2014 Romanian Presidential Election in Munich

This needs to be read and shared! Romanians abroad were systematically prevented to vote in today's (Nov 2nd, 2014) Presidential Election.

The Government intentionally did everything to slow and hinder the voting process abroad in embassies and consulates, as it is known from previous elections that Romanians abroad overwhelmingly vote against the Socialist Party and its candidate, Prime Minister Dr. Victor Ponta. Even though the number of Romanians abroad vastly increased since the previous elections in 2009, fewer voting sections were organized and paperwork was introduced to slow down the voting process.

I arrived at the Romanian Consulate in Munich at 13:45 and the queue was 1000 person long. After 7 hours of wait, I got inside the consulate at 20:45, minutes before closing time of 21:00. More than 500 people who waited for hours in the cold didn't got the chance to cast their vote. Families with small children, seniors, young people, even pregnant women gathered not only from Munich, but also from Nuremberg (which had its own voting section in 2009) and Regensburg. In such cases, the law provides the possibility to extend voting hours. Though the voting commission requested the extension, the Romanian Election Authority rejected it. For the tens of thousands of Romanians in Munich and the region, there were only 4 voting stamps available and a commission of only 4 people to handle identification!

And the same happened not only in Munich: citizens were also denied their vote in Paris, London, Madrid, Strasbourg, Rome, Turin, New York, Vienna, Valencia, Bologna, Brussels, Dublin, Stuttgart, Chisinau, Berlin, Stockholm and the list goes on.

In the last 3-4 years, the Justice in Romania made significant progress in fighting corruption. Ministers, members of parliament, mayors, dubious business people and even a former Prime Minister were convicted on corruption charges. With these elections the stakes are high, that all this progress might be lost if the Prime Minister Dr. Victor Ponta wins the elections, as he defended many of those convicted.

If this voting obstruction by the Government of Prime Minister Dr. Ponta gets enough coverage in foreign media, there might be enough pressure to address the overcrowded polling stations abroad and to enable all Romanians who wish it to cast their votes. The voting capacity abroad needs to be at least doubled for the runoff in two weeks!

PS: The Doctor title for Mr. Ponta is used sarcastically. Even though his PHD was proven plagiarized, instead of quitting his Prime Minister job, like proven plagiator do in normal countries, Mr. Ponta used his power to change the PHD commission to obtain a favorable verdict.

Credits - Tudor Stoian. Source: here