OSCE’s Report on Romania

The report of OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) regarding the 2004 general elections in Romania shows the deficiencies of the legislature, the problems at the votes’ counting and criticises the annulment of the voting cards.

According to the report made public last week, one of the main problems noticed during these elections was the Parliament’s annulment of the voting cards, even though the law mentions them. In exchange, the method of attaching stickers with the sign "voted" on the back of the identity cards was used. They could have easily been detached.

The OSCE commission didn’t receive any convincing response regarding the annulment of the voting cards. The Romanians were able to vote anywhere in the country after their names were being written on the special lists. This eliminated one of the safety procedures regarding the multiple voting and it seems that affected the people’s trust in the electoral process. The electors and the internal observers reported such incidents, but did not succeed in bringing enough proofs for the ODIHR team.

MEASURES

CEB (the Central Electoral Bureau) took some measures afterwards. They were meant to restrict the voting on the special lists for some voting sections. However, the way in which these measures were applied led to the confusion of the electorate and generated questions regarding the Bureau’s right of modifying the electoral Law.

Another mentioned problem is the votes’ counting. The people weren’t sufficiently prepared and there were errors in the protocols having the results. The report also reminds the accusation regarding the manipulation of the software used to collect all the electoral data.

DEFICIENCIES

The elections’ administration mechanisms generally worked in a transparent and productive manner, even though there were some problems at the voting sections. This proves that the members of the electoral commissions need to be better prepared. The current method for naming the members of the Permanent Electoral Authority, which is to work during the periods between the electoral cycles, should be revised in order to provide a balanced representation.

There are 36 recommendations for the Romanian authorities. Some of them will be mentioned in the following. The access of the internal observers to the sessions of the voting commissions, including the ones of the CEB, and to copies of the protocols with the results of the elections (this is for the increase of the transparency). Mass-media obligations of signalling, with distinctive signs, the published electoral materials. Measures for preventing the prefects, the mayors and other officials from getting involved in the voting process and for encouraging the Roma to vote (the releasing of the necessary identity cards).