Elections in Romania

Romania
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Romania
Constitution Referendums 1991 (adoption) 2003 (amendments) 2015 (amendments) Constitutional Court
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Romania elects on a national level a head of state – the president – and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people (after a change from four-year terms after the 2004 election). The Romanian Parliament (Parlamentul României) has two chambers. The Chamber of Deputies (Camera Deputaţilor) has currently 412 members (after the next legislative elections 330 members),^[1] elected for a four-year term by mixed member proportional representation (at the next elections by party-list proportional representation on closed lists). The Senate (Senatul) has currently 176 members (after the next legislative elections 136 members),^[1] elected for a four-year term by mixed member proportional representation (at the next elections by party-list proportional representation on closed lists).

Romania has a multi-party system, with numerous parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments.

In 2007, for the first time, Romanians elected their representatives to the European Parliament. The date for these elections was 25 November. See also European Parliament election, 2007.

Electoral system

President

The President is elected in a two-round system for a five-year term. If one candidate obtains a majority of 50%+1 of all registered voters in the first round, he or she is declared the winner. If none of the candidates achieve this, then a run-off is held between the two contenders with the top scores in the first round. The candidate who obtains any majority of votes in the run-off is declared the winner.

The term of the president is five years. Between 1992 and 2004 the term was of four years, but was increased following the 2003 Constitutional referendum. One person can serve a maximum of two terms, that may be consecutive.

In order to be able to run for the Office of President a candidate must fulfill the following conditions: be at least 35 years of age (at least on the day of the election), and not have held the office for two terms since 1992, when the 1991 Constitution took effect.^[2]

Parliament

The former electoral colleges of the constituencies for the Chamber of Deputies

The former electoral colleges of the constituencies for the Senate

The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate are elected in constituencies, by universal, equal, direct, secret, and freely expressed suffrage, on the basis of a list system and independent candidatures, according to the principle of closed party list proportional representation. The option for an identical election system of the two Chambers of Parliament confers them the same legitimacy, as both of them are the expression of the will of the same electoral body.

The two Chambers have different numbers of members: the Chamber of Deputies is composed of 330 Deputies, and the Senate of 136 Senators. This differentiation is possible owing to the legal provision of a representation norm differing from one Chamber to the other and due to the seats allotted to the national minorities (a seat in the Chamber of Deputies for each minority) and to the Romanians living abroad (4 seats in the Chamber and 2 in the Senate). Thus, for the election of the Chamber of Deputies the representation norm is of one Deputy to 73,000 inhabitants,^[3] and for the election of the Senate, of one Senator to 168,000 inhabitants.^[3]

The number of Deputies and Senators to be elected in each constituency is determined on the basis of the representation norm, by relating the number of inhabitants in each constituency to the representation norm. There are 43 constituencies: 1 for each county and the Municipality of Bucharest, and 1 for the Romanians living abroad.^[3] In a constituency, the number of Deputies cannot be less than four, and that of Senators, less than two. The number of inhabitants taken into account is that existing on 1 January of the previous year,^[3] published in the Statistical Yearbook of Romania. If, at least five months before the election date, a general census has taken place, the number of inhabitants taken into account is that resulting from the census.

The electoral threshold is for parties or candidates running individually 5% on national level or 20% in at least 4 constituencies, and 8-10% for coalitions or electoral alliances.^[3]

The Constitution of Romania and the Election Law grant to legally constituted organizations of citizens belonging to national minorities, in case these could not obtain at the election at least one Deputy or Senator mandate, the right to a Deputy mandate, if they have obtained throughout the country a number of votes equal to at least 5% out of the average number of votes validly expressed throughout the country for the election of one Deputy.

The mandates assigned, under the conditions of the Election Law, to organizations of citizens belonging to national minorities are added to the Deputy mandates resulted from the representation norm.

European Parliament

To elect the 32 MEPs (35 MEPs between 2007 and 2009, 33 between 2009 and 2014), Romania is considered a single constituency. The system used is closed party list proportional representation, with a 5% threshold of the votes.

Local elections

To elect the mayors the first past the post is used. The candidate who wins most of the votes is declared elected.

For the office of Presidents of the County Councils, between 2008 and 2012, the first pass the post system was used. Until 2008 and again since 2016,^[4] the County Council Presidents have been indirectly elected by each County Council.

To elect the Local and County Councils, the closed party list proportional representation, with a 5% threshold of the votes at the constituency level (city, commune or county).

Voting procedures

Irrespective of the type of election, the vote is done by using paper and manual counting. The voter is required to prove his/hers identity using the Identity card (or the previous version, the Identity bulletin), or, for special reasons, the military ID or the passport. After (s)he signs in the permanent, supplemental, or special electoral list, (s)he is handed a voting ballot (buletin de vot) and a stamp that reads VOTAT YYYY TTT (voted); YYYY stands for the year the election is held, and TTT for the type of elections to be held: L for local elections (including partial), PE for European Parliament election, R for referendums (R.V.U. was used in 2007). For the general election, up to now, there was no additional type indicator, as it is granted most importance.

