0 8000 12 11

The EPDE began its experts’ mission on 29 October 2014 for the presidential election that took place in Romania on 2 November 2014. The mission was composed of 14 EPDE representatives – members of citizens’ election observation organizations from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Germany, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine – who observed the election day proceedings in approximately 100 polling stations in all six districts of Bucharest. Furthermore, EPDE conducted several meetings with the representative of the Permanent Electoral Authority, political stakeholders, and representatives of the civil society. Due to the limited observation period, this statement mainly focuses on some aspects of the election campaign, electoral legislation, and the election day procedures and their implementations.

The presidential election in Romania was conducted in a competitive environment, with 14 candidates registered for the first round. The final days of the election campaign were overshadowed by corruption scandals that dominated the public debate and media coverage. Despite the efforts of civil society groups, a formal TV debate between the candidates did not take place due to the main election competitors’ lack of willingness to participate. The voting process on election day took place in a calm atmosphere, and established procedures were largely followed. Widespread procedural shortcomings occurred during the counting process, but they did not influence the final results. A matter of concern on the part of the EPDE mission was the absence of sufficient safeguards against multiple voting, which created the potential for manipulation of votes.

In general, the established election law provides an adequate framework for conducting democratic elections. However, two Urgent Ordinances issued by the government, head of which was one of the main candidates in the elections, came into force shortly before elections which is not in line with international standards on good electoral practice as established by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe.

This statement as PDF (EN)