Pro Democracy Association
Media Monitoring Agency - Academia Catavencu
20.10.2003

PRESS RELEASE

Serious law infringements and administrative irregularities at the national level during the October 18-19 Romania's Constitution Referendum

Yesterday, October 20th, at 14.00 hrs., at the headquarters of the Group for Social Dialogue, Pro Democracy Association (APD) and Media Monitoring Agency - Academia Catavencu (MMA) held a press conference upon the organization of the Romania's Constitution Referendum.

The representatives of the two organizations said that due to the lack of a sufficient number of independent observers one cannot state that the fraud was generalized, but they expressed their distrust regarding the results of the referendum, based on the information received from the territory.

The two organizations call the citizens, the non-governmental organizations, political parties and media representatives to provide them with all the information concerning the irregularities noticed within the referendum. APD and MMA will send all such information as complaints to the Central Electoral Bureau. Should there be a significant number of complaints, the two organizations reserve the right to intimate the Constitutional Court upon the validity of the referendum.

Please find below the complaint submitted today to the Central Electoral Bureau.

Pro Democracy Association
Media Monitoring Agency

For any notification, please contact us at
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October 20, 2003
Attn. Mr. Constantin Furtuna
Head of the Central Electoral Bureau

Mr. President,

Pro Democracy Association and Media Monitoring Agency - Academia Catavencu would like to draw your attention towards a series of irregularities regarding the organization of the Romania's Constitution Referendum (October 18-19, 2003), as well as infringements of the Law no.3/February 22, 2000 regarding the organization of the Referendum in 2000, registered on the same occasion.

I. Organizational irregularities

Apart from the local and general elections in 1996 and 2000, this time it was decided to put stamps instead of stickers on the identity cards of those who voted (and didn't have the elector special card with them). These stamps were very easy to detach. Also, any citizen who wasn't in his/her home town during the Referendum weekend was able to vote, according to the law, at any voting section in the visited town. Nevertheless, citizens were able to vote at any voting section in their home towns, and not just at the one whereby they belong (according to their address). All these, corroborated, lead to the fact that there was no control upon the number of citizens who voted or the number of votes expressed by one person.

II. Law infringements

II.1. We consider the most serious illegality perpetrated is the violation of Article 54 of Law no.3/2000 upon the organization of the referendum. The article, paragraph (1) states: "promising, offering or giving money or other advantages in order to determine an elector to vote or not to vote within the referendum is punished with imprisonment from 6 months to 5 years". A series of examples can be counted in this respect, such as:

• National Administration of Forests decided to grant free firewood for the villages with the highest participation in the referendum;
• Bacau City Council passed a bill on the organization of a raffle for those who were to vote within the referendum, granting 73 TV sets as prizes; moreover, the boxes for the raffle were placed in the voting sections;
• Another raffle was organized in Polodeni village (Neamt County); the participants were to receive as prizes furniture to the sum of ROL 10,000,000;
• People who showed the identity card proving they voted were granted free access to the football game Otelul Galati - Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt (whereas the other spectators had to buy tickets).

In the same category of illegalities, there are to be mentioned the threats made by a series of local authorities or civil servants to the electors in certain towns in order to convince them to vote. Among these examples, some of them reported by media as well, there are:

• The declaration made by Head of Gorj County Council Nicolae Mischie who said he won't grant audiences to those unable to prove they voted within the referendum;
• The declaration of the Rasnov City Mayor who said that people benefiting from welfare aids are not to receive them anymore unless they vote;
• The threat that their pensions are not to be paid in case they don't vote made by Branisca Village Mayor (Hunedoara County) to the local pensioners.

II.2. Another illegality that was perpetrated throughout the country was the abusive use of the mobile ballot boxes, violating Article 40 in Law 3/2000 that stipulates: "for people who can't be transported on disease or infirmity grounds, upon their request or the request of the management of the medical or welfare institutions whereby such people are interned, the president of the voting section designates a number of members within the bureau to carry a special mobile ballot box and the appropriate materials for voting to the place where that person is, so that the solicitant can vote". Especially on Sunday, tens of thousands citizens, although they didn't ask for such a services, were paid visits at home by various representatives from the voting sections who were carrying the mobile boxes from door to door and were consequently inviting people to vote.

II.3. In Bucharest and in other cities, a series of mayors took the initiative (in complete contradiction with the law) to organize "mobile" ballot boxes in stores and markets

II.4. Although lacking justification and in complete contradiction with legal provisions, in most towns citizens were allowed to vote in any voting section they might have wanted, and not only in those whereby they were distributed. This, corroborated with the previously mentioned fact that the stamps on the identity cards of the voters were easily detached, made it possible for those voting with their elector's card to vote as many times as they wanted at different voting sections. However, this was proven by several journalists who tried to do so and didn't face any difficulty in this respect. In what concerns this aspect, one should mention the abusive intervention of some officials who imposed this illegality. During the evening news on October 19 viewers saw a feature report with the Mayor of the 2nd District in Bucharest. The Mayor, who was illegally in a voting section (article 33 in Law 3/2003 stipulates "apart from the members of the electoral bureau of the voting section or the delegates accredited by the Central Electoral Bureau, no other person is allowed to stay in the public places within the voting area perimeters or in the voting section longer than the time necessary for voting") was exerting pressures upon the members of the electoral bureau of the voting section in order to determine them to accept anybody willing to vote in that respective section.

II.5. In numerous voting sections, on the entire duration of the voting process, there were posters displaying the slogan: "Vote for the Constitution! Vote for Europe!", which also violates the law.

Considering all these irregularities and infringements of the law at the national level, we consider that the vote within this referendum was corrupted. Anybody can argue that the results of this referendum don't reflect the true will of those who voted, but the effect of the promises regarding the material advantages, of the various types of pressure exercised by the local authorities, of the insistent knocking on people's doors or the assaults of the carriers of the mobile ballot boxes upon those in stores and markets etc. Also, one shouldn't forget that every voter was able to vote as many times as he/she wanted. The multitude of irregularities and law infringements make this referendum an unprecedented case in the post-December history of Romania with respect to the organization of elections and referendums. Romania's Constitution is a far too important document as to pass through a corrupted voting process raising question marks upon the lawfulness of the fundamental law.

Therefore, we ask you to dispose the appropriate measures, according to the law, for punishing the ones responsible for the infringements.

Respectfully yours,

Cristian Pirvulescu
President
Pro Democracy Association

Mircea Toma
Director
Media Monitoring Agency - Academia Catavencu

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Media Monitoring Agency - Academia Catavencu
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Pro Democracy Association
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