other vice chairmen, two secretaries and eighteen members. 146). Four years later, the circumstances under which the electoral system is about to change are surprisingly similar. Which political parties can I vote for? She has previously studied European politics at the universities of Bologna and Bucharest. however, that the right to nominate candidates belonged to the PCR, as Romania. Last week, Romanias Chamber of Deputies approved an electoral law, which, if signed by President Basescu, will introduce a first-past-the-post (FPTP) system at the national level. Copyright 2022, IFES, Head of Government: Prime Minister Dacian CIOLOS, Assembly: Romania has a bicameral Parliament (. You should find a complete list of all candidates on the website of the electoral authority. In Romania you have to be at least 18 to vote in the European elections. In a constituency, the number of Deputies cannot be less than 4, and that of Senators, less than 2. As a result, despite the changes imposed by the Constitutional Court on the governments bill, the parliament adopted a mixed electoral system that was eventually signed off by President Basescu in March 2008. It succeeded The PNL-PD/PDL coalition won both the 2004 presidential and parliamentary elections. Who are the candidates? There is no fixed number of reserve seats. He may choose to exercise his veto and ask the parliament to reconsider it (Art. All candidates for elective office needed the approval of the front in Although this is seen as a concession made to the Hungarian minority, the Hungarian UDMR party abstained from the vote last week and declared their opposition to the introduction of a majoritarian electoral system. Appointment & revocation of State Authorities. 15,733,060 registered voters, 97.8 percent voted for front candidates, 1968 under the original name of the Socialist Unity Front. Elections were organized under the direction of the Socialist While together they are credited with over 50% in the current opinion polls, the new electoral law means that they are likely to win a majority in parliament even in the context of a deepening economic crisis. Thus, for the election of the Chamber of Deputies the representation norm is of one Deputy to 70,000 inhabitants, and for the election of the Senate, of one Senator to 160,000 inhabitants. For more information please click here and read the latest news on the right-hand side of this portal. These go to members of recognized minority groups (one per group) who do not win representation otherwise in either chamber. This occurs after seats have been allocated to candidates winning majorities in single-seat constituencies. This differentiation is possible owing to the legal provision of a representation norm differing from one Chamber to the other. Yes, you can, but you have to register to vote at your local municipality by 28 March 2019 at the very latest. Political parties have to clear at least 5% of the votes in order to be elected to the Parliament. The Constitution did declare, In the Chamber of Deputies (Adunarea Deputatilor), 332 members are elected by popular vote via proportional representation to serve 4-year terms. The polling stations will be open between 7.00-21.00, local time. Around the same time, President Basescu was suspended from office by parliament for supposedly unconstitutional conduct, although the Constitutional Court later declared that his actions had not violated the Constitution. In the late 1980s, chairing the organization was Of the 1980, according to published results. Political parties or individual people who wish to stand for the elections should register with the national election authority 60 days prior to election day. European political scientists need to recognize that plurality or majority voting has no tendency at all to produce two party politics | EUROPP, Romania Motion to suspend the president introduced | The semi-presidential one, Five minutes with Paul Sum on the political situation in Romania: Romanians not only lack confidence in their governing institutions, many hold disdain for them. | EUROPP, The Romanian and German parliamentary electoral system | Issues without borders. You should bring a valid ID or a passport. Various national thresholds apply: 5 percent for single parties (or at least 6 Chamber seats, or at least 3 Senate seats); 8 percent for alliances of two parties; 9 percent for alliances of three, and 10 percent for alliances of four or more parties. You dont need to register in advance, as this is done automatically by the authorities. Ukrainian minorities. The UDMR, the party representing the Hungarian minority, is in a similar situation, given that a plurality system would reduce its chances of being co-opted in a government coalition, of which it has been an almost constant presence since 1996. contended that the percentage would have been much higher in an open addition to the PCR, the labor unions; cooperative farm organizations; Under EU law, all countries must use voting systems that ensure proportional representation, which means that the number of elected members from each party depends on the share of electoral votes obtained by the party. The article does not provide for a convincing answer (the mere fact that it allegedly would be to the benefit of the ruling parties is not a sufficient argument). Its also possible to vote abroad if certain conditions are met. Under the mixed electoral system adopted in 2008, voters cast ballots in single-member constituencies. Sitemap | Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions They are also opposed to the removal of the electoral threshold. IFES However, it is possible to vote at another polling station. 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. Voters are assigned a polling station based on where they live. The two Chambers have different numbers of members: the Chamber of Deputies is composed of 332 Deputies, and the Senate, of 137 Senators. What documents do I need to bring to the polling station? Electoral Assistance Division (EAD).
