Write-In Candidate and the 2024 Presidential Election in Romania
Legislative Framework
The 1991 Romanian Constitution (amended in 2003) provides that the President of Romania may be re-elected only once, even successively (art. 81, paragraph 4), for a period of 5 years from the date of taking the oath (art. 83, paragraph 1) until the oath of the newly elected President (art. 83, paragraph 2) and that his mandate may be extended, by organic law, only in the event of war or catastrophe (art. 83, paragraph 3). Prior to the 2003 amendment, the President was elected for a period of 4 years.
The 2024 presidential elections in Romania were a major political event, the repercussions of which divided society in two. Similar moments occurred in the presidential elections of 1990 (the first elections held after the fall of the communist regime, in December 1989, when Romania was in a constitutional hiatus, the current constitution not existing) and 2000 (when then-President Ion Iliescu, from the PSD/Social Democrat Party, had already entered his third unconstitutional presidential term, having been elected in 1990 and re-elected twice, unconstitutionally, in 1992 and 2000).
In the case of the 2024 presidential elections, President Klaus Werner Iohannis (PNL/liberal-conservative) was elected in December 2014 and re-elected in December 2019, his term expiring on December 21, 2024.
History
On July 4, 2024, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu (PSD/social-democrat) announced that the presidential elections would take place on November 24 (first round) and December 8 (second round, in case none of the candidates obtained at least 50% plus 1 vote in the first round). For Romanian citizens abroad (diaspora), given the large distances between the voting centers, two additional days were granted, namely December 22 and 23 for the first round and December 6 and 7 for the second round.
Representatives of political parties, as well as independents, ran for the first round. Candidate Diana Șoșoacă (SOS/ultranationalist) was disqualified by the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) on the grounds that her public speech had systematically violated the constitutional order and Euro-Atlantic values of the country. The decision was harshly criticized by public opinion, on the grounds that the court had exceeded its powers and limited the constitutional right to free expression.
After the vote counting, the first two candidates were declared winners of the second round, namely Călin Georgescu (independent, with 2,120,401 votes, i.e. 22.94%) and Elena Lasconi (USR/liberal, with 1,772,500 votes, i.e. 19.18%).
On December 2, 2024, the CCR validated the results of the first round of elections, as well as the organization of the second round on December 8 (for the diaspora, between December 6 and 8).
On December 6, while the elections were underway for the diaspora, the CCR came back with a new decision and annulled the election results from both rounds (the second round being in full swing for the diaspora), which created strong resentment among public opinion everywhere. The reason given was that President Klaus Werner Iohannis had allegedly allowed the declassification of information from the Supreme Council for National Defense (CSAT), according to which Călin Georgescu had declared a campaign budget of 0 lei and that he had campaigned on the social network TikTok, and that subsequent investigations had revealed undeclared donations of approximately 1 million euros from third parties. It was later discovered that the PNL, President Iohannis’ party, financed an electoral campaign for its own candidate, Nicolae Ciucă (who came 5th in the first round, with only 8.79% of the votes), and the hashtags were used by third parties to promote Georgescu, but without his knowledge.
Despite these facts, President Iohannis declared that the CCR’s decision was legitimate and that it must be respected, adding that he would remain president until the new president is inaugurated, at an undisclosed date to be determined later.
On December 21, 2024, Iohannis’ mandate expired, and he entered into an illegitimate extension of his presidential mandate, in violation of Articles 81 and 83 of the Constitution, which expressly stipulate the conditions and duration of the presidential mandate.
As a result, Romania has entered a deep political crisis, deepened by an economic and financial crisis, and the current situation is extremely volatile, with massive popular demonstrations looming.
Proposal
In this context, in order to avoid similar situations in the future, we propose that the Romanian electoral legislation introduce the option of the voter’s written candidate (the write-in candidate), existing in US legislation, on the ballots.
In the US, the voter can write on the ballot the names of other candidates who are not printed on the ballot, both for president and for senators, representatives, governors or other offices. In some US states, candidates registered by voters must submit documents before the election.
This practice is very popular and accepted by most US states, including Washington, DC (with the exception of five states). It has also been practiced occasionally in multiple-choice referenda (for example, in January 1982 in Guam).
Another advantage of the blank ballot election system is that it reduces significantly the cost of printing the ballots (although, on the other hand, it increases the complexity of casting and counting votes). This system is also used in other countries (Japan, Philippines, Finland).
