Elections in Romania

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Political parties Parliamentary National Liberal Party (PNL) Social Democratic Party (PSD) Save Romania Union (USR) Freedom, Unity and Solidarity Party (PLUS) Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) Humanist Power Party (PPU) Romanian Nationhood Party (PNR) Other ethnic-minority parties Non-parliamentary People's Movement Party (PMP) PRO Romania (PRO) Greater Romania Party (PRM) Ecologist Party of Romania (PER)
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Romania elects on a national level a head of state – the president – and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people (after a change from four-year terms after the 2004 election). The Romanian Parliament (Romanian: Parlamentul României) has two chambers. The Chamber of Deputies (Romanian: Camera Deputaţilor) has currently 330 members (after the last legislative elections), elected for a four-year term by party-list proportional representation on closed lists. The Senate (Romanian: Senatul) has currently 136 members (after the last legislative elections), elected for a four-year term by party-list proportional representation on closed lists.

Romania has a multi-party system, with numerous parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments.

On 25 November 2007, for the first time, Romanians elected their representatives to the European Parliament.

The President is elected in a two-round system for a five-year term. Candidates obtaining a majority of 50%+1 of all registered voters in the first round are declared the winner. If none of the candidates achieve this, then a run-off is held between the two contenders with the top scores in the first round. The candidate who obtains any majority of votes in the run-off is declared the winner.

The term of the president is five years. Between 1992 and 2004 the term was of four years, but was increased following the 2003 Constitutional referendum. One person can serve a maximum of two terms, that may be consecutive.

In order to be able to run for the Office of President a candidate must fulfill the following conditions: be a Romanian citizen, be at least 35 years of age (at least on the day of the election), and not have held the office for two terms since 1992, when the 1991 Constitution took effect.^[1]

The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate are elected in constituencies, by universal, equal, direct, secret, and freely expressed suffrage, on the basis of a list system and independent candidatures, according to the principle of closed party list proportional representation. The option for an identical election system of the two Chambers of Parliament confers them the same legitimacy, as both of them are the expression of the will of the same electoral body.

The two Chambers have different numbers of members: the Chamber of Deputies is composed of 330 Deputies, and the Senate of 136 Senators. This differentiation is possible owing to the legal provision of a representation norm differing from one Chamber to the other and due to the seats allotted to the national minorities (a seat in the Chamber of Deputies for each minority) and to the Romanians living abroad (4 seats in the Chamber and 2 in the Senate). Thus, for the election of the Chamber of Deputies the representation norm is of one Deputy to 73,000 inhabitants,^[2] and for the election of the Senate, of one Senator to 168,000 inhabitants.^[2]

The number of Deputies and Senators to be elected in each constituency is determined on the basis of the representation norm, by relating the number of inhabitants in each constituency to the representation norm. There are 43 constituencies: 1 for each county and the Municipality of Bucharest, and 1 for the Romanians living abroad.^[2] In a constituency, the number of Deputies cannot be less than four, and that of Senators, less than two. The number of inhabitants taken into account is that existing on 1 January of the previous year,^[2] published in the Statistical Yearbook of Romania. If, at least five months before the election date, a general census has taken place, the number of inhabitants taken into account is that resulting from the census.

The electoral threshold is for parties or candidates running individually 5% on national level or 20% in at least 4 constituencies, and 8-10% for coalitions or electoral alliances.^[2]

The Constitution of Romania and the Election Law grant to legally constituted organizations of citizens belonging to national minorities, in case these could not obtain at the election at least one Deputy or Senator mandate, the right to a Deputy mandate, if they have obtained throughout the country a number of votes equal to at least 5% out of the average number of votes validly expressed throughout the country for the election of one Deputy.

The mandates assigned, under the conditions of the Election Law, to organizations of citizens belonging to national minorities are added to the Deputy mandates resulted from the representation norm.

To elect the 33 MEPs (35 MEPs between 2007 and 2009, 32 between 2014 and 2019), Romania is considered a single constituency. The system used is closed party list proportional representation, with a 5% threshold of the votes.

