Council of Europe Congress urges Romania to limit use of emergency ordinances on electoral matters

Romania should avoid making last-minute changes to its electoral laws or using emergency ordinances to address politically sensitive issues, according to a report adopted by the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. The findings, presented at the Congress’s 48th session on March 26, highlighted concerns over an emergency ordinance that combined Romania’s 2024 local and European Parliament elections on the same day, a decision made only months before the vote.

The report emphasized the need for a unified electoral code developed through broad and inclusive consultations.

The assessment was based on a fact-finding visit held on October 24, 2024, in Bucharest, initiated by the Congress Monitoring Committee in response to a complaint alleging irregularities in the June 2024 local elections.

The report stressed the importance of electoral stability and noted that the decision to resort to the emergency ordinance could have been avoided, a view shared by the Venice Commission in its opinion published on March 14, 2024, according to the press release.

The Congress recommended that Romanian authorities simplify procedures related to vote counting, strengthen transparency in election administration, and introduce mandatory recounts in cases of significant discrepancies.

Co-rapporteurs Randi Mondorf (Denmark, ILDG) and Jorge Sequeira (Portugal, SOC/G/PD) concluded that “strengthening the democratic process at subnational level in Romania will require more effort to enhance inclusivity and build public trust. Promoting the participation of women and young people as candidates, through quotas and by lowering the minimum age to stand in elections to 18, as well as broadening the rights of election observers could constitute key steps to reinforce local democracy.”

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is an institution of the Council of Europe, responsible for strengthening local and regional democracy in its 46 member states. Composed of two chambers – the Chamber of Local Authorities and the Chamber of Regions – and three committees, it brings together 612 elected officials representing more than 130,000 local and regional authorities.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/George Calin)