In the US, there are countless cases of write-in candidates who have received and even won elections at both the federal, state and local levels.
This practice, seen internationally as traditionally American, has also begun to be used in other countries (Ecuador, Brazil, France, Sweden, Austria).
Conclusion
The option of including the write-in candidate on the Romanian electoral ballots would avoid abusive situations where certain candidates are unjustifiably rejected by official bodies. It would also avoid crisis situations, such as the legislative impasse created by the Romanian courts in the 2024 presidential elections.
Therefore, we argue that this solution is urgently needed and must be implemented in the electoral legislation in Romania.
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NOTE — Versions of the article were published in:
AMERICAN THINKER (El Cerrito/San Francisco, California) [+ comments]
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and
CARIBBEAN NEWS GLOBAL (Brooklyn/New York City, New York) [+ views, comments]
***
and
CARIBBEAN NEWS NOW! (Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas) [ comments]
***
and
CONSERVATIVE READ (Scottsdale/Phoenix, Arizona) [ comments]
***
and
INTELLECTUAL CONSERVATIVE (Phoenix, Arizona) [ comments]
***
and
MARIANAS VARIETY (Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands) [ comments]
***
and
MEDIUM (San Francisco, California) [50+ likes, + comments]
and
SAIPAN TRIBUNE (Garapan/Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands) [ comments]
***
and featured in:
320ro.com (Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom) [ comments]
***
and
ACCENT (Toronto, Canada) [in Romanian] [ comments]
***
and
ACTIVE BOARD
***
and
AFRO-CONSCIOUS MEDIA (Canada; Long Beach, California) [ comments]
***
and
ALTERNATIVA/THE ALTERNATIVE (Toronto, Canada) (_________ 2018) [in Romanian] [NOTE = scroll down on the journal’s home page to get the article and then press OPEN on the article]
***
and
ARMONIA/THE HARMONY (Hickory/Charlotte, North Carolina) [in Romanian] [ comments]
***
and also
ARMONIA MAGAZINE/THE HARMONY MAGAZINE (Hickory/Charlotte, North Carolina) [in Romanian] [ comments]
***
and
BLUNT FORCE TRUTH (Detroit, Michigan) [ comments]
***
and
BURNING PLATFORM [ comments]
***
and
CARIBBEAN POST (Santiago, Dominican Republic) [ comments]
***
and
CLICK ROMANIA (London, United Kingdom) [in Romanian] [ comments]
***
and
CURENTUL/THE CURRENT (Chişinău, Republic of Moldova) [in Romanian] [ comments]
***
and
CURENTUL INTERNAŢIONAL/THE INTERNATIONAL CURRENT (Sterling Heights/Detroit, Michigan) [in Romanian] [ comments]
and
FACEBOOK (Cambridge, Massacusetts) [ + comments]
and
FIWEH (Okinawa, Japan) [ comments]
***
and
FREE REPUBLIC (Fresno, California) [ comments]
***
and
GÂNDACUL DE COLORADO/THE COLORADO BEETLE (Estes Park/Denver, Colorado) [in Romanian] [ + views; comments]
and
GOP BRIEFING ROOM [ + views; comments]
***
and
INVESTORS HUB (London, United Kingdom) [ comments]
***
and
JURNAL DE CHIŞINĂU/CHIŞINĂU JOURNAL (Chişinău, Republic of Moldova) [in Romanian] [ comments]
***
and
LINKEDIN (Sunnyvale, California) [100 views + 5 comments]
and
LUCIANNE.COM (Cliffside Park, New Jersey) [ + comments]
***
and
LUMEA ROMÂNEASCĂ/THE ROMANIAN WORLD (Grand Rapids, Michigan) [in Romanian]
***
and
MENAFN (Amman, Jordan)
***
and
