Postal voting, debated in Parliament

The Senate has passed the draft law on postal voting.

Roxana Vasile, 20.10.2015, 13:15

Nearly a year after the presidential election in Romania, which sparked a huge scandal that went beyond the countrys borders, the Parliament in Bucharest is preparing to pass the draft law on postal voting. It took queuing for hours in front of embassy buildings abroad, with hundreds of thousands of Romanians still not being able to cast their vote, for the Romanian political class to take action.

The scandal resulted in two Foreign Ministers losing their mandate and entailed heated debates in Parliament. Power and opposition accused each other of lack of action, delaying the vote and ill will. On Monday however, the Senate passed the draft law on postal voting. Drafted by the Permanent Election Authority and sanctioned by parliamentary parties, the document stipulates that people residing abroad who want to vote by post in legislative, presidential or European elections shall register with the Election Bureau either in a written letter submitted to the local embassy or by filling in an online form. Liberal Senators have welcomed the project. Liberal Senator Ion Popa says the law had been much anticipated in the Diaspora:

“I can see the efforts of Liberal MPs, also including our token strike, have not been futile, and therefore I want to thank Social-Democrat MPs for their wise choice. It is a law the Romanians have long expected.

In turn, Social-Democrat Senator Mihai Fifor underlined the importance of the law:

“I will refer to a promise we have kept, a promise the Social-Democratic Party made to voters in the Diaspora, to Romanians there, and which we are keeping today. We pledged to submit the law to Parliament within a week, and today, ladies and gentlemen, the law stands before you, flawed as it may be, but it will reach the Chamber of Deputies. There it can be further amended.

Even so, the draft law was not passed unanimously. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and the Liberal-Conservative Group ALDE did not vote in favour, arguing the bill raises a number of questions. As for president Klaus Iohannis, he hailed the passing of the law by the Senate, expressing hope the bill will be passed next week. President Klaus Iohannis:

“I am very happy the Senate voted the draft law on postal voting and I continue to hope the parties will be just as enthusiastic about it, and that by next week we will have such a law.

The draft law will be submitted to the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this matter.