Elections in Romania

Romania
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v t e

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 346 members, elected for a four-year term by proportional representation. The Senate (Senatul) has 143 members, elected for a four-year term by mixed member proportional representation. 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 born a Romanian citizen, be at least 40 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.

Parliament

The electoral colleges of the constituencies for the Chamber of Deputies

The 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 332 Deputies, and the Senate of 137 Senators. This differentiation is possible owing to the legal provision of a representation norm differing from one Chamber to the other. 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.

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. 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 July of the previous year, 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 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), 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, since 2008 the first pass the post system is used. Until 2008, the County Council Presidents were indirectly elected, by the 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.

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 buy stamping the rectangular 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

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 118 extra seats than the existing colleges.

 Summary of the 9 December 2012 Senate of Romania election results

Parties and alliances		Number of Candidates[a]	Number of Votes	Elected	Change in seats[b]	% of Seats	% of Votes
	Social Liberal Union (Uniunea Social Liberală - USL)[c] Centre Left Alliance (Alianța de Centru Stânga - ACS) Social Democratic Party (Partidul Social Democrat - PSD) National Union for the Progress of Romania (Uniunea Națională pentru Progresul României - UNPR) Centre Right Alliance (Alianța de Centru Dreapta - ACD) National Liberal Party (Partidul Naţional Liberal - PNL) Conservative Party (Partidul Conservator - PC)	137	4,439,884	122 ACS: 63 PNL: 51 PC: 8	45	69.32%	60.07%
	Right Romania Alliance (Alianța România Dreaptă - ARD)[d] Democratic Liberal Party (Partidul Liberal Democrat - PDL) Civic Force (Forța Civică - FC) Christian-Democratic National Peasants' Party (Partidul Naţional Ţărănesc Creştin Democrat - PNȚCD)[e]	137	1,236,144	24 PDL: 22 FC: 1 PNȚCD: 1	27	13.64%	16.72%
	People's Party - Dan Diaconescu (Partidul Poporului - Dan Diaconescu - PP-DD)	136	1,081,601	21	21	11.93%	14.63%
	Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România - UDMR)	137	388,372	9		5.11%	5,25%
	Greater Romania Party (Partidul România Mare - PRM)	89	108,911	0		—	1,47%
	Ecologist Party of Romania (Partidul Ecologist Român - PER)	49	58,179	0		—	0.78%
	Hungarian People's Party in Transylvania (Partidul Popular Maghiar din Transilvania-Erdélyi Magyar Néppárt - PPMT)	40	58,754	0		—	0.79%
	People's Party (Partidul Popular - PP)	20	11,681	0		—	0.15%
	Socialist Alliance Party (Partidul Alianța Socialistă - PAS)	7	2,171	0		—	0.02%
	Popular and Social Protection Party (Partidul Popular și al Protecției Sociale - PPPS)	2	2,100	0		—	0.02%
	Workers' Social Democratic Party (Partidul Social Democrat al Muncitorilor - PSDM)	3	1,380	0		—	0.01%
	Independent candidate (Candidat independent) - Constantin Conțac	1	728	0		—	0.00%
	National Democratic Christian Party (Partidul Național Democrat Creștin - PNDC)	1	132	0		—	0.00%
Invalid votes		—	185,278	—	—	—	%
Blank votes		—	90,246	—	—	—	%
Total valid votes		—	7,390,037	176	—	—	100.00%
TOTAL (16,269,839 Expected voters)[f]		759	7,666,169	176	39	100.00%	47,11% Turnout
Notes ^ The law does not limit the number of colleges that a candidate can run in. Thus one party may be represented in the whole country by the same candidate in all the colleges in all the constituencies; ^ The values are calculated considering the 2008 election results, not the seating at the end of the legislature; ^ In 2008, PSD, and PC on one hand, and PNL on the other hand, ran as separate entities, as PSD+PC, respectively as PNL. The seats shown are calculated using the sum of the individual seats won in 2008 by the two candidate parties. The UNPR was founded in early 2010 as a split from the PSD, around the former Minister of Administration and Interior Gabriel Oprea. After the 2012 local election, in September 2012, UNPR joined USL; ^ The seats are calculated considering the seating obtained by PDL after the 2008 legislative election, as PDL is the main party of the alliance. ^ There is a break in the PNȚCD leadership: former PM Victor Ciorbea was recognised by the Bucharest Courthouse as party president, but Aurelian Pavelescu, ally of former party president Marian Miluț, still holds control over the party headquarters and official seals. The Pavelescu fraction of the PNȚCD is a member of the ARD; ^ http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/3943131-basescu-sacked-census
Source: Biroul Electoral Central

