania." The run-off vote took place after neither candidate secured 50 per cent of the vote in a first round marred by fraud. Although authorities rejected a demand from Mr Basescu, 53, for a re-run of the election, a state prosecutor is investigating allegations of multiple voting. New rules were in place yesterday to prevent attempts at ballot-rigging, and 3,000 observers were deployed amid fears that widespread fraud could trigger a Ukrainian-style groundswell of popular protests in a country that rose up against its Communist dictator in 1989.