This occurs after seats have been allocated to candidates winning majorities in single-seat constituencies. Shortened URL for this post:http://bit.ly/KHcmVL, _________________________________________. An exception to this rule is made for parties that do not surpass the threshold, but manage to win at least six constituencies in the elections to the Chamber of Deputies or three constituencies in the elections to the Senate. As a result, although the PDL is in favour of an electoral system that is based on single-member constituencies, this party has good reason to resent the adoption of a first-past-the-post system. 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. Cristinas work lies in the area of comparative politics and her current research project focuses on ministerial survival in semi-presidential systems. country's numerous mass organizations under the leadership of the PCR. However, if the Court does not declare the bill unconstitutional and if the parliament overturns a presidential veto by passing the law again, he will have no other choice than to sign it. A referendum on changing the voting system to single-member voting was held on 25 November 2007, the same day as the European Parliamentary. In Romania there is just one national constituency, which means people across the country choose from the same lists of candidates. For election results, please click here. The new electoral bill introduces two key changes. 3 candidates run as independents.
These topic pages provide a quick overview and easy access to all content that can be found on ACE for any give topic of interest - weather encyclopaedia files, electoral materials, comparative data, consolidated replies, case studies, or other. Voters will elect 32 members if the UK remains in the European Union.Voters will elect 33 members if the UK leaves the European Union. The Prime Minister is appointed by the president with the approval of the parliament. To find out more about cookies and change your preferences, visit our, Duvergers Law is a dead parrot. To select a country/territory, please use the drop down or interactive map below. Cristina Bucur is a Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholar (Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences) and a fourth-year PhD candidate in Politics and International Relations at the School of Law and Government of Dublin City University. Other research interests include the structure, organisation and interaction of government and political parties under different institutional frameworks, core executive politics and political leadership. In this case the chair of the polling station panel has to register them on the supplementary electoral lists. Although the Constitution asserted the right of all citizens eighteen Cristina Bucur Dublin City University the front had an executive chairman, one first vice chairman and six Electoral lists for each station are drafted ahead of election day. Finally, on the 14th December after recounting the entire annulled vote the Constitutional Court rejected the complaint and declared President Traian Bsescu the official victor. For example, even if none of the candidates of the Hungarian minority manages to win a seat in those counties where they exceed 7% of the population, the one who is best placed among them will win a seat, which is added to the number of seats that would normally result from the number of single-member constituencies allocated to that county. Although exit polls had predicted victory for Social Democrat former Foreign Minister Mircea Geoan, official results showed that Bsescu won with a margin of less than 1% (50.33%). However, the same rule also applies to Romanian candidates in those counties where the Hungarians hold a majority. As a result, they plan to send the bill to the Constitutional Court. For information in Romanian language, please visit the website of the Permanent Electoral Authority. in March 1985, when 369 deputies to the GNA were elected. In Romania, European elections take place on Sunday, 26 May 2019. order to be placed on the ballot. For its part, the PDLs popularity has eroded significantly since 2008, when it was re-elected, mostly due to the austerity measures that it has had to impose since this time. (Parliamentary Elections, 6December 2020), by voting at embassies/consulates and postal voting, Legislation and documents of the Venice Commission in the electoral field for Romania, *Information related to Parliamentary Electionsor to the lower house of the Parliament, **Source: Study about youth participation in national parliaments 2018, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Study about youth participation in national parliaments 2018, Disclaimer - Council of Europe 2022 - photo credit. The reform of the electoral system rose to the top of the political agenda in late 2004, when a centre-right coalition formed by the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Democratic Party (PD/PDL) replaced the incumbent Social Democratic Party (PSD). However, things took a different turn in 2007, when President Basescus PD/PDL party left the governing coalition, beginning a period of cohabitation. The special constituency for Romanian citizens living abroad consists of four constituencies for the Chamber of Deputies and two for the Senate. The 2009 presidential elections in Romania took place in two rounds. Except for the short period of cohabitation between April 2007 and December 2008, the PDL was in power from 2004 until one month ago. among Ceausescu's many official duties. Voting at another polling station is only permitted if the county electoral bureau confirms that the chair of the polling station called them to include you in the special electoral lists. This version of a mixed electoral system combines a single round of voting in single-member constituencies with a complicated system of seat allocation for parties that surpass an electoral threshold of 5%. Can I vote in Romania if I'm from another EU country? Although this figure was the More about the Government of As a result, this system seems to resemble the UK-style first-past-the-post, single-member plurality system. The number of inhabitants taken into account is that existing on July 1 of the previous year, published in the Statistical Year-Book of Romania. The precise question was: Do you agree that, beginning with the next elections that will be held for the Romanian Parliament, all deputies and senators be elected in single-member constituencies, based on a majority vote in two rounds? We use cookies on this site to understand how you use our content, and to give you the best browsing experience. Overall, there are 452 single-member constituencies, 315 for the election of deputies and 137 for senators. How will the Members of the European Parliament be elected in Romania? Each of the 42 counties is divided into several single-member constituencies depending on the number of inhabitants in each constituency. Less than a fortnight after, the Senate adopted the new election bill initiated by Victor Ponta (the new prime minister and PSD leader) and Crin Antonescu (the leader of the main coalition partner, the PNL). However, if you have changed your home address recently, we advise you to check with the national election authority (https://www.registrulelectoral.ro) whether your registration on the voting lists is correct. After the fall of communism, Romania adopted a closed-list proportional system, whose inclusiveness was gradually reduced by the introduction of an electoral threshold of 3% in 1992, which was raised to 5% for individual parties and 8%-10% for alliances in 2000. What is the deadline to register to vote? The country is divided in 42 administrative counties, with a 43rd constituency dedicated to the Romanian citizens living abroad. Even though election observers from OSCE stated that voting had generally met with the necessary commitments made, they urged authorities to investigate reports of irregularities. 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. Democracy and Unity Front listed among its member organizations, in To accept cookies, click continue. consumer cooperatives; professional, scientific, and cultural The Socialist * As in the Senate, seats are allocated nationwide in proportion to parties' vote shares. Anyone aged 18 or over can cast a vote.
