Elections in Romania

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 330 members (after the last legislative elections), elected for a four-year term by party-list proportional representation on closed lists. The Senate (Senatul) has currently 136 members (after the last legislative elections), elected for a four-year term 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.

On 25 November 2007, for the first time, Romanians elected their representatives to the European Parliament.

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 a Romanian citizen, 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.[1]

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,[2] and for the election of the Senate, of one Senator to 168,000 inhabitants.[2]

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.[2] 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,[2] 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.[2]

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 33 MEPs (35 MEPs between 2007 and 2009, 32 between 2014 and 2019), 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,[3] 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), P presidential elections, 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.[4]

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

Election type	Date	Second round date
Local	–	–
Legislative	–	–
European	mid-May 2024	–
Presidential	early/mid-November 2024	late November/early December 2024 if needed

Latest elections

Presidential

Candidate		Party	First round		Second round
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	Klaus Iohannis	National Liberal Party	3,485,292	37.82	6,509,135	66.09
	Viorica Dăncilă	Social Democratic Party	2,051,725	22.26	3,339,922	33.91
	Dan Barna	2020 USR-PLUS Alliance	1,384,450	15.02
	Mircea Diaconu	Alliance for "One Man" (PRO–ALDE)	815,201	8.85
	Theodor Paleologu	People's Movement Party	527,098	5.72
	Hunor Kelemen	Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania	357,014	3.87
	Ramona Bruynseels	Humanist Power Party	244,275	2.65
	Alexandru Cumpănașu	Independent	141,316	1.53
	Viorel Cataramă	Liberal Right Party	48,662	0.53
	Bogdan Stanoevici	Independent	39,192	0.42
	Cătălin Ivan	Alternative for National Dignity	32,787	0.36
	Ninel Peia	Romania Nationhood Party	30,884	0.34
	Sebastian Popescu	New Romania Party	30,850	0.33
	John Ion Banu	Romanian Nation Party	27,769	0.30
Invalid/blank votes			142,961	–	182,648	–
Total			9,359,673	100	10,031,705	100
Registered voters/turnout			18,286,865	51.18	18,217,411	55.07
Sources: BEC (first round); BEC (second round)

European Parliament

 Summary of the May 2019 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
	National Liberal Party^[a] (Partidul Naţional Liberal)	EPP^[a]	EPP Group^[a]	43	2,449,068	10		30.30%	27.00%
	Social Democratic Party (Partidul Social Democrat)	PES	S&D	43	2,040,765	9		27.27%	22.50%
	2020 USR-PLUS Alliance (Alianța 2020 USR-PLUS) Save Romania Union^[b] (Uniunea Salvați România) Freedom, Unity and Solidarity Party (Partidul Libertății, Unității și Solidarității)	—	ALDE&R^[c]	40^[g]	2,028,236	8	8	24.24%	22.36%
	PRO Romania (PRO România)	EDP	S&D^[e] ECR^[f]	43	583,916	2	0	6.06%	6.44%
	People's Movement Party (Partidul Mișcarea Populară)	—	EPP Group	43	522,104	2	2	6.06%	5.76%
	Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (Uniunea Democrată a Maghiarilor din România)	EPP	EPP Group	43	476,777	2	0	6.06%	5.26%
	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (Alianța Liberalilor și Democraților)	ALDE	—	43	372,760	0	2	0%	4.11%
	Independent candidate: Peter Costea	—	—	1	131,021	0	0	0%	1.44%
	Independent candidate: George-Nicolae Simion	—	—	1	117,141	0	0	0%	1.29%
	Independent candidate: Gregoriana Carmen Tudoran	—	—	1	100,669	0	0	0%	1.11%
	National Union for the Progress of Romania (Uniunea Națională pentru Progresul României)	—	No MEPs	43	54,942	0	0	0%	0.61%
	Prodemo Party (Partidul Prodemo)	—	No MEPs	26	53,351	0	0	0%	0.59%
	United Romania Party (Partidul România Unită)	—	No MEPs	30	51,787	0	0	0%	0.57%
	Romanian Socialist Party (Partidul Socialist Român)	—	No MEPs	28	40,135	0	0	0%	0.44%
	Independent Social Democratic Party (Partidul Social Democrat Independent)	—	No MEPs	43	26,439	0	0	0%	0.29%
	National Unity Block - NUB (Blocul Unității Naționale - BUN)	—	No MEPs	12	20,411	0	0	0%	0.23%
Total: 18,267,256 expected voters (turnout – 51.20%)				483	9,352,472	33	1	100%	100%
Source: Summary of the results