For the local and parliamentary elections, the voter can vote only at the polling station where (s)he has the permanent address (domiciliu), or the temporary residence (flotant) at least three months old. For the local election, the Romanians outside Romania cannot vote. For the parliamentary election they vote the candidates for the 43rd constituency. For the European Parliament and presidential elections the voters can vote at a different pooling station than the local and parliamentary elections, but only if (s)he is not in the home-town the voting day. At the next legislative election the Romanian electors residing abroad will be able to cast their vote via mail.^[5]

The voting ballot is printed on newspaper paper, monochrome. All the candidates (or the full candidate list) are listed in a lottery type established order (first the parliamentary parties, than the non-parliamentary parties, and at the end, the independent candidates), each in a clearly designated rectangular that consists of the full party name, the candidate (or full list) and the party logo. Voters express their choice by stamping the rectangle of the party or independent candidate (s)he wishes to vote for. For referendums the same voting procedure is used. Each of the two options (YES – DA and NO – NU) are in a 5×5 cm square, YES on top and NO at the bottom, and the question voted for in the middle of the voting ballot.

Future elections

Election schedule

Latest elections

Presidential

European Parliament

Elections were marked by the splitting of the Social Liberal Union (USL) two months earlier. The National Liberal Party ran alone, while the former allies (Social Democratic Party, National Union for the Progress of Romania, and Conservative Party) ran as an alliance that they tried to name Social Democratic Union (USD); legal provisions made this impossible. These were the first elections for the People's Movement Party, and the last for the Democratic Liberal Party, and the Civic Force, as later in 2014 they merged into the National Liberal Party.

 Summary of the June 2014 European Parliament election results in Romania

Party				No. of Candidates	Votes	Elected	Change in seats	% of seats	% of votes
National Party		EU Party	EP Group
	Social Democratic Union (Uniunea Social Democrată) Social Democratic Party (Partidul Social Democrat) Conservative Party (Partidul Conservator) National Union for the Progress of Romania (Uniunea Naţională pentru Progresul României)	PES	S&D	42	2,093,237	16	5	50%	37.60%
	National Liberal Party (Partidul Naţional Liberal)	ALDE	ALDE Group	42	835,531	6	1		15.00%
	Democratic Liberal Party[a] (Partidul Democrat Liberal)	EPP	EPP Group	42	680,853	5	5		12.23%
	Independent candidate: Mircea Diaconu	—	ALDE	1	379,582	1	1		6.81%
	Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (Uniunea Democrată a Maghiarilor din România)	EPP	EPP Group	41	350,689	2	1		6.29%
	People's Movement Party (Partidul Mișcarea Populară)[b]	—	EPP Group	41	345,973	2	2		6.21%
	People's Party – Dan Diaconescu (Partidul Poporului – Dan Diaconescu)	—	No MEPs		204,310	—	—		3.67%
	Greater Romania Party (Partidul România Mare)	—	NI		150,484	—	3		2.70%
	Civic Force (Forța Civică)	EPP (applied)	No MEPs		145,181	—	—		2.60%
	Ecologist Party of Romania (Partidul Ecologist Român)		No MEPs		64,232	—	—		1.15%
Total: 18,221,061 expected voters (turnout 5,911,794 – 32.44%)					4,899,383	32	1	100 %	100 %
Source: Summary of results

Notes

1. ^{^} Elena Băsescu re-joined PD-L after the exit-poll results where published in 2009.
2. ^{^} Defectors from Democratic Liberal Party.

Legislative

The Social Liberal Union (USL) won the general election with over 60% of the most seats in both houses of Parliament.

This election generated a Parliament with 117 seats more than in the pre-election Chamber of Deputies and Senate.

Local

Referendums

The Constitution of Romania defines that a referendum has to be called to:^[8]

• suspend the President from office (article 95), or
• amend the Constitution (article 151)

Moreover, the Constitution defines that a referendum can be called on matters of national interest by the President of Romania after consultation with Parliament (article 90).

There were 6 referendums in post-communist Romania:

• 2 constitutional referendums: in 1991 and 2003
• 2 presidential impeachment referendums: in May 2007 and in 2012
• voting system referendum in November 2007
• parliamentary reform referendum in 2009

There was also 1 referendum in Socialist Republic of Romania, 3 referendums in Kingdom of Romania and 2 referendums in The Romanian United Principalities.

See also

• Electoral calendar
• Electoral system

References

• Official site of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania

External links

• Report on 30 November 2008 election results
• Adam Carr's Election Archive
• Parties and elections
• Report on new Uninominal System

Elections and referendums in Romania
Parliamentary elections	1864 1866 (Apr) 1866 (Nov) 1869 1870 1871 1875 1876 1879 1883 1884 1888 1891 1892 1895 1899 1901 1905 1907 1911 1912 1914 1918 1919 1920 1922 1926 1927 1928 1931 1932 1933 1937 1939 1946 1948 1952 1957 1961 1965 1969 1975 1980 1985 1990 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016
Presidential elections	1990 1992 1996 2000 2004 2009 2014 2019
Local elections	1864 1866 1869 1870 1871 1874 1876 1879 1883 1884 1888 1890 1891 1895 1899 1901 1905 1907 1911 1912 1914 1926 1930 1936 1938 1950 1953 1956 1958 1961 1963 1965 1967 1969 1975 1977 1980 1982 1985 1987 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016
European elections	2007 2009 2014 2019
Other elections	Bessarabia: 1917 Moldavia: 1832 1837 1842 1847 1857 (Jul) 1857 (Sep) 1858 1860 Transylvania: 1918 Wallachia: 1831 1836 1841 1846 1857 1859 1860 1861
Referendums	1864 1866 1938 1941 (Mar) 1941 (Nov) 1986 1991 2003 2007 (May) 2007 (Nov) 2009 2012