Turnout was less than 30%. IFES 2011 Crystal Drive, 10th Floor, Arlington, VA 22202 Tel: +1 202.350.6700 | Fax: 202.350.6701 FAX The information by country is available in English and in the language(s) of the selected country. Such a candidate must have received 10 percent of the average number of valid votes cast for Deputies in the single-seat constituencies. A version of this article first appeared on the Semi Presidential One blog. The parliaments decision to suspend the president was unpopular and was rejected by almost 75% of voters in a referendum that was organised one month later. A side-effect of this change is that the number of MPs may increase due to the addition of wild-card seats. The opposition has decided to contest the result, claiming that election was rigged and Social Democrats are able to submit evidence of electoral fraud. was responsible for conducting them. What is the threshold for political parties to be elected to the European Parliament? Every ethnic group that exceeds 7% of total population at the county level and does not win a seat in any of the single-member constituencies in that county receives a wild-card seat for their best-placed candidate in the county. The runoff round between Traian Bsescu of the PDL (Democratic Liberal Party) and Mircea Geoan (PSD, Social Democrats) was held on the 6th December 2009. You can vote at your local polling station. President Basescus PDL party, which is now in opposition, opposes the increase in the number of MPs. The remaining seats are distributed among the political parties first at the county level (using the Hare quota) and then at the national level (according to the dHondt method), provided they pass the 5% threshold. However, there is a twist for the representation of minorities. began to organize effectively during World War II. Nothing is supposed to change in either the drawing of the 42 counties (plus the special constituency for the Romanian diaspora) or their sub-division into single-member constituencies. In addition to a chairperson, In late April 2012, the governing coalition, of which the PDL was the dominant party, lost a vote of no-confidence and a new period of cohabitation began. However, as the threshold failed to reduce significantly party fragmentation in parliament, the idea of introducing single-member constituencies gained more and more ground and in time all major parties lined up behind it. However, the electoral bill limits this increase to a maximum of 10 new mandates. well as to all labor unions, cooperatives, youth and women's leagues, religious bodies; and representatives of Hungarian, German, Serbian, and while 2.3 percent voted against them--about 33 percent more than in 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 proportional representation. But now, according to Cristina Bucur, a month after the collapse of the coalition government led by the Democratic Liberal Party due to a motion of no confidence, the new ruling coalition of the National Liberals and the Social Democrats are set to rewrite the electoral law to introduce a first-past-the-post style system which will virtually guarantee these parties a clear majority in the upcoming elections. The EP election was initially scheduled for 13 May, but the Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu postponed it for domestic political reasons. Romania uses closed lists, which does not allow voters to change the order of candidates on the list. the People's Democratic Front, which had existed since the communists In the following months, the adoption of a new electoral law became a priority, but while the PNL government was in favour of a mixed system, President Basescu remained a strong supporter of the two-round system that is used in France. Democracy and Unity Front, the national entity that incorporated the In fact, they had previously made an electoral promise to reduce their number to 300.
cultural associations, and other mass organizations. A total of 18.3 million Romanians were eligible to vote in the elections on which voters were allowed to cast their ballots directly for specific candidates rather than for a political party, the first time. However, this incident, as well as the political crisis that had been ongoing since 2005 due to the poor relations between the parties who formed the PNL-PD/PDL coalition, increased the pressure for the introduction of single-member constituencies so that the accountability of MPs might be increased in some way. In the first round, held on the 22th November, 12 candidates were running in the election. If, at least 5 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 Socialist Democracy and Unity Front conducted a general election Passed in early May by the Senate, the bill was initiated by Victor Ponta (the new prime minister and Social Democratic Party leader) and Crin Antonescu (the National Liberal Party leader and coalition partner of the PSD). highest number of dissenting votes ever recorded, outside observers The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term. When the bill was finally passed by the parliament in October 2007, the president sent it to the Constitutional Court and called a referendum for the adoption of the two-round system. Note: This article gives the views of theauthor, and not the position of EUROPP European Politics and Policy, nor of the London School of Economics. ACE provides you with a variety of up-to-date election-related information and documentation on over 200 countries and territories. The President is elected by popular vote to serve a 5-year term. How many Members of the European Parliament are elected in Romania? Since the fall of communism, Romania has used a system of proportional representation in its parliamentary elections. Should he want to delay the introduction of the current bill, the president has several options at hand. According to preliminary results, turnout was 26%, meaning that even though 89% of voters were in favour of the proposal, the referendum is invalid. Why exactly would the introduction of the FPTP to the Romanian electoral system (or any other PR system) represent a backwards step?