Notes

1. ^{^} After the 2014 election, PNL merged with PD-L/PDL and joined the EPP, and EPP Group.
2. ^{^} Prior to the 2019 election, Save Romania Union had no MEPs, and no European affiliation.
3. ^{^} According to the website of the ALDE Group, USR Plus will be part of its new group called "ALDE plus Renaissance plus USR Plus.
4. ^{^} Monica Macovei, the founder of the M10 party, was ousted.
5. ^{^} Daciana Sârbu sits with the S&D.
6. ^{^} Laurențiu Rebega sits with the ECR.
7. ^{^} After the lists have been approved by the Central Electoral Bureau, three candidates of the 2020 USR-PLUS Alliance have renounced their candidacy. The Central Electoral Bureau ruled the elimination of said positions on the list.[5]

Legislative

The Social Democratic Party (PSD) won the general election with over 29% of the seats in both houses of Parliament, but remained in opposition. PNL, USR-PLUS and UDMR forming a coalition government.

This election saw the return of the county (and Bucharest) level lists, replacing the previous mixed member election. Also it maintained special seats for Romanians living abroad, in both houses.

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Social Democratic Party	1,705,777	28.90	110	–44
	National Liberal Party	1,486,401	25.19	93	+24
	2020 USR-PLUS Alliance	906,962	15.37	55	+25
	Alliance for the Unity of Romanians	535,828	9.08	33	New
	Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania	339,030	5.74	21	0
	People's Movement Party	284,501	4.82	0	–18
	PRO Romania Social Liberal	241,267	4.09	0	–20
	Ecologist Party of Romania	65,807	1.12	0	0
	Humanist Power Party (Social-Liberal)	59,465	1.01	0	0
	Greater Romania Party	32,654	0.55	0	0
	National Renaissance Alliance	21,662	0.37	0	New
	Green Party	20,614	0.35	0	0
	Romanian Socialist Party	19,693	0.33	0	0
	Party of the Roma "Pro Europe"	14,523	0.25	1	0
	New Romania Party	14,089	0.24	0	0
	League of Albanians of Romania	9,029	0.15	1	0
	Democratic Forum of Germans	7,582	0.13	1	0
	Association of Macedonians of Romania	7,144	0.12	1	0
	Hellenic Union of Romania	6,096	0.10	1	0
	Union of the Ukrainians of Romania	5,457	0.09	1	0
	Democratic Union of Slovaks and Czechs in Romania	5,386	0.09	1	0
	Community of the Lippovan Russians	5,146	0.09	1	0
	Bulgarian Union of Banat–Romania	4,853	0.08	1	0
	Union of Serbs of Romania	4,691	0.08	1	0
	Association of Italians of Romania	4,170	0.07	1	0
	Union of Armenians of Romania	3,820	0.06	1	0
	Cultural Union of Ruthenians of Romania	3,779	0.06	1	0
	Union of Poles of Romania	3,750	0.06	1	0
	New Right Party	3,551	0.06	0	0
	Democratic Turkish Union of Romania	3,539	0.06	1	0
	Federation of the Jewish Communities in Romania	3,509	0.06	1	0
	Union of Croatians of Romania	3,345	0.06	1	0
	Democratic Union of Turkish-Muslim Tatars	2,862	0.05	1	+1
	National Peasant Party Maniu-Mihalache	2,727	0.05	0	0
	Right Alternative	2,005	0.03	0	New
	Social Democratic Workers' Party	1,912	0.03	0	New
	Romanian Nation Party	1,752	0.03	0	New
	Re:Start Romania Party	537	0.01	0	New
	National Unity Bloc	293	0.00	0	0
	Communists' Party	213	0.00	0	New
	National Force Party	148	0.00	0	New
	Independents	56,346	0.95	0	0
Total		5,901,915	100.00	330	+1
Valid votes		5,901,915	97.43
Invalid/blank votes		155,859	2.57
Total votes		6,057,774	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		18,964,642	31.94
Source: BEC