 Summary of the 9 December 2012 Chamber of Deputies of Romania election results

Parties and alliances		Number of Candidates[a]	Number of Votes	Elected	Change in seats[b]	% of Seats	% of Votes
	Social Liberal Union (Uniunea Social Liberală - USL)[c] Centre Left Alliance (Alianța de Centru Stânga - ACS) Social Democratic Party (Partidul Social Democrat - PSD) National Union for the Progress of Romania (Uniunea Națională pentru Progresul României - UNPR) Centre Right Alliance (Alianța de Centru Dreapta - ACD) National Liberal Party (Partidul Naţional Liberal - PNL) Conservative Party (Partidul Conservator - PC)	315	4,327,475	273 ACS: 159 PNL: 101 PC: 13	94	66.26%	58.61%
	Right Romania Alliance (Alianța România Dreaptă - ARD)[d] Democratic Liberal Party (Partidul Liberal Democrat - PDL) Civic Force (Forța Civică - FC) Christian-Democratic National Peasants' Party (Partidul Naţional Ţărănesc Creştin Democrat - PNȚCD)[e]	315	1,219,973	56 PDL: 52 FC: 3 PNȚCD: 1	59	13.59%	16.52%
	People's Party - Dan Diaconescu (Partidul Poporului - Dan Diaconescu - PP-DD)	314	1,032,208	47	47	11.41%	13.98%
	Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România - UDMR)	315	380.513	18	4	4.37%	5,15%
	Greater Romania Party (Partidul România Mare - PRM)	197	92,239	0		—	1.24%
	Ecologist Party of Romania (Partidul Ecologist Român - PER)	128	58,051	0		—	0.78%
	Hungarian People's Party in Transylvania (Partidul Popular Maghiar din Transilvania-Erdélyi Magyar Néppárt - PPMT)	37	47,955	0		—	0.64%
	Democratic Forum of Germans of Romania (Forumul Democrat al Germanilor din România - FDGR)	1	39,068	1		0.24%	0.52%
	Social Democratic Roma Party of Romania (Partida Romilor Social Democrată din România - PRPE)	1	21,771	1		0.24%	0.29%
	Union of Macedonians of Romania (Asociaţia Macedonenilor din România - MSR)	1	12,138	1		0.24%	0.16%
	Union of Armenians of Romania (Uniunea Armenilor din România - UAR)	1	10,691	1		0.24%	0.14%
	Bulgarian Union of the Banat - Romania (Uniunea Bulgară din Banat - România - UBBR)	1	10,100	1		0.24%	0.13%
	League of Albanians of Romania (Liga Albanezilor din România - LAR)	1	9,967	1		0.24%	0.13%
	Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania (Federaţia Comunităţilor Evreieşti din România - FCER)	1	9,967	1		0.24%	0.13%
	Greek Union of Romania (Uniunea Elenă din România - UER)	1	9,827	1		0.24%	0.13%
	People's Party (Partidul Popular - PP)	41	9,319	0		—	0.12%
	Democratic Union of Turco-Islamic Tatars of Romania (Uniunea Democrată a Tătarilor Turco-Musulmani din România - UDTTR)	1	9,236	1		0.24%	0.12%
	Democratic Union of Slovaks and Czechs in Romania (Uniunea Democratică a Slovacilor şi Cehilor din România - UDSCR)	1	8,573	1		0.24%	0.11%
	Lipovenian Russian Comunity of Romania (Comunitatea Ruşilor Lipoveni din România - CRLR)	1	8,295	1		0.24%	0.11%
	Union of Serbs of Romania (Uniunea Sârbilor din România - USR)	1	8,046	1		0.24%	0.10%
	Union of Poles of Romania (Uniunea Polonezilor din România - UPR')	1	7,986	1		0.24%	0.10%
	Association of Italians of Romania (Asociaţia Italienilor din România - RO.AS.IT)	1	7,872	1		0.24%	0.10%
	Union of Ukrainians of Romania (Uniunea Ucrainienilor din România - UUR)	1	7,302	1		0.24%	0.09%
