The ballots to elect Romania’s representatives on the European Parliament and for the national referendum centering on problems of national interest that was initiated by the President of Romania reached the Republic of Moldova. On May 26, the Romanian citizens in Moldova will receive a ballot for the EP elections and two ballots for the two questions put up for the referendum, but the voters can choose whether to take part in one of the polls or in both of them, IPN reports.
Romania’s Ambassador in Chisinau Daniel Ioniță told a news conference that the Romanian authorities will establish 441 polling stations abroad. The addresses can be seen on an interactive map. Of the total number of polling stations, 36 will be available in Moldova. Voting starts at 7am and ends at 9pm.
The Romanian citizens who will be abroad on the election day can vote regardless of the reason for their presence on the foreign territory – domiciled, residents or tourists. The Romanian citizens who were put on the voter rolls of other EU member states can vote for Romania’s representatives on the European Parliament only after signing an own responsibility statement showing they haven’t voted in the same elections for candidates for MEP from the EU member state in whose register of voters they were written.
Daniel Ioniță said that to be able to exercise the right to vote, the Romanian citizens should have a valid Romanian identity card. Therefore, they should check beforehand the period of validity of the documents and should make the necessary approaches to replace or renew them. On the election, May 26, the Consular Section of Romania’s Embassy in Chisinau and Romania’s Consulates in Balti and Cahul will not issue identification papers. May 24, between 2pm and 3pm, is the last day before the elections when documents will be issued. The issuing of papers will be resumed on May 28.
Currently, Romania has 32 representatives on the European Parliament. The Moldovans with Romanian nationality can choose from among 16 election contestants. Elections to the European Parliament are held in Romania for the fourth time since the country joined the EU. The previous elections took place in November 2007, June 2009 and May 2014.
The questions for the national referendum are: “Are you for banning amnesty and pardoning for corruption offenses?” and “Are you for banning the adoption by the Government of emergency ordinances concerning offenses, punishments and judicial organization and for extending the right to appeal ordinances directly to the Constitutional Court?”.