Electoral and political processes

Empirical data shows that Romanian political finance has potentially become less corrupt since decision-makers increased the value of subsidies for political parties and introduce reimbursement of electoral expenses. In the same time, political parties started …

The overall aim of the project is to increase citizen participation in electoral processes in Europe. The project aims to empower European citizens to improve democratic electoral processes on local, national and European level and to …

Expert Forum (EFOR) is pleased to invite you to an international debate about the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the election monitoring activity. The purpose of the event is to exchange experience and good practice on …

Expert Forum continues their series of analyses regarding the spending of subsidy finances by monitoring the mandatory transparency notices, in accordance with EU Regulation 2024/900 regarding political advertising (TTPA). Although European law promises to barring …

The report analyzes political party financing in 2025, against the backdrop of the Permanent Electoral Authority’s announcement of a broader reform of legislation governing political parties, election campaigns, and the institution’s operations. Although 2025 …

Expert Forum analyzed the financing of political parties in 2024. And it was not an easy task, especially since it was the richest year in the history of political parties. The state paid for reimbursements …

Following their defeat in the 2024 presidential elections, the Romanian authorities rushed through Emergency Ordinance 1/2025, which regulates political advertising. The ordinance has been criticized for its lack of clarity and its potential to undermine …

Following the second round of presidential elections in Romania on 18 May, the European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE), in cooperation with Expert Forum (EFOR) and the Vot Corect coalition of citizen election observers, hosted …

This report reflects only findings of Vot Corect on the organization and conduct of the second round; the report on the first round, which contains more detailed information on some procedures, can be accessed here. Read …

The stakes in these presidential elections are very high. The campaign has highlighted divisions and discontent in society and polarized public opinion. After Sunday, we will need to be able to continue to live together …

On May 13, the Ilfov Electoral Bureau decided to remove from the internet an editorial published in Aktual24, and the decision was upheld on May 14 by the Central Electoral Bureau. The editorial criticized the …

The European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE) and Expert Forum (EFOR) are pleased to invite you to a briefing on Romania’s second round of the 2025 presidential elections, set to take place on 18 May. This event follows the …

Vot Corect preliminary report - 1st round Press conference The presidential election offered voters a variety of choices and fundamental rights were generally respected. The election administration organized efficiently the technical aspects of the process and election …

The European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE) and Expert Forum (EFOR) are pleased to invite you to a briefing on Romania’s upcoming 2025 presidential elections, set to take place on May 4 and 18. After the annulment of the …

The way electoral commissions are setup has changed constantly in recent years. But not always through laws discussed in Parliament long before the election date, but through emergency ordinances or articles crammed into a long …

EFOR has analysed the procedures for verifying the  support signatures for candidates in the 2025 elections. The number of signatures remains high and is by far the highest in the EU, limiting electoral competition, but …

As part of the “Support to Electoral Reforms in the Western Balkans” project, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), in cooperation with Expert Forum, is organizing a workshop on “The Experience …

EFOR has analyzed over 130 assets declarations submitted by candidates in the parliamentary elections. Due to the very large number of candidates (more than 8000), we only looked at a few political parties and only …

The Vot Corect Coalition published the monitoring report of the December 1 parliamentary elections. The coalition consists of the Expert Forum, the Center for Civic Resources, Civica, the Center for the Study of Democracy, Radautiul Civic …

The Vot Corect coalition released its Preliminary observation report for the November 24 Presidential Elections. Read the report.   UPDATE: after the release of the report, the Constitutional Court ordered a full recount of the ballots and a revision …

The European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE) and Expert Forum (EFOR) are pleased to invite you to the second briefing on the parliamentary and presidential elections in Romania, taking place over three consecutive weekends between November 24 and …

The European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE) and Expert Forum (EFOR) are pleased to invite you to our first briefing in a two-part series on the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in Romania, taking place over three consecutive …

Expert Forum analyzed data related to candidates in parliamentary elections and published a report on electoral competition, women's participation in elections, procedures, appeals and process transparency. Read the report See the candidate database (processed by EFOR) General statistics …

Today the VotCorect coalition met with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu to discuss the conclusions of the June 9 election monitoring report, as well as the priorities for electoral reform and the organization of parliamentary and …

Read the full report. Read the Romanian version The release event  Methodology The report is based on data from the electoral authorities (including results), meetings with different stakeholders, FOIA requests and input from observers. At the beginning of the …

The Vot Correct coalition launched the preliminary conclusions of the 9 June election observation activity. The report includes data on the voting day, but also on the process of organizing the elections, the registration of candidates, the …

The VotCorect Coalition will hold a press conference on the 10.06 at 2pm on the results of the election monitoring. The conference will take place at 8-10 Tudor Arghezi Street, Bucharest. It will be streamed online …

EFOR analyzed how incumbent mayors changed their political options ahead of the 2024 elections. Declaratively, some had done so earlier – that is, they changed the party through agreements at the local level, even if …

