The President of the Permanent Electoral Authority (AEP), Adrian Tutuianu, had a meeting on Thursday with representatives of several civic organizations that are members of the ACUM! Electoral Code Coalition and the Vot Corect Coalition, the discussions aimed at revising electoral legislation and strengthening the integrity of elections.
According to a press release from the AEP, the meeting is part of a broader approach to consulting civil society and other relevant actors on improving the regulatory framework for elections and modernizing electoral processes in order to consolidate Romanian democracy.
The AEP President emphasized that the complex electoral exercise in 2024-2025 demonstrated that the current legislative framework has reached its administrative limits.
"The experience of 2024 and 2025 shows that our system is resilient, but it operates at the limit of administrative capacity due to a fragmented legislative framework, regulated by seven main normative acts. Revising the legislation is not an institutional ambition, but a practical necessity to ensure responsible consumption of resources and to regain voters' trust in the integrity of electoral processes," said Adrian Tutuianu, according to the cited source.
On this occasion, the strategic priorities related to the development of an electoral code or a framework law that would establish uniform rules applicable to all types of elections, to increasing the degree of transparency regarding the financing of political parties and electoral campaigns, to strengthening the mechanisms for monitoring the income and expenses of political parties both in current activity and during the electoral campaign, and to adopting the rules for the application of European regulations in the field of political advertising in the online environment were discussed.
The discussions also aimed at expanding the capabilities of the Electoral Registry and introducing modern technological means, including scanning ballots for recording results in real time, transforming the training of electoral experts and computer operators into a systemic and permanent process of continuous training, and streamlining the institutional structure.
As a result of the discussions, it was decided to organize a series of meetings with the associations present, including Expert Forum, the Center for Public Innovation, Active Watch, Code for Romania, and the Foundation for Civil Society Development, during which concrete proposals for revising electoral legislation on the topics proposed by them will be addressed, AEP mentions.
"This dialogue is part of the invitation launched by AEP to political parties, associative structures of local elected officials and civil society to participate in an inclusive process of consolidating the electoral framework in Romania," the Authority also points out.
Also attending the meeting, on behalf of the Permanent Electoral Authority, were the institution's vice presidents, Vajda Zsombor and Cosmin-Gabriel Popp, the secretary general, Dan Vlaicu, as well as the heads of the main specialized departments.
On Wednesday, the president of the AEP, Adrian Tutuianu, declared that the current electoral legislation is cumbersome and unadapted and the Authority is preparing to amend the laws on the organization of the institution, the financing of political parties and electoral campaigns and the referendum, announcing that it has set up several working groups in this regard.
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