The Chairman of the Central Election Commission, Dorin Cimil, says that the legislative framework regarding the conduct of elections needs to be improved. In an interview for Free Europe, the CEC chair said that most observers and international experts were talking about this, IPN reports.
Dorin Cimil says that changes are needed in terms of candidates’ registration, following the situations when some independent candidates were not admitted to the electoral race. At the same time, says Dorin Cimil, it concerns the electoral campaigning and financing of the electoral campaign.
Asked if the independent candidates are right when they say that the requirements regarding gathering signatures are too high for them, Dorin Cimil mentioned that "there are problems in this area, but it is already within the competence of Parliament to evaluate the legal impact on both independent candidates and contenders from the parties”.
Referring to this year's elections, Dorin Cimil has also stressed that the number of violations is much lower compared to other polls. And these violations are less serious. According to Dorin Cimil, this is due to the efficient cooperation of the CEC with the state institutions, in particular with the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
As to the low turnout, Dorin Cimil states that local elections are less interesting than the high profile parliamentary ones.
The CEC chair says the same rules as in the first round apply for the second round: the voter should be on the same electoral rolls, come to the same polling station, find on the ballot the two electoral candidates who got through to the second round, knowing already for whom to cast the ballot.
Also, says Dorin Cimil, the same rules as in the first round are valid for the electoral contenders: there are only two of them and they must behave properly, following the rules of the electoral process and not admitting violations so as not to be penalized in one way or the other.
The CEC chair announced that for the second round of the general local elections, about 36 million lei that had been budgeted remained. In all, for the general local elections and snap parliamentary elections, 140 million lei were provided in the budget and nearly 104 million lei have been spent so far. "The costs are enormous and we need to be aware that we have to vote, to benefit from this right to vote, to express ourselves and to choose the people who deserve to hold an office or another," said Dorin Cimil.
Asked if these expenses can be optimized, Dorin Cimil has answered affirmatively, but according to him, there should be another voting system, perhaps the electronic one, which is also expensive, but necessary. "Technically we are ready, but the political will is to be expressed in this regard because we are talking about the information security of the state, people and the influence of a person when he/she is not in the voting booth, but at home, in front of the computer or with a smartphone and has to vote," emphasized Dorin Cimil.
On November 3, the second round of general local elections will be held in 380 settlements of the country. In the second round the PSRM will have 175 candidates, the ACUM DA PAS Electoral Bloc –167, the Liberal Party - 44, the Şor Party -38. 20 candidates represent the Our Party/Partidul Nostru, 16 - the Communist Party, while 86 persons are independent candidates.
