The start of the election year in Romania will be June 9, when around 19 million Romanians are expected to vote in local and European Parliament elections. The president of the Permanent Election Authority, Toni Greblă, held a press briefing detailing how elections will unfold. Almost 19,000 polling stations will be set up at national level and 915abroad, twice the number of previous rounds of election. The total number of candidates stands at over 207,000, of whom 494 are enrolled in the race for the European Parliament. Almost 100 million ballots have already been printed and distributed across the territory, Toni Greblă said, adding that Romanian citizens can only vote at the polling station in the area of their residence in the local election. Citizens who’ve changed their residence address at least 60 days before the election can also vote in their designated polling stations. Toni Greblă also mentioned the documents required to vote in Romania – an identity card or other suitable documents except travel passports. People who need a mobile ballot box can request one, and citizens who cannot cast their votes due to visible signs of illness can be accompanied in the voting booth by a person of their choice, who cannot however be a member of the polling station or an official candidate.
In the European Parliament election, eligible voters who reside or are temporarily living abroad can vote in any polling section abroad, upon presenting a Romanian identity document valid on the day of the vote. Voters must put a stamp on each of the five ballots they will receive, and any ballot inserted into a box other than the designated one will be considered valid and will not be canceled, Toni Greblă said.
As early as last week, the Foreign Ministry dispatched all materials related to the vote to Romania’s diplomatic missions and consular offices abroad: over 2.5 million ballots, stamps, adhesive stamps and control stamps. The list of polling stations abroad is available on the website of the Foreign Ministry, in the section devoted to the European Parliament election. Voting will start at 7:00 AM and end at 10:00 PM with the possibility of voting hours being extended until midnight if there are still voters in line who want to vote, Toni Greblă explained. On the other hand, the Central Electoral Bureau announced that real time updates will be provided on voter turnout on election day for each individual election, and that once polls close, the minutes from each polling station will be published on the Bureau’s website. (VP)