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Social Democratic Party	1,732,276	29.32	47	–20
	National Liberal Party	1,511,225	25.58	41	+11
	2020 USR-PLUS Alliance	936,862	15.86	25	+12
	Alliance for the Unity of Romanians	541,935	9.17	14	New
	Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania	348,262	5.89	9	0
	People's Movement Party	291,484	4.93	0	-8
	PRO Romania Social Liberal	244,225	4.13	0	-9
	Ecologist Party of Romania	78,654	1.33	0	0
	Humanist Power Party (Social-Liberal)	70,536	1.19	0	0
	Greater Romania Party	38,474	0.65	0	0
	National Renaissance Alliance	23,773	0.40	0	New
	Romanian Socialist Party	23,093	0.39	0	0
	Green Party	23,085	0.39	0	0
	New Romania Party	19,516	0.33	0	0
	New Right Party	4,345	0.07	0	0
	Social Democratic Workers' Party	3,855	0.07	0	New
	National Peasant Party Maniu-Mihalache	2,803	0.05	0	New
	Right Alternative	2,233	0.04	0	New
	Romanian Nation Party	2,061	0.03	0	New
	Communists' Party	763	0.01	0	New
	Re:Start Romania Party	753	0.01	0	New
	National Unity Bloc	410	0.01	0	0
	National Force	268	0.00	0	New
	Independents	7,440	0.13	0	0
Total		5,908,331	100.00	136	0
Valid votes		5,908,331	97.53
Invalid/blank votes		149,429	2.47
Total votes		6,057,760	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		18,964,642	31.94
Source: BEC

Local

 Summary of the 2020 Romanian local elections results

Party		Mayor of Bucharest (PGMB)			Mayors (P)			Local Councils seats (CL)			County Councils seats (CJ)
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	National Liberal Party (Partidul Național Liberal - PNL)	282,631 (USR-PLUS)	42.81% (USR-PLUS)	1	2,578,820	34.58%	1,232	2,420,413	32.88%	14,182	2,212,904	30.76%	474
	Social Democratic Party (Partidul Social Democrat - PSD)	250,690	37.97%	0	2,262,791	30.34%	1,362	2,090,777	28.40%	13,820	1,605,721	22.32%	362
	USR-PLUS (Alianța 2020 USR-PLUS - USR-PLUS)	282,631 (PNL)	42.81% (PNL)	1	490,362	6.58%	28	504,563	6.85%	1,207	478,659	6.65%	65
	People's Movement Party (Partidul Mișcarea Populară - PMP)	72,556	10.99%	0	353,005	4.73%	50	420,791	5.72%	2,137	423,147	5.88%	67
	PRO Romania (PRO România - PRO RO)	5,315	0.80%	0	331,878	4.45%	36	381,535	5.18%	1,885	356,030	4.95%	56
	Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România - UDMR)	-	-	-	299,334	4.01%	199	362,442	4.92%	2,360	379,924	5.28%	92
	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (Alianța Liberalilor și Democraților - ALDE)	9,892	1.49%	0	124,649	1.67%	15	189,665	2.58%	861	209,411	2.91%	15
	Other political parties and contenders, local alliances	39,034	5.91%	0	1,140,903	15.30%	282	1,086,907	14.76%	3,448	1,528,189	21.24%	209
Total:		660,118	100	1	7,457,093	100	3,176	7,361,818	100	39,900	7,193,985	100	1,340
Notes
Sources: Romanian Permanent Electoral Authority

Referendums

The Constitution of Romania defines that a referendum has to be called to:[6]

• 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 7 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
• referendum regarding the definition of family in 2018

In March 2019, President Klaus Iohannis announced his intention to call a referendum on justice on 26 May 2019, on the same day with the European Parliament election.[7]

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

See also

• Electoral calendar
• Electoral system

References

1. "CONSTITUTION OF ROMANIA". cdep.ro.
2. "Legea nr. 208 din 20 iulie 2015 privind alegerea Senatului şi a Camerei Deputaţilor, precum şi pentru organizarea şi funcţionarea Autorităţii Electorale Permanente" (PDF) (in Romanian). Romanian Permanent Electoral Authority. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
3. "Legea alegerilor locale, modificată: Primarii, aleşi într-un singur tur. Preşedinţii CJ, aleşi de către membrii CJ" (in Romanian). 6 May 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
4. "Legea votului prin corespondenţă a fost PROMULGATĂ de preşedintele Klaus Iohannis". Mediafax.ro (in Romanian). 19 November 2015.
5. Central Electoral Bureau decision no. 57
6. "Constitution of Romania" (PDF). Party Law in Modern Europe. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
7. "President Iohannis determined to hold referendum on EP elections day, civil society representatives claim". Nine O'Clock. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019.

Sources

• 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