Romanian voters in Diaspora can download the statutory declarations saying they did not and will not vote anywhere else and fill in the blank outside the polling station, but the document must be signed and dated only at the polling station where the person cast his or her vote, the Central Electoral Bureau ruled on Tuesday night. “Voters can use the blank of the statutory declaration and download it from www.bec2014.ro and www.mae.ro, and they can fill it in outside the polling station”, reads a BEC press release.
The decision comes after Romanians living abroad and going to the polls on Sunday’s presidential elections staged heavy protests against some deficiencies registered at most polling stations in Europe, which prevented many of them to cast their votes. Protesters and later on Romanian Associations’ abroad blamed Romanian authorities for these deficiencies, asking for the Central Electoral Bureau and the Romanian Foreign Ministry to provide better voting terms in the run-off elections on November 16 and, most of all, full access to the polling stations for all Romanians wanting to cast their votes.
Invitations to more protests and angry letters
The Federation of the Romanians’ Associations in Europe (FADERE) asks Romanians displeased with the voting process in Diaspora to stage joint and peaceful demonstrations in front of the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest and the embassies to European countries, on Sunday, November 9, starting 6 p.m. “We ask MFA not to look for excuses and culprits somewhere else, not to blame the members of the polling stations abroad and not to hide their incompetence behind the topic of the statutory declaration’s signing, this is not the problem here. The Romanian Foreign Ministry is the only institution to blame for not ensuring enough polling stations in those regions where large communities of Romanians are living. We ask a minimum 1,000 polling station for Diaspora and the staff, the voting booths and stamps should be doubled in the existing stations”, reads FADERE press release. The Federation also calls for the Romania’s Government “to get over the arrogance that it has always treated the Romanian communities’ leaders with and invite them at MAE Friday’s meeting with the ambassadors accredited to those countries where there are large Romanian communities.”
A group of young Romanians living abroad have also wrote a letter to the Romanian authorities on the voting process’ deficiencies.
“Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. Foreign Minister, Ambassadors,
“We, the Diaspora, are also Romanians. We are young and there is a lot of us. We represent a great part of the Romanian active population, even if we left the country, and we do contribute to the country’s economy.
We are the border free generation. We are united regardless we live in UK, France, New Zealand or US. We are united with those similar to us back home in Romania. Next to them, we are the generation that doesn’t believe anymore in the biased TV channels or in the short-term benefit of the oil, sugar or flour bucket. We believe in proved deeds and patterns, not in stories.
We are good in mathematics. We can calculate very easily the number of the polling stations, the necessary staff and stamps in Diaspora or in campuses. We are good in Romanian, as well; we know how to recognize the metaphors and other figures of speech aimed at imaging a false reality in the country.
We are invited to “hang our heads” and just work. We don’t want any favors. We don’t want to be given anything. But we cannot tolerate that anything should be taken away from us, as nobody has any hand over us.
We are motivated to voice our opinion and we proved we have the self-will to queue and drive hundreds of kilometers for hours to come and cast out votes. <Immigration> hardened us.”