On June 9th, in Romania the EU elections were held simultaneously with the local ones, in which citizens had to elect mayors, local councils and the county councils across the country. The ‘Grand Coalition’ of PSD and PNL (members of the S&D and EPP respectively) was on track to win the most seats because they are the biggest parties in Romania and have had a long history of winning the support of voters in the rural regions of the country. Whilst the USR led alliance with PMP and FD was fighting for second place against AUR (the far-right national conservative party). But what followed was an assault on freedom and democracy! 

Voter fraud allegations in Bucharest’s Districts 1 and 2   

As of June 13, 2024, the counting of votes in District 1 and 2 is not yet finished, with numerous cases of proven mismanaged of the electoral process. From ballots being cancelled due to stamps ‘not being put correctly’, to other ballots appearing in different polling stations, and numerous ballots with votes for the Grand Coalition appearing out of thin air. As well as this, the representatives of the parliamentary parties had to endure over 40 hours of work in a difficult environment; especially because the United Right Alliance (USR, PMP & FD) was only allowed to have one delegate in each station. Even though the PMP was part of the previous European Parliament with 2 MEPS in the EPP group. Moreover, the Reper Party which is part of Renew and had 6 MEPS before this election, was also denied of having a representative in the polling stations.

To quote Clotilde Armand, the mayor of District 1:  

“Normally, after the votes have been counted, there should be no difference between the number of ballots received at the polling stations and the number of ballots recorded in the final minutes. There should be no difference between the number of voters and the number of votes valid + invalid. Mathematics does not lie! However, we discovered many polling stations that are missing ballots. By checking 41 polling stations, we established that the difference between the number of ballots distributed in the polling stations in District 1 and the sum between the number of ballots used + ballots cancelled exceeds 2097 ballots that were not processed legally. This difference cannot be explained or accepted. It was "solved" at BES [ Local Electoral Bureau – responsible of organizing the election] abusively, by modifying the figures on the minutes "from the pen" [ meaning it was arbitrarily decided] to force the closing of the amounts, but without any recount or plausible justification.”

In the case of District 2, incumbent mayor Radu Mihaiu has stated: 

“It is obvious how they are trying to rig the elections in District 2. We will expand the complaints to more polling stations where the entire voting process was called into question, with pre-stamped ballots on election day, with control keys that did not close, with pressure put on sleep-deprived presidents. Most seriously, in the forcibly closed stations, there are 504 cast votes that are unaccounted for. To be clear, 504 people voted, but their choice is not reflected in any way.”

Other cases of potential voter fraud 

Nicu Stefanuta, The Vice President of the European Greens in the European Greens in the European Parliament, ran as an independent and managed to pass the electoral threshold of 3% He has also filed complaints of voter fraud; based on the information from people who voted for him but who did not appear on the polling stations’ final count. 

Vlad Gheorghe, who was part of the Renew Europe Group, also ran as an independent candidate, but as of now is just below the electoral threshold, at around 2.6%. He is one the most followed Romanian politicians on TikTok and, given he has a strong following, he has also requested a recount of votes, based on a similar situation to the case of Nicu Stefanuta. His social media pages are full of people leaving comments that they voted for him, but their votes are not appearing on the official count on the website. 

The case of Brasov 

In the city of Brasov, one of the most important urban areas in this election, there was a close race between incumbent USR mayor Allen Colliban and three-time former mayor George Scripcaru, who was representing the PSD-PNL Alliance. At the initial final count, the difference of votes in favor of George Scripcaru was around 4000 votes, but as of June 13, the local branch of USR has demanded the recount of votes due to plausible voter fraud. In their official statement, USR candidate for the county council, Irineu Darau, has said:
"We request the prompt intervention of the electoral authorities to ensure that the election results faithfully reflect the will of the electorate in the municipality of Brasov, respecting the basic principles of democracy and the constitutional rights of citizens to choose. We will resort to all legal means to clarify all irregularities."

New Belarus? 

After all these scandalous attacks on the Romanian democratic system, the president of AEP (Permanent Electoral Authority) Toni Grebla has stated that: ‘the legislation concerning the electoral process which allows the presence during the counting of votes of the candidates, the delegate observers and the press, could be revised’. The removal of observers from polling stations can have a significant negative impact on the integrity of the electoral process. That would translate into taking away the elements which make Romania a liberal democracy and transform the country in the image of current Belarus. Just as Stalin said: ‘It doesn't matter who votes, it matters who counts the votes.’ To be honest, the upcoming days are going to be crucial for the state of democracy in Romania. Nobody, aside from those who would benefit from it, wants to return to the era of PSD corruption during 2018-2019. Even worse, if we do not act quickly, Romania could become an illiberal democracy like Fidesz’s Hungary or Poland during the PiS government.  

The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) alone. These views do not necessarily reflect those of LYMEC.