To elect the mayors the first past the post is used since 2012. The candidate who wins most of the votes is declared elected. A runoff is organised if the top two candidates have an equal number of votes.

For the office of Presidents of the County Councils, between 2008 and 2012, and again since 2024, the first pass the post system was used. Until 2008 and again since 2016,^[3] the County Council Presidents have been indirectly elected by each County Council.

To elect the Local, and County Councils, the closed party list proportional representation, with a 5% threshold of the votes at the constituency level (city, commune or county).

Irrespective of the type of election, the vote is done by using paper and manual counting. The voter is required to prove his/hers identity using the Identity card (or the previous version, the Identity bulletin), or, for special reasons, the military ID or the passport. After (s)he signs in the permanent, supplemental, or special electoral list, (s)he is handed a voting ballot (buletin de vot) and a stamp that reads VOTAT YYYY TTT (voted); YYYY stands for the year the election is held, and TTT for the type of elections to be held: L for local elections (including partial), P presidential elections, PE for European Parliament election, R for referendums (R.V.U. was used in 2007). For the general election, up to now, there was no additional type indicator, as it is granted most importance.

For the local and parliamentary elections, the voter can vote only at the polling station where (s)he has the permanent address (domiciliu), or the temporary residence (flotant) at least three months old. For the local election, the Romanians outside Romania cannot vote. For the parliamentary election they vote the candidates for the 43rd constituency. For the European Parliament and presidential elections the voters can vote at a different pooling station than the local and parliamentary elections, but only if (s)he is not in the home-town the voting day. Since the 2016 legislative election the Romanian electors residing abroad will be able to cast their vote via mail.^[4]

The voting ballot is printed on newspaper paper, monochrome. All the candidates (or the full candidate list) are listed in a lottery type established order (first the parliamentary parties, than the non-parliamentary parties, and at the end, the independent candidates), each in a clearly designated rectangular that consists of the full party/alliance name and logo, and the full candidate name (or full list of candidates' names). Voters express their choice by stamping the rectangle of the party or independent candidate (s)he wishes to vote for. For referendums the same voting procedure is used. Each of the two options (YES – DA and NO – NU) are in a 5×5 cm square, YES on top and NO at the bottom, and the question voted for in the middle of the voting ballot.

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	PSD–PNL Alliance	4,341,686	48.55	19	–
	AUR Alliance	1,334,905	14.93	6	New
	United Right Alliance	778,901	8.71	3	–
	Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania	579,180	6.48	2	–
	S.O.S. Romania	450,040	5.03	2	New
	Renewing Romania's European Project	334,703	3.74	0	New
	United Diaspora Party	159,943	1.79	0	New
	Social Liberal Humanist Party	132,402	1.48	0	New
	Patriots Party	65,440	0.73	0	New
	Greater Romania Party	59,272	0.66	0	–
	The Right Alternative	40,281	0.45	0	New
	Socialist Romania Alliance (PSR–PSDM)	37,119	0.42	0	–
	Independents	628,754	7.03	1	–
Total		8,942,626	100.00	33	+1
Valid votes		8,942,626	94.82
Invalid/blank votes		488,551	5.18
Total votes		9,431,177	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		18,025,329	52.32
Source: BEC

The Social Democratic Party (PSD) won the general election with a little bit over 29% of the seats in both houses of Parliament, but remained in opposition. PNL, USR-PLUS, and UDMR forming a coalition government.

This election saw the return of the county (and Bucharest) level lists, replacing the previous mixed member election. In addition, it also maintained special seats for Romanians living abroad (i.e. the Romanian diaspora), in both houses.

