Romania proposes faster procedures for potential snap elections

Under the draft, the government would adopt, on the proposal of the AEP and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, decisions on the election date, electoral calendar, expenses and technical arrangements within five days of Parliament being dissolved. The election date would have to be announced at least 75 days before voting, Agerpres reported.

The AEP said the proposal reflects an estimate it presented in July that existing procedural deadlines would need to be reduced by at least 15-20 days to meet the constitutional timetable.

Registration for voting at polling stations abroad and for postal voting would begin on the third day after Parliament’s dissolution. Postal voting registration would close 45 days before election day to allow time for electoral documents to be sent and returned and for polling stations abroad to be organised.

The draft would leave the electoral campaign at 30 days. Several intermediate deadlines would be shortened, while deadlines considered essential to the electoral process would remain unchanged, including those for submitting candidacies and electoral signs, establishing ballot order, appointing electoral bureau presidents and publishing polling stations.

The minimum number of supporters required for candidacies would be halved to reflect the shorter period available for collecting signatures. The AEP said appeals, vote counting, centralisation and certification of results would continue under the same procedures as in regular elections.

The authority stressed that the initiative was technical and did not indicate a political decision to hold early elections.

“The AEP's approach is exclusively technical and institutional,” it said, adding that its purpose was to ensure institutions would have a legal framework to organise elections within the constitutional deadline if Parliament was dissolved.

Article 63 of Romania’s Constitution provides that parliamentary elections must be held within three months of Parliament’s dissolution. The AEP has opened the draft for public consultation, with observations accepted until October 8.