The Permanent Electoral Authority has announced the timetable for the presidential elections

The Permanent Electoral Authority has announced the timetable for the presidential elections later this year. The election campaign will start on October 25 and candidates can file their candidacies until October 5.

The first round of voting is scheduled for November 24 and the second on December 8. Some 19.000 polling stations will be open in the country and more than 900 abroad.

According to the latest figures, there are more than 18 million voters in Romania for whom ballot papers will be printed, while around five million ballot papers will be prepared for citizens abroad, said the president of the Permanent Electoral Authority, Toni Grebla.

Romanians living or residing abroad can register until September 24 to announce their intention to vote at the polling station in their place of residence or at a nearby polling station.

Toni Grebla: Why is it a good idea for citizens to express their intention to be registered on the permanent lists for abroad? So that Romania's diplomatic and consular missions can propose the establishment of polling stations where there are more than one hundred voters. All Romanian citizens residing in the country, who will be abroad on those days, can vote anywhere, at any polling station abroad.

On the other hand, AEP President Toni Grebla said, in relation to the draft submitted to Parliament that would allow President Klaus Iohannis to run in the parliamentary elections, that under the current law, which the Permanent Electoral Authority is obliged to respect, independent candidates are not allowed to run on the lists of political competitors.

Translated by: Radu Matei