RRI Live!

Listen to Radio Romania International Live

New rules for the election campaign

The Romanian government made public the dates of the upcoming presidential election, May 4 and 18, and imposed new rules regarding the voting and the election campaign.

A polling Station in Romania
A polling Station in Romania

, 17.01.2025, 14:00

It is now official: the Romanian government has established, by emergency ordinance, that the presidential election will take place on May 4th and 18th respectively. The presidential vote was supposed to put an end to last year’s electoral marathon, but the Constitutional Court cancelled it, shortly before the second round on December 8, on the grounds that the entire electoral process would have been flawed and hijacked, with the involvement of an external state actor, in the favor of the winner of the first round, Călin Georgescu, considered a pro-Russian extremist. The executive came up with new rules, related to voting in the diaspora and the unfolding of the campaign. Romanians outside the country’s borders will be able to vote for three days, as before, but in modified time intervals.

 

Thus, on Friday and Saturday, voting in the diaspora will last from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. local time, but on Sunday, May 4, when voting is also held in the country, the vote will end at 9:00 p.m. Romanian time. This measure was adopted at the proposal of the Permanent Electoral Authority, to avoid leaving a time gap in which the vote can be influenced, after voting ended in Romania, but continued abroad, in the polling stations located west of Romania, on the related time zones. If there are still people abroad who want to vote, the extension of voting in the countries located west of Romania can be done until midnight, Romania’s time. The ordinance also establishes several obligations for posting and distributing election campaign materials online. They must have clear identification elements such as political advertising, including who is paying them or if targeting techniques are used.

 

Failure to comply with the new rules is sanctioned with a fine of up to 50,000 lei, the equivalent of 10 thousand Euros, and in the case of the large online platforms the fine can reach 5% of the turnover, if the advertising material in question is not removed within five hours from the notification of the Permanent Electoral Authority. According to the government, a monitoring mechanism is underway for the materials that will be published on social networks, and notifications and complaints regarding possible violations of the regulations must be submitted to the Central Electoral Bureau. The new rules aim to prevent what happened before the first round, when the candidate Georgescu, who declared himself independent, was massively promoted, disproportionately compared to the others, on TikTok.

 

Several important non-governmental organizations have criticized, however, these new provisions which they say were introduced without a prior public debate and could affect the fundamental rights of citizens, being a threat to the freedom of expression. According to the NGOs, the ordinance risks restricting political opinions and legitimate debates. The Save Romania Union (USR) leader, Elena Lasconi, who had qualified in the decisive round alongside Georgescu, criticized the modification of the voting program in the diaspora, saying that it represents an act of discrimination and a serious violation of the right to vote of Romanians abroad. (LS)

Bogdan Despescu
Today in the News Tuesday, 01 April 2025

Romania marks one year since joining Schengen

Romania marks one year since partial accession to the Schengen area.   Romania marks one year since joining Schengen with air and sea borders, a...

Romania marks one year since joining Schengen
SEA SHIELD 25 Multinational Exercise
Today in the News Tuesday, 01 April 2025

Sea Shield Exercise

  “Sea Shield 25”, the largest multinational training exercise organised this year by the Romanian Navy, has begun in Constanta. A roughly...

Sea Shield Exercise
Source: MAPN
Today in the News Monday, 31 March 2025

Romania celebrates 21 years of NATO membership

Romania will continue to contribute to promoting global security and the democratic values, said interim president Ilie Bolojan on the 21st...

Romania celebrates 21 years of NATO membership
Şedinta CSAT (Credits: presidency.ro)
Today in the News Monday, 31 March 2025

Security and defense measures in Bucharest

“We are facing a complicated context after the annulled presidential election of last year, we have a strong distrust in both institutions and the...

Security and defense measures in Bucharest
Today in the News Friday, 28 March 2025

Paris hosts Ukraine summit

At the summit hosted by Paris, representatives of countries that have expressed their willingness to help Ukraine held talks on the security and...

Paris hosts Ukraine summit
Today in the News Friday, 28 March 2025

Drones can be downed legally

The Constitutional Court of Romania rejected, on Thursday, the complaints of the sovereigntist parties AUR, POT and S.O.S. Romania regarding two...

Drones can be downed legally
Today in the News Thursday, 27 March 2025

New legislation for the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan

Romanian MPs on Wednesday passed two bills that Romania pledged to adopt as part of its Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). The first concerns...

New legislation for the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan
Today in the News Thursday, 27 March 2025

Romania cuts state expenses

The rising budget deficit has prompted the Romanian administration to take aggressive measures to cut state expenditure. Cuts were made to budgets,...

Romania cuts state expenses

Partners

Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român
Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS
Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online
Institului European din România Institului European din România
Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti
Muzeul Național de Artă al României Muzeul Național de Artă al României
Le petit Journal Le petit Journal
Radio Prague International Radio Prague International
Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României
ARCUB ARCUB
Radio Canada International Radio Canada International
Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti” Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti”
SWI swissinfo.ch SWI swissinfo.ch
UBB Radio ONLINE UBB Radio ONLINE
Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl
creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti
italradio italradio
Institutul Confucius Institutul Confucius
BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți

Affiliates

Euranet Plus Euranet Plus
AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters
Digital Radio Mondiale Digital Radio Mondiale
News and current affairs from Germany and around the world News and current affairs from Germany and around the world
Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona

Providers

RADIOCOM RADIOCOM
Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company