Romanians abroad and the European election

Romanians living abroad will be provided with guidelines concerning their right to vote in the European Parliament election due next month

Daniela Budu, 24.04.2019, 13:19

The Foreign
Ministry in Bucharest has published the Handbook of the Romanian Voter Abroad
in the run-up to the European Parliament election on May 26. The document seeks
to provide accurate information to Romanians abroad over the ways they can cast
their votes in the election. The handbook includes information regarding people
with voting rights, the documents based on which they can vote abroad and the
voting procedure. Romanians outside the country’s borders on election day can
vote in any polling station set up abroad. Under the legislation in force, the
list of polling stations will be published on the webpage of the Foreign
Ministry and on the webpages of Romania’s diplomatic missions and consular
offices by April 27 at the latest. Romanians who vote abroad will be included
on the lists of additional voters. Also worth mentioning is that polling
stations abroad will not include mobile ballot boxes, while voters will not be
able to vote based on their travel or voter cards. Moreover, postal voting will
be ineligible in next month’s election. The handbook is available on the
Ministry webpage in the European Parliament election section. The Foreign
Ministry recalls that, to be able to vote, Romanian citizens must present a
valid Romanian ID. Furthermore, the Ministry
recommends Romanians abroad to check for updated information on its website in
the European Parliament election section. For instance, in Italy, currently
home to the biggest Romanian community totaling some 1.2 million people, there
will be 70 polling stations, Romania’s Ambassador to Rome, George Bologan has
announced:

When organizing the election we’ve taken several factors under
advisement, from comparative voter turnout statistics of previous years and the
interest voiced by the Romanian community, to the flow dynamics of Romanians in
various communities or regions as well as human and financial resources and
logistics. On May 26 Italy will also be organizing local elections in certain
regions.

The upcoming
European Parliament election are crucial for the future of the EU and its
members. At present there are 751 MEPs elected by citizens in 28 Member States.
If Britain leaves before May 23, Great Britain will not take part in the vote
and the number of MEPs will drop to 705. Romania is expected to have 33 MEPs in
the new Parliament, one more compared to the 2014-2019 tenure.