Romanians from abroad involved in the electoral process. Actually, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was criticized by a part of the national media and by representatives of the Diaspora for not opening enough polling stations for the Romanians from abroad. “The solution is not to organize a large number of polling stations, but rather to introduce the vote by mail” stated Cioroianu. He added that he believed that no government could organize enough polling stations to keep up to the dynamics of the Romanians spread throughout the globe.103 The draft law on the vote by mail was then introduced as a legislative priority into the legislative program of the government for 2007 published at the beginning of the year; the deadline for presentation in the government was March 2007. the Ministry o Foreign Affairs (MAE) even presented the draft law which allows Romanians citizens who have their domicile or residence abroad to vote by mail for public debate on the institution website104. The legislative initiative would not have replaced the traditional polling boxes voting method which would have remained valid for consulates and embassies but wished to facilitate the voting process ensuring the parallel functioning of the two forms of voting. According to the draft law, the vote by mail would have applied to parliamentary elections, to presidential elections and respectively to the elections for the European Parliament. Here are a few fragments of the draft law on the vote by mail: “Romanians from abroad who wish to vote by mail must submit a written request for registration in the electoral registries to the Romanian embassy from the state of domicile or of residence or to the Romanian consular office in whose consular constituency they have their domicile or residence. Such request must be submitted at least 30 days before the elections day”. According to the project, at least 15 days before the elections day, the embassy would send by mail with acknowledgement of receipt the documents needed to cast the vote by mail to each Romanian citizen registered in the electoral registry at the expense of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Such documents would be: ballot, inside envelope, voter’s certificate, exterior envelope and instructions on the procedure of the vote casting. At the addressee’s address, the exterior envelope will be printed with the address of the embassy or consular office, depending on the situation.” Another important thing that the “Cioroianu” draft law contained was the obligation to organise an informational campaign prior to the vote: “Information must be provided both in Romanian and in the official language of the state of domicile or of residence.” Although the vote by mail project announced by the minister of foreign affairs, Mr. Cioroianu, was declared a government priority, one year later no one knew almost anything about its faith, as shown by an investigation of the “Adevarul” daily paper. The Italian model, a successful model When analyzing the different solutions proposed to change the electoral law on the Romanians from the Diaspora, it is useful to make a parallel with the current electoral law applied in Italy. 103
http://www.gardianul.ro/2007/05/19/politicac7/ cioroianu_solutia_este_votul_prin_corespondenta-s94896.html 104 http://www.mae.ro/poze_editare/TL_2007_DRRP.pdf
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