Premium
Romanian citizens with the right to vote with their domicile or residence abroad are expected to vote on Saturday and Sunday at the polls to elect their representatives in the new Legislative, according to AGERPRES.
It is the first time that parliamentary election abroad take place over two days.
The electoral constituency for Romanian citizens from outside the country is represented by 2 senators and 4 deputies.
Voting takes place between 7:00 and 21:00 hrs (local time), with the possibility of extending to 23:59 hrs local time if there are still voters in the polling station or in a line outside the constituency's headquarters to enter the polling station.
According to the latest data submitted by the AEP (Permanent Electoral Authority), the total number of Romanian citizens residing abroad who are entitled to vote in this election is over 740,000.
35,808 Romanian citizens abroad opted to vote by mail, and 3,078 opted to vote in the polling station by registering on the votstrainatate.ro website.
Most applications for vote in the section were submitted by Romanians from the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy.
Abroad, 748 polling stations will be set up in 93 countries. Most are in Spain - 140, Italy - 137, Germany - 61, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - 50, France - 48. In the USA there are 36 polling stations, Rep. of Moldova - 30, Belgium - 19, Austria - 17, Ireland - 16, Netherlands - 15, Greece - 11, Norway and Denmark - 10 each, Portugal - 9, Australia and New Zealand - 7 sections.
In the context of the coronavirus pandemic, the authorities in Malta and Nigeria have said they will not allow the establishment of polling stations. At the same time, for objective reasons, no polling stations will be organized in Venezuela (the activity of the diplomatic mission has been suspended due to the deterioration of security conditions) and in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (the borders of this state are closed, which does not allow the sending of necessary materials).
The fewest polling stations will be in: Albania, Algeria, Angola, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Armenia, New Zealand, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Colombia, Republic of Korea, Croatia, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ethiopia, Philippines, Georgia, India, Indonesia, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Iran, Iceland, Japan, Kazahstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lithuania, Latvia, Republic of North Macedonia, Malaysia, Morocco, Mexico, Montenegro, Sultanate of Oman , Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Palestine, Peru, Qatar, Senegal, Singapore, Syrian Arab Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. In each of these states, one polling station will be organized.
Under the current electoral legislation, mobile ballot boxes are not used abroad.
***
Romanian citizens domiciled abroad can exercise their right to vote at the sections organized outside on the basis of one of the following identity documents: simple passport, with the mention of the country of residence, temporary simple passport, with the mention of the country of residence, simple electronic passport, with the mention of the country of residence.
Romanians with a foreign residence can exercise their right to vote on the basis of one of the following identity documents, accompanied by an official document issued by the foreign state on the establishment of the residence: identity card, electronic identity card, provisional identity card, identity card, diplomatic passport, electronic diplomatic passport, service passport, electronic service passport, simple passport, simple electronic passport, temporary simple passport.
Romanian citizens with their domicile or residence outside the country and members of the electoral offices of the polling stations abroad may exercise their right to vote, in the parliamentary elections, at any polling station abroad, on the basis of an identity document and a document attesting to the residence abroad, even if this document expired between 1 March and 6 December.
According to a decision of the Central Electoral Bureau, the document attesting the residence abroad can be presented to the electoral office of the polling station abroad in original, in copy or in electronic form, as the case may be.
* The condition of presenting a document attesting to the residence abroad does not apply to candidates - if they are running in the electoral district for Romanian citizens residing or residing outside the country, personnel of diplomatic missions and consular posts, consular sections and cultural institutes abroad, Romanian military, police and civilian personnel from the institutions of the defence, public order and national security system sent on mission to theatres of operations abroad, specifies the BEC.
* Those who have originally opted for postal voting may also vote at a foreign section, if they have not sent the outer envelope with the vote or if it does not arrive in time at the electoral office for postal voting (confirmation of receipt of the envelope by the electoral office for postal voting is done by email sent by the AEP by 3 December at the latest).
***
The authorities have issued a set of health protection rules to be considered for voting in order to avoid infection with SARS-CoV-2.
All members of the electoral offices of the polling stations organized abroad will wear protective masks. Voters who turn out to vote must wear masks, disinfect their hands at the entrance to the polling station, after each contact with other persons or with objects that could be touched by other persons, as well as at the exit from the polling station.
Voters must maintain a physical distance of at least one metre from the other participants in the electoral process while inside the polling station and wait in line to enter the polling station.
The polling station will be equipped with containers for disinfecting hands, both at the entrance and at the exit and inside. The room in which the polling station is located will be periodically ventilated, the common areas (offices, voting booths) and the instruments necessary for voting will be disinfected periodically during the electoral process.
Voters will also be subjected to an observational triage at the entrance to the polling station and will have their temperature checked by using a non-contact thermometer, in the case of people with obvious respiratory symptoms (e.g. cough, rhinorrhea, breathing difficulties) or fever (temperature above 37.3°C) with strict and safe procedures for access to the polling place.
The president of the electoral office of the polling station or its seat, as the case may be, shall ensure that the total number of persons who are present at the same time in the polling station, except for voters and accredited delegates, will not be more than 15.
The elector will be instructed to position the identity document in the support of the computer terminal so that his identification data can be taken up in the Computer System for monitoring turnout and preventing illegal voting - SIMPV; if this is not possible, the operator member of the electoral office of the polling station will carry out this procedure, after which he will disinfect his hands by applying an alcohol-based disinfectant solution or change the gloves; subsequently, the voter shall place the document proving the domicile and residence, as the case may be, on the desk of the operator member of the electoral office of the polling station, so that it is not necessary to achieve it.
The operator member of the polling station electoral office will instruct the elector to remove the mask briefly to be identified, at a distance of at least one and a half meters from the member-operator of the electoral office of the polling station.
The elector will be directed to take the signing tool from the office or desk of the member-operator of the electoral office of the polling station to sign on the tablet, after which he will deposit it in the same place, without the intervention of the member-operator; if it is necessary to register the voter in the additional list in printed format, the elector will have at his disposal a pen that he will take over himself and will deposit it in the same place after use, it is shown in a joint order of the Ministry of Health and Foreign Affairs.
Physical contact with members of the electoral office of the polling station shall be avoided while the voter signs on the electoral roll, when taking the ballots and the stamp with the mention "VOTAT" (VOTED).
After exercising the right to vote, the elector shall apply himself, at the indication and under the supervision of the members of the electoral office of the polling station, the sticker stamp or stamp with the indication "VOTAT", as the case may be, on the identity document.
