Romanian government approves new presidential election schedule

In a decision adopted in its Thursday meeting, the Romanian government approved May 4, 2025, as the new date for the first round of the presidential elections. The second round should thus be held on May 18, as agreed by the ruling coalition leaders last week.

"Two government decisions and an emergency ordinance have been issued. The government decisions precede this emergency ordinance and establish the election date: May 4, 2025 – presidential and local elections in certain administrative-territorial units," government spokesperson Mihai Constantin said after the meeting.

He also announced that Romanians living abroad will have three days to vote. However, on the last day, Sunday, they will no longer be able to vote after the polls close in Romania. Also, on Friday, the first day of voting, the polls will open at 7 AM local time instead of 12 PM. If there are still voters in polling stations waiting to cast their vote, the voting schedule can be extended.

"This measure was adopted at the proposal of the Permanent Electoral Authority, specifically to eliminate the time gap that could influence voting when polls have closed in Romania but remain open abroad in polling stations located west of Romania, in corresponding time zones," Constantin explained.

At the beginning of the government meeting, prime minister Marcel Ciolacu announced the introduction of sanctions against social media networks that favor candidates, according to Europa Libera Romania.

"We have introduced changes to ensure the rules are the same for all candidates and to put an end to the practice we saw in the last elections, where a social media platform favored a particular competitor," stated Marcel Ciolacu, adding that the fines could reach up to 5% of the platforms' turnover.

Romania has to rerun the presidential elections after the Constitutional Court (CCR) decided to annul last year's entire presidential election process following declassified reports alleging Russian involvement in cyber activities aimed at undermining the integrity of the first round held in November. Ultranationalist independent candidate Călin Georgescu scored a surprise win in the first vote and was due to face reformist candidate Elena Lasconi (USR) in the second round on December 8.