New laws for the election year
If there are no constitutional barriers, the elections for the European Parliament and the local elections in Romania will be held on June 9.
Ştefan Stoica, 11.03.2024, 13:50
The Social-Liberal government in Bucharest adopted, at the end of last week, an emergency order that provides for the elections for the European Parliament and the local elections in Romania to be held on the same day, June 9. It is about the famous and controversial merger, previously decided at political level by the parties of the ruling coalition, PSD and PNL, which thus maximize their chances in the European elections, where they run on joint candidate lists. The Social Democrats and Liberals say, on the other hand, that this merger was desired by most Romanians, something reflected by opinion polls, given that they will be required to cast their vote again this year, in the local parliamentary elections in December, and in the presidential elections, in two rounds, in September.
According to the president of the Permanent Electoral Authority, Toni Greblă, there will be a single election infrastructure, and voters will find five ballot boxes on June 9: one for the European Parliament and four for the local elections. Holding two types of elections on the same date means savings to the national budget but their amount will be known only after the adoption, this week, of the government decision that will set the level of expenses regarding the organization of the elections. The normative act adopted on Friday expands the electoral period to 90 days, in order to give candidates time to organize their activity before the start of the election campaign. There is also news as regards voting abroad.
Toni Greblă: “One of the changes concerns the organization of voting abroad. The idea of those additional lists that required the signature of the voter, was abandoned. Now we use an application, the additional list for Romanian citizens residing abroad is generated electronically and both time and accuracy are gained, because a citizen who has voted once abroad cannot vote a second time at another section in the country or abroad”. A person can simultaneously run for the European Parliament and for the position of local councilor, county councilor, mayor or president of the County Council. In addition, local elected officials can choose to run for a political party other than the one they represented in the current mandate, up to 45 days before the election date.
Critics of the provision warn that it encourages switching parties and the beneficiaries would be the big parties, primarily the PSD. Toni Greblă says, however, that the migration from one political party to another is only possible because there is a gap between June, when the elections are held, and probably the beginning of October, when the first local councils and county councils start being established. Strongly against the normative act adopted on Friday, the parties of the United Right alliance want the Ombudsman to notify the Constitutional Court regarding the emergency ordinance on simultaneous local and European parliamentary elections. (EE)