MERIDIANUL ROMÂNESC/THE ROMANIAN MERIDIAN (Santa Clarita/Los Angeles, California) [in Romanian]
***
and
MEXICAN OCCUPATION
***
and
MIORIŢA USA (Sacramento, California) [in Romanian]
***
and also
MIORIŢA USA (Sacramento, California), printed edition [in Romanian]
***
and
MOLDOVA9/NEW MOLDOVA (Chişinău, Republic of Moldova) [in Romanian] [ comments]
***
and
MOLDOVA ŞTIRI/MOLDOVA NEWS (Chişinău, Republic of Moldova) [in Romanian] (300+ views; comments]
***
and
MORNING IN ARIZONA [ comments]
***
and
NAŢIUNEA/THE NATION (Bucharest, Romania) [in Romanian] [ comments]
***
and
NEW YORK MAGAZIN/NEW YORK MAGAZINE (New York City, New York) [in Romanian] [ comments]
and
OBSERVATORUL/THE OBSERVER (Toronto, Canada) [in Romanian]
***
and
OCCIDENTUL ROMÂNESC/ROMANIAN WEST (Madrid, Spain)
***
and
OFICIAL/OFFICIAL (Chişinău, Republic of Moldova) [in Romanian] [ comments]
***
and
PARADIGMS AND DEMOGRAPHICS (Cleveland, Ohio) [ comments]
***
and
PARLER (Henderson, Nevada) [ + comments]
and
PINTEREST (San Francisco, California) [ + comments]
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/991847517935725591/
and
PROTECTORS OF LIBERTY (Mount Pleasant, Michigan) [ comments]
***
and
QOSHE (Netherlands & Turkey)
***
and
QWIKET (Kingston, New York) [ comments]
***
and
ROMANIA JOURNAL (Bucharest, Romania) [ + views; comments]
and
ROMANIAN TIMES (Portland, Oregon) [in Romanian]
and also
ROMANIAN TIMES (Portland, Oregon) (printed edition, pp. 2 and 8) [in Romanian]
and
SAVE AMERICA FOUNDATION (Clearwater, Florida)
***
and
SPEAKING ABOUT NEWS [ comments]
***
and
SKY NEWS (United Kingdom)
***
and
TAPATALK (Santa Monica/Los Angeles, California) [ comments]
***
and
TIMP ROMÂNESC/ROMANIAN TIME (Bucharest, Romania) [in Romanian] [ comments]
***
and
TODAY’S NEWS (London, United Kingdom)
***
and
TRIBUNA/THE TRIBUNE (Chişinău, Republic of Moldova) [ comments]
***
and also
TRIBUNA/THE TRIBUNE (Chişinău, Republic of Moldova) [in Romanian] [ comments]
***
and
TRIBUNA ROMÂNEASCĂ/ROMANIAN TRIBUNE (Chicago, Illinois) [in Romanian] [ comments]
***
and
TRULY TIMES [ + views, comments]
***
and
TRUMP’S MINUTEMEN (Fort Worth, Texas)
***
and
TRUTH SOCIAL (Sarasota, Florida) [ + comments]
and
UNIMEDIA (Chişinău, Republic of Moldova) [in Romanian] [ + views, comments]
***
and
US POLITICS 10z [ comments]
***
and
USF NEWS (Tampa, Florida)
***
and
ZIARUL DE GARDĂ/THE GUARD NEWSPAPER (Chişinău, Republic of Moldova) [in Romanian]
***
and referenced in:
AFRICA UNAUTHORISED (Cape Town — Darling, Western Cape, South Africa)
***
and
BIZMAKER (Slatina, Romania) [in Romanian]
***
and
CENTRUL DE PRESĂ — PRESSPEDIA/THE PRESS CENTER — PRESSPEDIA (Bucharest, Romania) [in Romanian] [+ views]
***
and
COUNTER-CURRENTS (San Francisco, California) [Comment #3]
***
and
CURENTUL INTERNAŢIONAL/INTERNATIONAL CURRENT — FACEBOOK (Sterling Heights/Detroit, Michigan) [in Romanian]
***
and
EASY BRANCHES
***
and
EXPRESS TIMES
***
and
FINDBORG [ comments]
***
and
HUMAN RIGHTS QUARTERLY (Cincinnati, Ohio)
***
and
INFOPRUT (Bucharest, Romania) [comments]
***
and
LIBERAL FORUM
***
and
MELVIN RHODE’S PLACE (Lansing, Michigan)
***
and
MUCK RACK (New York, New York)
***
and
OBAMA LIES
***
and
PRESS RUSH (Turku, Finland)
***
and
THY BLACK MAN [ comments]
***
and
ZENITH NEWS (Duluth, Minnesota)
***
NUMBER OF PUBLICATIONS = 12
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