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Social Democratic Party	1,705,777	28.90	110	–44
	National Liberal Party	1,486,401	25.19	93	+24
	2020 USR-PLUS Alliance	906,962	15.37	55	+25
	Alliance for the Union of Romanians	535,828	9.08	33	New
	Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania	339,030	5.74	21	0
	People's Movement Party	284,501	4.82	0	–18
	PRO Romania Social Liberal	241,267	4.09	0	–20
	Ecologist Party of Romania	65,807	1.12	0	0
	Humanist Power Party (Social-Liberal)	59,465	1.01	0	0
	Greater Romania Party	32,654	0.55	0	0
	National Rebirth Alliance	21,662	0.37	0	New
	Green Party	20,614	0.35	0	0
	Romanian Socialist Party	19,693	0.33	0	0
	Party of the Roma "Pro Europe"	14,523	0.25	1	0
	New Romania Party	14,089	0.24	0	0
	League of Albanians of Romania	9,029	0.15	1	0
	Democratic Forum of Germans	7,582	0.13	1	0
	Association of Macedonians of Romania	7,144	0.12	1	0
	Hellenic Union of Romania	6,096	0.10	1	0
	Union of the Ukrainians of Romania	5,457	0.09	1	0
	Democratic Union of Slovaks and Czechs in Romania	5,386	0.09	1	0
	Community of the Lipovan Russians	5,146	0.09	1	0
	Bulgarian Union of Banat–Romania	4,853	0.08	1	0
	Union of Serbs of Romania	4,691	0.08	1	0
	Association of Italians of Romania	4,170	0.07	1	0
	Union of Armenians of Romania	3,820	0.06	1	0
	Cultural Union of Ruthenians of Romania	3,779	0.06	1	0
	Union of Poles of Romania	3,750	0.06	1	0
	New Right Party	3,551	0.06	0	0
	Democratic Turkish Union of Romania	3,539	0.06	1	0
	Federation of the Jewish Communities in Romania	3,509	0.06	1	0
	Union of Croatians of Romania	3,345	0.06	1	0
	Democratic Union of Turkish-Muslim Tatars	2,862	0.05	1	+1
	National Peasant Party Maniu-Mihalache	2,727	0.05	0	0
	Right Alternative	2,005	0.03	0	New
	Social Democratic Workers' Party	1,912	0.03	0	New
	Romanian Nation Party	1,752	0.03	0	New
	Re:Start Romania Party	537	0.01	0	New
	National Unity Bloc	293	0.00	0	0
	Communists' Party	213	0.00	0	New
	National Force Party	148	0.00	0	New
	Independents	56,346	0.95	0	0
Total		5,901,915	100.00	330	+1
Valid votes		5,901,915	97.43
Invalid/blank votes		155,859	2.57
Total votes		6,057,774	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		18,964,642	31.94
Source: BEC

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Social Democratic Party	1,732,276	29.32	47	–20
	National Liberal Party	1,511,225	25.58	41	+11
	2020 USR-PLUS Alliance	936,862	15.86	25	+12
	Alliance for the Union of Romanians	541,935	9.17	14	New
	Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania	348,262	5.89	9	0
	People's Movement Party	291,484	4.93	0	–8
	PRO Romania Social Liberal	244,225	4.13	0	–9
	Ecologist Party of Romania	78,654	1.33	0	0
	Humanist Power Party (Social-Liberal)	70,536	1.19	0	0
	Greater Romania Party	38,474	0.65	0	0
	National Rebirth Alliance	23,773	0.40	0	New
	Romanian Socialist Party	23,093	0.39	0	0
	Green Party	23,085	0.39	0	0
	New Romania Party	19,516	0.33	0	0
	New Right Party	4,345	0.07	0	0
	Social Democratic Workers' Party	3,855	0.07	0	New
	National Peasant Party Maniu-Mihalache	2,803	0.05	0	New
	Right Alternative	2,233	0.04	0	New
	Romanian Nation Party	2,061	0.03	0	New
	Communists' Party	763	0.01	0	New
	Re:Start Romania Party	753	0.01	0	New
	National Unity Bloc	410	0.01	0	0
	National Force	268	0.00	0	New
	Independents	7,440	0.13	0	0
Total		5,908,331	100.00	136	0
Valid votes		5,908,331	97.53
Invalid/blank votes		149,429	2.47
Total votes		6,057,760	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		18,964,642	31.94
Source: BEC

