Parliamentary elections in Romania // Over 18 million citizens are expected at the polls
The almost 19,000 polling stations organized in the country opened on Sunday at 7:00, with over 18 million voters expected to decide the composition of the new Legislative for the next four years, reports Agerpres.
Each voter who meets the legal requirements to vote will receive a ballot for the Senate election and one for the Chamber of Deputies.
Voters vote separately, in closed booths, applying the stamp with the words "VOTED" in the quadrilateral that includes the list of candidates or the name of the candidate they are voting for. After voting, voters fold the ballots so that the white page bearing the control stamp remains outside and insert them into the ballot box, not opening them.
According to the AEP, the total number of voters registered on the permanent electoral lists is 18,008,555 citizens.
There are 18,968 polling stations organized in the country. Voters vote only at the polling station to which the street or locality where they have their domicile or residence is assigned.
Romanian citizens with domicile or residence in Romania, who are in the country on day of voting, can vote at the polling stations organized in Romania based on one of the following identity documents, valid on voting day: identity card; electronic identity card; provisional identity card; identity card; diplomatic passport; electronic diplomatic passport; service passport; electronic service passport; military service card, in the case of students from military schools.
The voter who, for objective reasons, caused by illness or disability, cannot travel to the polling station organized in the country may submit a request to vote through the special ballot box. People in hospitals may vote with the special ballot box if they have their domicile or residence in the county or in the municipality of Bucharest, as the case may be, within the jurisdiction of the respective unit.
Also, people detained, arrested on remand or those serving a prison sentence, but who have not lost their electoral rights and who are registered in the permanent electoral lists of the electoral district within the jurisdiction of the penitentiary or place of detention, also vote through the mobile ballot box.
In the country, voting takes place on Sunday, until 9:00 p.m. At 9:00 p.m., the president of the electoral bureau of the station declares the voting concluded and orders the polling station's closing. Voters who are at the polling station at 9:00 PM, as well as those who are in line outside the polling station to enter the polling station, can exercise their constitutional right until 11:59 PM at the latest.
In the diaspora, the parliamentary election began on Saturday, at 7:00 AM.
This year, 31 parties and 19 organizations of national minorities registered in the electoral race for the new Legislative, which put 8,168 candidates on the lists – 2,906 for the Senate and 5,262 for the Chamber of Deputies, to which are added 58 independent candidacies – 52 for the Senate and 6 for the Chamber of Deputies. They are fighting for 331 deputy mandates and 134 senator mandates. PSD has the most candidates, 639, followed by SOS Romania – 636, PNL – 630, AUR – 621, Forța Dreptei – 619, UDMR – 596 and USR – 589.