	Turkish Democratic Union of Romania (Uniunea Democrată Turcă din România - UDTR)	1	7,291	1		0.24%	0.09%
	Union of Croatians of Romania (Uniunea Croaţilor din România - UCR)	1	6,252	1		0.24%	0.08%
	Cultural Union of Ruthenians of Romania (Uniunea Culturală a Rutenilor din România - UCRR)	1	5,203	1		0.24%	0.07%
	Socialist Alliance Party (Partidul Alianța Socialistă - PAS)	13	2,331	0		—	0.03%
	Popular and Social Protection Party (Partidul Popular și al Protecției Sociale - PPPS)	6	929	0		—	0.01%
	Workers' Social Democratic Party (Partidul Social Democrat al Muncitorilor - PSDM)	2	231	0		—	0.00%
	National Democratic Christian Party (Partidul Național Democrat Creștin - PNDC)	1	38	0		—	0.00%
	Independent candidates (Candidați independenți)	12	12,389	0		—	0.16%
Invalid votes		—	211,243	—	—	—	%
Blank votes		—	70,782	—	—	—	%
Total valid votes		—	7,383,236	412[f]	—	100.00%	100.00%
TOTAL (16,269,839 Expected voters)[g]		1714	7,666,169	412	78	—	47,11% Turnout
Notes ^ The law does not limit the number of colleges that a candidate can run in. Thus one party may be represented in the whole country by the same candidate in all the colleges in all the constituencies; ^ The values are calculated considering the 2008 election results, not the seating at the end of the legislature; ^ In 2008, PSD, and PC on one hand, and PNL on the other hand, ran as separate entities, as PSD+PC, respectively as PNL. The seats shown are calculated using the sum of the individual seats won in 2008 by the two candidate parties. The UNPR was founded in early 2010 as a split from the PSD, around the former Minister of Administration and Interior Gabriel Oprea. After the 2012 local election, in September 2012, UNPR joined USL; ^ The seats are calculated considering the seating obtained by PDL after the 2008 legislative election, as PDL is the main party of the alliance. ^ There is a break in the PNȚCD leadership: former PM Victor Ciorbea was recognised by the Bucharest Courthouse as party president, but Aurelian Pavelescu, ally of former party president Marian Miluț, still holds control over the party headquarters and official seals. The Pavelescu fraction of the PNȚCD is a member of the ARD; ^ There are 315 seats in single seat electoral college that are grouped in multi-seat constituencies. The ethnic minorities representatives' seats are added to that number, if they pass the special threshold. Seats are added in constituencies where Romanians are a minority and one candidate has passed a different special threshold; same rule applies to other ethnic minorities. In 2008 a seat was added for UDMR to keep the proportionality of the vote; ^ http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/3943131-basescu-sacked-census;
Source: Biroul Electoral Central

Local

Presidential

European Parliament

Referendums

The Constitution of Romania defines that a referenum has to be called to:^[1]

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

Moreover, the Constitution defines that a referenum 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 of 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
• Romanian legislative election, 2012

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

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