ODIHR experts discuss follow-up to electoral recommendations in Romania
Election experts from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) visited Bucharest from 17 to 19 September 2018 to discuss the status of follow-up on ODIHR’s electoral recommendations with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Electoral Authority, the Parliament’s legal committee, the National Audiovisual Council, as well as with representatives of civil society.
As part of this mid-term review visit, the ODIHR experts discussed a number of key changes introduced following the final report of the election expert team ODIHR sent for the 2012 parliamentary elections in Romania. These addressed a number of the Office’s recommendations and included provisions to improve voter and candidate registration processes, refine the recruitment of polling staff, introduce postal voting for citizens abroad, further elaborate political and campaign finance rules and amend deadlines for the review of complaints and appeals.
The experts also examined how remaining ODIHR recommendations could be integrated into an inclusive electoral reform process in advance of the next elections, scheduled for 2019. The Romanian authorities indicated that a number of additional amendments to the election legislation are currently being reviewed in the parliament.
“While Romania has a robust electoral framework, continual attention is needed to ensure its applicability,” said Steven Martin, ODIHR Senior Adviser on New Voting Technologies. “We look to the authorities to continue their efforts to further consolidate the legal framework in an inclusive and timely manner.”
During the meetings, the authorities expressed interest in receiving ODIHR support through expert advice and comparative examples of good practice related to topical electoral issues and, over the longer term, through the consideration of requests for legal reviews of draft legislation.
All OSCE participating States have committed themselves to following up on ODIHR's election assessments and recommendations. In addition to follow-up visits after the release of election reports, ODIHR’s methodology also provides for return to a country for a mid-term review visit to assess the degree to which recommendations have been implemented and, where necessary, encourage steps to promote further implementation.