8 million voters, waiting for the ballot box

Over 18 million voters are expected today to choose their president for the next five years of the 11 candidates registered in the race for Cotroceni.

18,979 polling stations are organized on the territory of the country, according to the Permanent Electoral Authority. 1,289 sections will be opened in the capital. Romanians with voting rights in the diaspora will vote in 965 sections.

They have the right to vote for Romanian citizens who are 18 years old until the day of elections inclusive. They do not have the right to vote the weak or mental alienations, placed under prohibition, nor the persons convicted of the loss of electoral rights, by final court decision.

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In the elections of May 4, the voter can express his constitutional right to one of the following polling stations:

* If it is in the administrative-territorial unit where it has its domicile or residence, it can vote only at the polling station where the street or locality is shown or residence, according to the law; The voter with his domicile or residence in the municipality of Bucharest cannot exercise his right to vote at a polling station located in another sector of Bucharest only the one in which he has his domicile or residence, but can exercise the right to choose at any polling station in another county;

* If he is in another administrative-territorial unit than the one where he has his domicile or residence, he can vote at any polling station within it;

* If he is abroad, he can vote at any polling station organized abroad;

* If he fulfills the position of member of the electoral bureau of the polling station or computer operator of a polling station or ensures the order, votes at the section where he carries out his activity;

* If it has reduced mobility it can vote on any section that ensures its access to the polls.

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The voters vote with an identity card valid on the day of voting, issued by the Romanian state, namely: the identity card; Electronic Identity Book; provisional identity card; the identity card; diplomatic passport; Electronic diplomatic passport; service passport; Electronic service passport; the military service book (in the case of students in military schools).

The simple passport, the simple electronic passport and the temporary simple passport can be used to exercise the right to vote only by the Romanian citizens who vote abroad or by the Romanian citizens with their residence in abroad.

The Central Electoral Bureau came with details in the case of voters holding electronic identity cards from which the mention regarding the home address was eliminated, being targeted the citizens who will be passed in the additional electoral list.

By art. II point 6 of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 17/2025 for amending and completing Law no. 119/1996 regarding the civil status documents, as well as the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 97/2005 regarding the record, domicile, residence and identity documents of the Romanian citizens were eliminated from the electronic identity cards in printed format the mention of the home address.

« Thus, in the case of persons who will exercise their right to vote on the basis of such an electronic identity card at a polling station where they are registered in the additional electoral list, the members of the electoral bureau of the polling station are unable to complete with information proved by an officially inscribed section for the domicile of the votoral in the respective list, The voter, the president of the Electoral Bureau of the Voting Section must call the Technical Support Center provided by the Special Telecommunications Service, from where he will be redirected to the General Directorate for the Evidence of Persons, who will
Communicate the information regarding the domicile of the voter necessary for the correct completion of the additional electoral list ”, says the bulb.

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In the country, the voting takes place on Sunday, between 7:00 and 21:00. The voters who at 9:00 pm are at the headquarters of the polling station, as well as those who are in a row outside the section headquarters to enter the voting premises can exercise their right to choose until at most at 23:59.

When they come to the vote, the voters present their identity documents to the computer operators, who take over and introduce their personal data in the computer system for monitoring the vote and prevention of illegal vote (SIMPV).

Simpv signals if:

* the person who presented to the vote did not reach the age of 18 until the day of voting including;
* to the person who presented the vote and forbade the exercise of the right to vote;
* The voter who presented to the vote is rounded up to the respective section;
* The voter who presented to the vote is rounded up to another polling station;
* The voter who presented to the vote is omitted from the permanent electoral list;
* The voter who presented to the vote is that he has exercised his right to vote on the same poll;
* The voter who presented to the vote is for voting that he voted by correspondence, the vote by correspondence transmitted by him being received by the competent electoral bureau.

The voters vote separately in closed booths, applying the stamp with the mention « voted » inside the quadrilateral which includes the name of the candidate for which they opt. The one who, for sound reasons, found by the president of the Electoral Bureau of the polling station, cannot vote alone has the right to call in the polling staff an attendant chosen by him, to help him. It cannot be among the accredited persons, of the members of the electoral bureau of the polling station or the candidates.

After voting, the voter has the obligation to introduce the ballot in the ballot box. The stamp entrusted for voting is returned to the president or those members of the electoral bureau of the polling station designated by him.

The attempt of a person to vote several times or without having this right is punished according to the criminal law.

At the same time, the voter who, for objective reasons, caused by the disease or invalidity, certified by documents, cannot move to the headquarters of the polling station organized in the country, called the non -obtracted voter, can submit a request to vote through the special ballot box.

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The 11 candidates who dispute their chair from Cotroceni are, according to the order on the ballot:

* Position 1 – George Nicolae Simion (Alliance for the Union of Romanians)

* Position 2 – George Crin Laurenciiu Antonescu (Electoral Alliance « Romania, before! »)

* Position 3 – Elena Valerica Lasconi (Union Save Romania)

* Position 4 – Cristian Vasile Terheş (Romanian Conservative National Party)

* Position 5 – Marcela Lavinia Şandru (Liberal Social Humanist Party)

* Position 6 – Victor Viorel Ponta (independent candidate)

* Position 7 – Sebastian Constantin Popescu (New Romania Party)

* Position 8 – Silviu Predoiu (League of National Action League)

* Position 9-John-Ion Banu-Muscel (independent candidate)

* Position 10 – Petru Daniel Funeriu (independent candidate)

* Position 11-Nicuşor-Daniel Dan (independent candidate).

Five candidates-Elena Lasconi, George Simion, Cristian Terheş, Silviu Predoiu and Sebastian-Constantin Popescu-entered the electoral race and at last year’s presidential election, the head of USR managed to reach the second round with the independent Călin Georgescu, elections that were annulled by the Constitutional Court.