Romania will organize 190 polling stations abroad for the European Parliament elections on May 25, the Foreign Affairs Ministry announced. Most of these will be located inside diplomatic and consular missions abroad, or within cultural institute abroad, as well as in the military operation camps in Afghanistan.

Romanian who legally live and work abroad can either vote for Romanian candidates at the EP elections, or can opt for participating in the elections in the country of residence, in which case they get to choose that country's representatives in the EP.

In 2007, when Romania joined the European Union, 22,000 Romanians voted abroad and chose the country's first representatives at the EP, while only 14,000 Romanians registered for the EP elections in 2009. The number of polling stations was similar in these two last election rounds: 190.

Compared to 209, however, Romania doubled the number of polling stations in the Republic of Moldova, to 8, and in Spain, to 18. Romanians in Madrid (four sections), Bilbao, Ciudad Real, Almeria, Barcelona, Zaragoza, Sevilla, Castellon de la Plana and Alcala de Henares (two stations  each) will be able to cast their vote in the EP elections.

In Italy, another European country which hosts an important Romanian community, there will be 15 stations, one down from 2009. In the US, the number of polling stations is down to less than a third: five polling stations , in Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles and two in New York, from 19 in 2009.

There will be five polling stations in Brussels, and six in France, in Paris, Strasbourg, Marseille and Lyon. In Germany, there will be three stations in Berlin, and one each in Bonn and Munich.

editor@romania-insider.com