The full election calendar, decided
Romanians will be called to the polls three times this year, to elect their president, Parliament, representatives in Brussels and mayors.
Sorin Iordan, 29.02.2024, 14:00
Romanians are to go to the polls three times this year, following a decision taken by the leaders of the PSD-PNL ruling coalition in Romania. Citizens will have to elect the their new head of state, their representatives in the European Parliament, in the Bucharest Parliament as well as their mayors and local councilors. The first election is scheduled for June 9, when Romanians vote their representatives in the European Parliament and cast their ballot in the local elections, on the same day. Three months later, on September 15, the first round of the presidential elections will take place, and if needed, a second round will be held on September 29. The Romanian Parliament make-up will be decided on December 8.
The governing coalition had intended to allow voting for the European Parliament unfold for two days, for the Romanians abroad, but eventually gave up the idea which they say would have violated the constitutional right of the Romanians at home, who only have one day to vote. Instead, it was decided to keep polling stations open for an extra hour, until 10 pm and in some cases until midnight.
The head of the Permanent Election Authority, Toni Greblă, announced that over 30,000 election experts are prepared for this year’s successive rounds of elections. He believes that in this respect, Romania is prepared for this election year, which he calls atypical.
Toni Greblă: Why did I say that this year is atypical? Because all types of elections – for the European Parliament, for the Romanian Parliament, presidential and local – are held during six months, so organizing them it will not be very easy, as long as all other daily activities of every citizen must unfold as normal, so that people’s lives do not suffer.
As regards Romanians’ trust in the election process, Greblă has said that the polls will be organized in a transparent manner, observing the principle of equality with all political competitors, so that the result will be the one desired by the majority of voters. In the previous presidential elections, held in 2019, over 10 million Romanians, representing 54,86% of the total number of voters included on the permanent election lists, cast their vote. Of them, approximately 945,000 were Romanians from the Diaspora. On the same year, the European Parliament elections took place, in which over 8.9 million Romanians voted, with the voter turnout standing at 49,02%. A year later, in 2020, a little over 5.9 million people participated in the elections for the Romanian Parliament, with a voter turnout rate of 33,24%. In the local elections, 8.4 million Romanians took part, accounting for 46,02% of the citizens entitled to vote. (EE)