EFOR analyzed the data related to the financing of the electoral campaign, published by the Permanent Electoral Authority (AEP) on May 16. The report includes data on sources of financing, expenditures, and rankings of the …

The report analyzes incomes and expenditures of political parties related to subsidies from the first 3 months of the year 2024 and the issues related to the lack of transparency during the pre-campaign period.   Read the …

Political parties, electoral alliances, and independent candidates could submit nominations until April 10. For the 2024 elections, 15 parties/alliances and 7 independent candidates registered. The deadline for announcing the final nominations is April 29. EFOR …

Expert Forum analyzed the draft of the emergency ordinance and submitted comments to the Ministry of the Interior, some related to the context in which the normative act is initiated, and others related to specific …

Politicians cited in support of merging the elections the fact that this mechanism is also used by other European countries. Initially, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu gave the example of Ireland and Belgium, and later declared …

The signatories criticise the PSD and PNL's intention to merge the EP and local elections in June and consider that this limits certain voters' rights and affects electoral competition, as well as the principles of …

EFOR has launched two analysis reports, which illustrate how money was spent on political and electoral advertising between 2019 and 2023, via Facebook and Google, as well as what were the main themes circulated by …

EFOR has released two analysis reports, which illustrate how money was spent on political and electoral advertising between 2019 and 2023, via Facebook and Google, as well as what were the main themes circulated by …

In 2023 there was no significant improvement regarding the transparency of political parties in the spending of public funds, and neither was there more responsibility coming from parties themselves. Their contracts with press entities are …

Expert Forum calls on the political parties in government to significantly reduce the amounts allocated for subsidies in 2024. According to the draft budget published for public debate, in 2024, the budget of the Permanent …

The year 2024 will be complicated in terms of elections at the global level, as it is estimated that half of the world's population will vote. Romania will hold four rounds of elections, which is …

EFOR analyzed the legislation that will be used for the organization of the European Parliamentary elections and drew some conclusions about the issues it brings. Overall, the legislative framework is not uniform and clear. Law …

The Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the transparency and targeting of political advertising will enter into force from 2024. The regulation represents a set of regulations aimed at increasing accountability …

  The 2020-2024 local political cycle is one year away and the authorities have yet to create a public database of over 46,000 local elected representatives, as they should. This would not only be a sign …

This research has the purpose of analysing different models of allocation of state subsidies across the EU member states and some other European states and to provide a more in-depth analysis of the Romanian model …

In 2023 political parties will receive 258 million lei in subsidies. In the first six months of the year, the six parties entitled to the money according to the 2020 election results received 125 million …

Expert Forum submitted comments to the Legal Committee of the Senate on the Legislative proposal for amending and supplementing Law 334/2006 on the financing of political parties and electoral campaigns, L313/2023. The initiative of the …

EFOR released the only database with all the candidates for the Romanian elections. The database is part of the BaniPartide platform and includes candidates from 2004 to 2020 who participated in local, parliamentary, presidential and European …

  Expert Forum, in collaboration with other civic groups, submitted comments on the proposed bill amending Law 334/2006. EFOR representatives also participated in the debate organized by the PEA, which took place on 8 November. Subsequently, …

EFOR has petitioned political parties and the Permanent Electoral Authority asking for transparency in the allocation and spending of public subsidies. The petition was supported by nearly 15,000 signatures. EFOR thanks to all those who …

EFOR has released its annual report on the financing of political parties in 2021, which analyzes the funds received and spent by parties, the activity of the Permanent Electoral Authority (PEA), access to information and …

Expert Forum invites you to the release event of the financing of political parties report for 2021. The discussion will take place online, on June 23, starting at 10 AM, on Zoom. EFOR has analyzed the …

EFOR is launching the #baniipartidelor (money of the political parties) campaign, which aims to explain how political parties are funded, how election campaigns are conducted, which institutions perform oversight, how transparency is ensured and what …

While the Ministry of Finance drafts the budget for 2022, EFOR called on the Government, the Permanent Electoral Authority and the leaders of the ruling political parties to reduce subsidies for the coming years and …

Womens' representation in politics has become, during the last decade, a priority of the European Union and an important topic of the public agenda within the family of the European states. In the case of …

The signatory organizations are protesting against the unjustified increase of the amounts allocated for the subsidies of the political parties. We took note from the public statement of Prime Minister Florin Cîțu on September 7 …

Transparent political finance systems reinforce a level electoral playing field and reduce the risk of corruption and undue influence – but monitoring donations, state subsidies and how parties and candidates spend their money can raise …

This report examines party funding in a difficult election year that finally proved generous with political parties. We analyzed various sources related to the income and expenditure reports of parties and donors, to identify the …

Expert Forum invites you to the release event of the analysis report on the financing of political parties for 2020. The discussion will take place online, on May 26, starting at 11 AM, through Zoom. EFOR …

The participation of third parties in political life is not regulated in Romania, the legislation establishing that only candidates and political parties can contribute to electoral campaigns. Third parties are those entities other than electoral …

