Romanian Diaspora prepares for parliamentary elections in December

12,500 Romanians have so far signed up for postal voting abroad.

Daniela Budu, 23.09.2020, 13:50

Nearly 4,000 Romanian citizens living abroad have registered on the portal votstrainatate.ro in order to be allowed to cast their vote at a polling station, at the parliamentary elections due on December 6. Most of them are from Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy. If the registration period for voting in a polling station, which started on April 1, has ended, Romanians who opt for postal voting can still register until October 22. Around 12,500 people have signed up for postal voting so far, most of them in Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, France and Italy.

The Romanian Electoral Authority has announced that, in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, a number of countries, some of them from Europe, will ban the opening of polling stations. Consequently, Romanians living abroad have been adviced to opt for postal voting, as a safe and conforatble way of casting their vote.

President Klaus Iohannis has called on the Romanians in the Diaspora to register for postal voting for the parliamentary elections in December, pointing out that there is no guarantee that polling stations will be set up in every foreign country. ”When we promoted postal voting we thought that Romanians in the Diaspora should be able to vote even if they cannot go to the polling station. We did not thought of a pandemic at the time, but postal voting seems now very useful and I urge the Romanian Diaspora to opt for it,” the head of state has recently said in a news conference.

British authorities have recommended Romanian officials to ensure postal voting at the parliamentary elections. ”By using postal voting we avoid going to polling stations and getting in contact with unknown persons, and we observe the social distancing rule,” Dan Mihalache, Romania’s Ambassador in London said. Similar answers came from Malta, the Netherlands, Canada, Nigeria and New Zealand, where Romanian authorities may not be allowed to open polling stations, even within embassies or consulates. Spain and Italy, where over 320,000 Romanians voted in the presidential elections last year, may impose restrictions and ban the opening of polling stations. Almost one million Romanians abroad have voted in the presidential elections in 2019. (Translated by Elena Enache)