Romania is among the tens of countries around the world where voters are called to cast their ballot this year. It will have its own super-electoral 2024, with four elections taking place as Romanians will have to decide on all elected officials: MEPs, mayors and other local representatives, MPs, and the president. Below, we outline the electoral calendar announced so far.

Only the dates of the European Parliament and local elections have been established formally, while the Parliament recently passed a project allowing the presidential elections to be held before the end of the current president's mandate. Last month, PM Marcel Ciolacu mentioned the dates for the presidential and parliamentary elections discussed in the ruling coalition, currently busy with finding its nominees for the local elections.

European Parliament and local elections

June 9 

The ruling coalition, made up of the Social Democrat Party (PSD) and the National Liberal Party (PNL), has decided to hold the local and European Parliament elections on the same date. In a draft emergency ordinance on the topic, the coalition argued that holding the two elections on the same date is not only cost-effective but will motivate people to show up for the vote "thus ensuring wider representativity of Romanian members in the European Parliament." The decision will also allow local authorities "to motivate citizens to turn out for voting in higher numbers," it said.

The electoral campaign is due to start on May 10 and end on June 8, as announced in the Government decision on the local and EP elections. For the June 9 elections, voting begins at 7:00 and ends at 22:00, an hour later than the usual closing hour of the voting sections. 

The European Parliament elections – one round

Held every five years, the European Parliament elections see EU citizens elect their representatives in the European Parliament. MEPs work to draft and decide on laws influencing aspects and areas ranging from the economy and climate change to security. The Parliament approves the EU budget and scrutinizes how the money is spent. It also elects the president of the European Commission, appoints its commissioners, and holds them accountable.

It is up to each country to manage the election, but there are some common principles, including that the number of MEPs elected from a political party is proportional to the number of votes it receives; EU citizens resident in another EU country can vote and stand for election there; and each citizen can vote only once.

A total of 720 MEPs will be elected in June 2024, 15 more compared to the previous elections. Romania will elect 33 MEPs. The number of MEPs elected from each EU country is agreed upon before each election and is based on the principle of degressive proportionality, meaning each MEP from a larger country represents more people than an MEP from a smaller country.

At the 2019 European Parliament elections in Romania, the National Liberal Party (PNL) received 27% of the votes, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) 22.5% of the votes, the alliance between the Save Romania Union (USR) and PLUS 22.36%, the Pro Romania party 6.44%, the Popular Movement Party (PMP) 5.76%, and the Hungarian Democrat Union in Romania 5.26%. The full results of the 2019 EP elections are available here.

The local elections – one round

At the local elections, voters are called to decide who the mayors, local councilors, county councilors, and presidents of the county councilors will be.

The mayors and the county council presidents are elected in an uninominal system. For the local and county councilors, citizens vote for one of several lists of candidates as drafted by the political parties. Each party is granted seats in proportion to the number of votes it receives.

In Bucharest, voters will also elect one of the six district mayors, in addition to electing the general mayor, the district local council, and the Bucharest General Council.

As the European Parliament elections and the local election rounds are held at the same time, voters will receive five voting bulletins, one for the members of the EP and another four for the local and county representatives, and the district and city representatives in the case of Bucharest.

Presidential elections

*September – two rounds

The presidential elections are held every five years, and the winner is the candidate with the highest number of votes (50% + 1 of the votes).

On March 5, the Chamber of Deputies passed the draft law establishing that the presidential elections can be held 90 days before the end of the mandate of the current president. After the vote in the Chamber of Deputies, the law is going to president Klaus Iohannis for promulgation.

The draft, quoted by Hotnews.ro, establishes that "Sunday is election day. The elections are held at most three months before the month the president's mandate ends. The Government sets the date of the elections at least 75 days before the day of the vote."

Last month, prime minister Marcel Ciolacu announced that the ruling coalition decided on holding the presidential elections earlier, on September 15 and September 29. This is two months earlier than the date of the previous presidential elections, held in November 2019, and the end of president Klaus Iohannis's mandate on December 21. Iohannis, who formally announced his bid for the job of NATO secretary general this week, said he had no intention of finishing his mandate earlier.

 "At this point, in the coalition, we have established things clearly: we will have local and European Parliament elections together on June 9th; on September 15 and September 29, the presidential elections, the first and second round, and on December 8, the general elections for the Parliament of Romania. This is what we decided in the coalition. PNL is to approve these dates in a vote in the party," Ciolacu told Romania TV at the end of February

Parliamentary elections

*December – one round

The date announced by PM Ciolacu, December 8, puts this year's parliamentary elections in a time frame similar to that of the 2020 ones.

At the parliamentary elections, held every four years, voters elect the members of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Senate. The current Parliament has 136 senators and 330 deputies. A proportional representation system is used: the parliamentary mandates are attributed to every political party that took part in the elections in a number corresponding to the votes obtained. In order to enter the Parliament, a party needs to gather a minimum of 5% of the votes.

At the previous parliamentary elections, held on December 6, 2020, the turnout was 33.24%. The Social Democrat Party (PSD) won 28.9% of the votes for the Chamber of Deputies and 29.32% of those for the Senate, the National Liberal Party (PNL) 25.19% for the Chamber of Deputies and 25.58% for the Senate, USR PLUS gathered 15.37% of the votes in the Chamber of Deputies and 15.86% in the Senate, AUR – 9% of the votes for the Chamber of Deputies and 9.17% for the Senate, while UDMR had 5.74% of the votes for the Chamber of Deputies and 5.89% for the Senate.

(Photo: Cateyeperspective | Dreamstime.com)

simona@romania-insider.com