Romanian Electoral Code Committee Sets Uninominal Vote Principles

The members of the electoral code committee unanimously agreed that the uninominal voting system should observe the principles of the uninominal vote with one round of voting, the introduction of only one candidate from each party in one uninominal college and the proportional redistribution of mandates.

The committee also accepted the elimination of the additional lists, as agreed in the meeting with representatives from parties and the Association ProDemocratia, while the uninominal vote will unfold in the principle "one vote, one elect."

The members of the committee adopted a large part of the law’s text, as amended by Mihai Voicu and Anghel Stanciu, based on the legislative draft for which the government took responsibility and on which the Constitutional Court objected.

The main aspects, which will be set later, refer to the establishment of the electoral threshold and the method for the attribution of the mandates and vote redistribution.

The social democrat, national liberal and democrat liberal representatives accepted the Magyar minority party proposition that the representation norm, initially set a one deputy for 79,000 people and one senator for 170,000 people, remain the currently legislated one: 70,000 people for one deputy mandate and respectively 160,000 people for one senator mandate.

The committee also agreed that the uninominal colleges would be divided by Government Decision, after a proposition formulated by a special parliament committee, created in proportion with parliament representation.

Independent candidates will have to be supported by at least 4% of the total number of registered voters on the standing electoral lists in that college, but no less than 2,000 for the Chamber of Deputies and 4,000 for the Senate.