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Over 16,400 Romanian voters signed up online with www.votstrainatate.ro, of these 1,900 in the past two days, a Permanent Electoral Authority (AEP) release informs.
The AEP mentions that during this period there has been recorded an increase of the hits of the vote by correspondence and reiterates the advantages which it presents: the possibility to cast a vote from home through a simple and secure procedure; avoiding crowding at the polling stations; avoiding costs of traveling to the polling station.
"The AEP recommends the citizens with the right to vote abroad to opt for the vote by correspondence, whose procedure is simple, secure and efficient, and which represents a modern way of early voting at a distance," the release mentions.
The four steps that should be followed for casting a vote by correspondence are also presented.
- filling in the online form on the portal www.votstrainatate.ro with the option to vote by correspondence. The scanned copy or the photo of the identity card and the copy of the document proving the right of residence, issued by the foreign authorities (Foreign Affairs Ministry Order No.500/2016) must be attached to this form. .
- after receiving the documents, the Romanian Post sends the voter the following necessary documents to exercise the voting by correspondence: two outer envelopes, distinctly marked for every round of election; two inner envelopes, distinctly marked for every round of election; two stickers with the "VOTED" mention, distinctly marked for every round of election; two voter certificates, distinctly marked for every round of election; two ballot papers by correspondence, distinctly marked for every round of election; instructions on exercising the right to vote; two stickers with the address of the electoral bureau for the vote by correspondence in the country.
- at the moment of voting, the sticker with the mention "VOTED" shall be affixed on the ballot paper, on the quadrangle with the favorite candidate. The ballot paper marked this way shall be introduced in the inner envelope, which has no distinctive mark, then it shall be sealed. The voter certificate shall be filled in, mentioning the date and using a handwritten signature, the inner envelope and the voter certificate shall be introduced in the outer envelope, which shall be sealed. In case of a second round of elections for Romania's president, prior to affixing the sticker stamp on the quadrangle containing the candidate he/she elects, the voter should ensure that he/she [the candidate] participates in this second round of elections.
- in respect to sending the sealed envelope which contains the vote, the elector with the domicile or residence abroad has three options: he/she sends it to the country, submitting the envelope to any post office or in any mailbox of the host state; he/she submits it to any courier operator or sends it to the headquarters of the diplomatic mission or consular office of the host state, as the case may be, at his/her expense; he/she submits it personally to the headquarters of the diplomatic mission or consular office of the host country as the case may be.
The AEP underscored that the people can register with www.votstrainatate.ro only on their own behalf and any action to use the identity data for online registration on behalf of another person is illegal.
Questions and notifications regarding the pre-registration and registration procedure can be sent to contact@votstrainatate.ro.
