More than 18.9 million Romanians with voting rights are enrolled in the Electoral Register, including those who will turn 18 on the day of the parliamentary elections.

The Government decided at the end of August that the country would organize parliamentary elections on December 11.

Most of the people enrolled in the Electoral Register live in Bucharest, namely 1.77 million, according to the data the Permanent Electoral Authority sent to the Central Electoral Bureau. Almost 610,000 live outside Romania, the number also including the Romanians who live abroad and asked to be included in the electoral register with an address abroad, so they can vote by mail or at the polling station.

By September 12, more than 9,100 Romanians who live abroad have submitted requests to be included in the electoral register to vote at the parliamentary elections.

Under the electoral law, a party that wants to submit a complete list of candidates at national level should gather a number of supporting signatures representing at least 1% of the total number of voters included in the electoral register. This means that the parties that want to compete in the elections have to gather at least 189,358 signatures.

However, the number of Romanians who have the right to vote and are enrolled in the register might change, as the data is still being updated, according to the Permanent Electoral Authority.

The most recent parliamentary elections in Romania took place on December 9, 2012. The Social Liberal Union (USL) made of PSD and PNL won 68% of the seats in the Parliament and appointed Victor Ponta as Prime Minister.

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Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com