Venice Commission: Merging local elections with European Parliament elections - an arbitrary decision of the Ciolacu government

Although the merger of elections is not, in itself, contrary to international standards, the way in which the Ciolacu government adopted it through GEO 21/2024 raises serious questions of legality and legitimacy, state the members of the Venice Commission in their recently approved Opinion. According to the cited document, the biggest deficiencies identified are the amendment of the legislation just three months before the European Parliament and local elections, the use of an emergency ordinance without a clear justification for the urgency, the unusually long period of cohabitation (3-5 months) between the newly elected local and previous incumbents, as well as the lack of a real public consultation.

Therefore, the Venice Commission recommends that the Government avoid electoral amendments through emergency ordinances, except for strictly technical aspects, to clearly regulate the merging of elections into permanent legislation in order to prevent last-minute changes and to ensure a broad consultation process with all parties involved before any significant amendment. Thus, the Venice Commission underlines the need to respect democratic principles in the organization of elections and urges the Romanian authorities to abandon the use of emergency ordinances as a legislative instrument in the electoral field, thus guaranteeing the transparency, stability and predictability of the electoral process.

The conclusions of the Venice Commission Opinion state: "The stability of electoral legislation is a requirement of legal certainty - a fundamental aspect of the rule of law - essential to ensure trust in elections and the "ownership' of the electoral system by as many members of society as possible. The Code of Good Practice on Electoral Matters requires that fundamental elements of electoral legislation, in particular the composition of electoral commissions, should not be amended less than one year before an election. In this case, the composition of electoral commissions was amended by Government Emergency Ordinance (GEO) 21/2024 only three months before the elections, which is very late. This breach of the principle of stability of electoral legislation is substantial, due to the very late adoption of the ordinance. The Venice Commission also recalls that reforms intended for an election must be adopted sufficiently early so that both candidates and voters can understand the changes and election management bodies can can apply them. According to some stakeholders in Romania, this did not happen. The Venice Commission stresses that late amendments increase the risk that the electoral administration and voters are not sufficiently familiar with the procedure".

We note that the Venice Commission Opinion on the EGO 21/2024 by which the Ciolacu government merged the European Parliament elections with local elections was adopted during the 142nd plenary session of the Venice Commission (14-15 March 2025), in response to the request of the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The document cited shows that the decision of the Romanian Government to simultaneously organize local and European Parliament elections triggered extensive debates in Romanian society and among international experts, being criticized for resorting to an emergency ordinance in a sensitive area and for last-minute legislative amendments, without adequate public consultation. The Venice Commission Opinion analyzed the decision from the perspective of compliance with international standards in electoral matters, emphasizing the importance of legislative stability, the appropriate use of emergency ordinances and their impact on the democratic process.

We recall that last year in our country we had a complex electoral context, which included four rounds of elections: European Parliament (June 9), local (initially scheduled for September), presidential (November-December) and parliamentary (December). The adoption of GEO 21/2024 on March 8, 2024 to merge local elections with European Parliament elections was justified by the Government by the desire to increase voter turnout and optimize electoral expenses. However, the opposition and civil society contested the decision, citing the lack of transparency and risks to the legitimacy of the electoral process. Bringing forward the date of the local elections created an unusual gap, allowing a four-month period of cohabitation between the newly elected and the previous incumbents, thus generating confusion and administrative tensions.

Another point of contention was the reduction of the minimum period of residence required for the right to vote from 6 months to 60 days. Although this change facilitates electoral participation, its late adoption raised issues of clarity and applicability. Changing the composition of the electorals offices, by excluding parties that had obtained mandates in previous elections, was also criticized, highlighting the need for clear rules to ensure fair representation of all political actors.

The Venice Commission has also expressed strong criticism of the use of emergency ordinances to amend electoral legislation. Although the Romanian Constitution allows such normative acts in "extraordinary situations", the Government's frequent practice of resorting to this mechanism for essential electoral changes undermines the stability of the democratic process, say Venice Commission experts.

"As noted in several previous opinions of the Venice Commission, Romania's frequent reliance on emergency ordinances (GEOs) undermines the quality of legislation, legal certainty and democratic principles, including the principle of separation of powers in the state. This is particularly problematic in the area of elections, which are essential for democracy. Contrary to international standards, the adoption of GEO 21/2024 was neither consensual nor the result of adequate public consultation. Codifying electoral legislation could help avoid frequent revisions of legislation - including late ones, through emergency ordinances -, ensuring the coherence and completeness of the legal framework and, therefore, improving trust in the electoral process," the Opinion states.

The Venice Commission experts finally point out that international standards require that significant amendments to electoral legislation be adopted at least one year before the elections, through a transparent and inclusive consultation process.