Political party/alliance						County-level					U.A.T.-level
						County Council Presidents		County Council Councilors			Mayors		Local Council Councilors
		PSD				25 / 41	5	550 / 1,338	188		1,691 / 3,180		16,499 / 39,900	2679
		PNL				12 / 41	5	436 / 1,338	53		1,144 / 3,180		12,767 / 39,900	1415
		UDMR / RMDSZ				4 / 41		104 / 1,338	12		200 / 3,180		2,524 / 39,900	164
		AUR				0 / 41		159 / 1,338	159		30 / 3,180		3,526 / 39,900	3447
		ADU		USR		0 / 41		46 / 1,338	62		28 / 3,180		832 / 39,900	375
				PMP		0 / 41		17 / 1,338	48		6 / 3,180		238 / 39,900	1899
				FD		0 / 41	New	17 / 1,338	New		10 / 3,180	New	254 / 39,900	New
		FDGR / DFDR				0 / 41		5 / 1,338			5 / 3,180		52 / 39,900	16
		PUSL				0 / 41		2 / 1,338	2		6 / 3,180		225 / 39,900	59
		AMT / EMSZ				0 / 41		2 / 1,338	5		4 / 3,180		172 / 39,900	134
		REPER				0 / 41	New	0 / 1,338	New		2 / 3,180	New	54 / 39,900	New
		AER		PER		0 / 41		0 / 1,338	5		1 / 3,180		79 / 39,900	295
				PV		0 / 41		0 / 1,338			0 / 3,180		38 / 39,900	79
		Romania in Action				0 / 41		0 / 1,338	2		1 / 3,180	1	48 / 39,900	21
		UIPS				0 / 41		0 / 1,338			1 / 3,180		TBD
		PPR				0 / 41	New	0 / 1,338	New		1 / 3,180	New	TBD	New
		BSR				0 / 41	New	0 / 1,338	New		1 / 3,180	New	TBD	New
		UUR				0 / 41		0 / 1,338			1 / 3,180		TBD
		UDSCR				0 / 41		0 / 1,338			1 / 3,180		TBD
		PRPE				0 / 41		0 / 1,338			1 / 3,180	1	TBD
		FCM / MPE				0 / 41	New	0 / 1,338	New		1 / 3,180	New	TBD	New
		SOS RO				0 / 41	New	0 / 1,338	New		0 / 3,180	New	149 / 39,900	New
		PRO				0 / 41		0 / 1,338	56		0 / 3,176	36	111 / 39,900	1774
		PRM				0 / 41		0 / 1,338			0 / 3,180		22 / 39,900	9
		POL				0 / 41		0 / 1,338	2		0 / 3,180		5 / 39,900	30
		AD				0 / 41		0 / 1,338			0 / 3,180		4 / 39,900	9
		Curaj				0 / 41	New	0 / 1,338	New		0 / 3,180	New	3 / 39,900	New
		Demos				0 / 41	New	0 / 1,338	New		0 / 3,180	New	1 / 39,900	New
		Independents				0 / 41		0 / 1,338			43 / 3,180		0 / 39,900

The Constitution of Romania defines that a referendum has to be called to:^[5]

• suspend the President from office (article 95), or
• amend the Constitution (article 151)

Moreover, the Constitution defines that a referendum can be called on matters of national interest by the President of Romania after consultation with Parliament (article 90).

There were 8 referendums (and 1 local one) in post-communist Romania:

• 2 constitutional referendums: in 1991 and 2003
• 2 presidential impeachment referendums: in May 2007 and in 2012
• voting system referendum in November 2007
• parliamentary reform referendum in 2009
• referendum regarding the definition of family and another one only in the Olt County to rename it to "Olt-Romanați County" in 2018 at the same time
• referendum about justice and corruption in 2019

There was also 1 referendum in the Socialist Republic of Romania, 3 referendums in the Kingdom of Romania and 2 referendums in the Romanian United Principalities.

• Electoral calendar
• Electoral system

• Official site of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania

• Report on 30 November 2008 election results
• Adam Carr's Election Archive
• Parties and elections
• Report on new Uninominal System