  The parliamentary elections were a competitive process, with multiple electoral options. The authorities organized the process efficiently, but several key regulations were published late and were not communicated effectively. Although the authorities' efforts to give …

Expert Forum will host the release event of the September 27 local election observation report, published by the FiecareVot coalition. On this occasion, we will discuss conclusions and recommendations related to the improvement of the …

This report analyzes the data declared by electoral competitors to the Permanent Electoral Authority (PEA) which has been published on the online platform www.finantarepartide.ro by September 18. For a more general analysis of the legislative …

The 2020 local elections will not change much in terms of women political participation in Romania. The differences from the last round of local elections, in June 2016, are minimal, although upstart parties have joined …

Expert Forum has released the www.votcorect.ro platform for the local elections that will take place on September 27. The website includes several sections with explanations of the main rules regarding the electoral campaign, voters’ registration, …

Expert Forum has released an online platform containing all the candidates for the 2020 local elections, including the data published by the Central Electoral Bureau. The platform allows to search candidates by name, constituencies, political …

Expert Forum has released the first monitoring report on the electoral campaign financing for the local elections to be held on 27 September 2020. The report aims to draw some conclusions in regard to the …

Even though election observation was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, it remains an essential part for the credibility and integrity of the electoral process. In policy brief 89, Expert Forum explores varied experiences from several …

Expert Forum is pleased to invite you to the online debate Organizing elections during the pandemic. The scenarios of political parties that will take place on Thursday, June 4, between at 3 and 5 p.m. …

Elections must be organized in 2020 and the electoral administration must ensure safety for all participants. EFOR launches a public debate and proposes a list of potential solutions that can support the electoral authorities and …

The FiecareVot Coalition (FV) observed the presidential election organized in Romania on 10 and 24 November 2019. FV deployed 850 independent observers in country and abroad who covered some 1,500 polling stations or approximately 8 …

FiecareVot coalition ispleased to invite you to a press conference in order to present the preliminary conclusions after observing the 2nd round of the presidential elections on November 22-24. We will present the first centralized …

Therese Pearce Laanela is the head of elections department at International Idea.  She has a long experience in the electoral field for more than 20 years and is a founding staff member of IDEA. She …

The report shows how Romania pays some of the most substantial national subsidies to political parties in the UE –37 million EUR in 2018 – and questions the rules that should be used to ensure …

FiecareVot Coalition has observed the constitutional referendum organized on the 6th and 7th of October with 841 independent observers, both in the country and abroad, mostly in polling stations in Europe. During the 2 days …

Several non-governmental organizations asked today the Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă to elaborate an emergency ordinance for the introduction of the Electronic System for Voting Monitoring and Prevention of Illegal Voting (SIMPV) for the Constitutional referendum on …

The PSD-ALDE government uses the controversial referendum to amend the Constitution as a permanent populist instrument for electoral campaigning that constantly stirs the spirits. The party leaders have successfully leveraged the subject and threatened on …

Expert Forum observed the first round of local elections in Moldova, held on the 20th of May 2018 in seven localities. Most voters were concentrated in the municipalities of Chisinau and Balti. EFOR team consisted …

Agenda Sessions Report and conclusions Recordings Photo gallery EFOR organized the international conference on Money and politics – linking public resources to the illicit financing of political parties  on the 7th and 8th of September …

 Expert Forum launched the 2016 local elections monitoring report. It includes information about the legislative framework, practical concerns related to the organisation of elections, as well as recommendations pertaining to the technical aspects and political …

In every electoral year you hear about multiple voting, electoral tourism, mayors who use public resources for their own political campaign or stolen votes. Expert Forum gives you the opportunity to see how a polling …

 The Presidential elections in November 2014 have demonstrated that the Parliament cannot stall any further a debate regarding the new legislation on remote voting. Even though there have been several attempts at elaborating remote voting …

EFOR has constantly advocated for remote voting. But the success of this mechanism depends on the certainty of security and on the prevention of frauds or vote manipulation. EFOR has regrettably noted that the legislative …

Countries such as Estonia or France managed to implement internet voting, even though the system was criticized. Other countries, such as the Republic of Moldova are making important steps for introducing this voting method soon. Romania has …

Friday, 13.03.2015, 2.30 PM American Corner Bucharest, National Library of Romania 22 Unirii Blvd., District 3, 1st floor, E wing, Room 01-03.   Following the 2014 presidential elections, the need to implement a remote voting system became even …

Since 2014, EFOR upheld the need for a Social Security Number verification system run by electoral authorities, in order to avoid multiple votes. During the November 2014 presidential elections, the phenomenon of organized transportation of …

Because the professional organization of the elections is mostly connected with the capacity of the permanent electoral authority of mapping out the voting process, the uniform regulations which are enforced by the responsible electorate and …

The 2014 elections proved how the possible penal political decisions, the lack of reaction form BEC and the neglect of the decisions by MAE can be a barrier in the organization of the elections. Bold …