Exit polls conducted shortly after polls closed on Sunday in the Romanian presidential election indicate that there will be a run-off between the top two candidates, who finished in a virtual dead heat.

Incumbent center-right President Traian Basescu, 58, who garnered 33.72 percent of the vote, and his Social Democrat rival Mircea Geoana, 51, who received 31.44 percent, will most likely be heading to the second round of the election on December 6.

Official results were expected on Monday morning for the country's first presidential election since it became a member of the European Union in January 2007.

For the past six weeks, Romania has been ruled by a caretaker government that has put on hold reforms eagerly awaited by financial institutions.

Thus the winner of the run-off will have to name a new prime minister as soon as possible.

More than 18 million people out of the population of 21.5 million were eligible to vote at more than 21,400 polling stations in the country and 300 abroad, with many in Italy and Spain, where there are strong communities of Romanian immigrants.

FTP/SS/HGL