Individuals found to be involved in electoral corruption in the interests of an organized criminal group or criminal organization could face fines of up to 92,500 lei or imprisonment from 4 to 7 years. In the case of legal entities, the fine will be up to 550 000 lei. IPN reports that lawmakers voted on the legislative amendments in first reading.

Voters will also be fined for videotaping the ballot paper, not just for photographing it. At the same time, people who collect signatures without authorization will be fined up to 4,500 lei. For individuals in positions of responsibility, the fine will be up to 9000 lei.

The authors also propose a series of amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code, which aim to streamline the examination of corruption cases. For example, prosecutors will be able to challenge and verify the steps to join cases or to bring multiple parties to the trial at the request of the parties, which, once admitted, lead to an increase in the volume of evidence and the case and, respectively, to the delay of the judicial examination.

Legislative changes are also proposed to avoid continuous postponements of court hearings and delays in the examination of cases due to the absence of a defendant's lawyer. More specifically, if the defendant has more than one lawyer, the absence of one of them will not be grounds for postponing the hearing.

The document was drafted after the Constitutional Court confirmed this year's presidential elections at the end of November, but highlighted the high number of cases of voter corruption reported by the investigating authorities and the seized financial means.

The draft is to be approved by Parliament in its final reading.