At stake in this election:     

• The office of President of Romania

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Traian BASESCU (since 20 December 2004)*
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Victor-Viorel PONTA (since 7 May 2012)
• Assembly: Romania has a bicameral Parliament (Parlament) consisting of the Senate (Senat) with 137 seats and the Chamber of Deputies (Camera Deputatilor) with 315 seats.

* Presidential election take place under a two-round majority runoff system.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• Prime Minister is appointed by the president with the approval of the parliament.
• In the Senate (Senat) 176 members are elected through a modified mixed-member proportional system to serve 4-year terms.* In the Chamber of Deputies (Camera Deputaţilor), 412 members are elected through a modified mixed-member proportional system to serve 4-year terms.**

* Seats are distributed nationwide to parties in proportion to their vote shares, provided they have met a 5 percent threshold. This occurs after seats have been allocated to winners in single-member constituencies. A candidate must obtain an absolute majority of votes to win in any single-member constituency.

** As in the Senate, seats are allocated nationwide in proportion to parties' vote shares. This occurs after seats have been allocated to candidates winning majorities in single-seat constituencies. Various national thresholds apply: 5 percent for single parties (or at least 6 Chamber seats, or at least 3 Senate seats); 8 percent for alliances of two parties; 9 percent for alliances of three, and 10 percent for alliances of four or more parties.

There is no fixed number of reserve seats. These go to members of recognized minority groups (one per group) who do not win representation otherwise in either chamber. Such a candidate must have received 10 percent of the average number of valid votes cast for Deputies in the single-seat constituencies.

Election Note:

On Wednesday 2 November 2014, Romania will hold the first round of the election for President.[i] The second round will occur on Sunday 16 November 2014.[ii] President Traian BASESCU, having served three terms in office, is ineligible to run in the election.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Candidate: Victor PONTA
  • Party: Social Democratic Party/Partidul Social Democrat (PSD)
• Candidate: Klaus IOHANNIS
  • Party: National Liberal Party/Partidul National Liberal (PNL)
• Candidate: Monica MACOVEI
  • Party: Independent
• Candidate: Hunor KELEMEN
  • Party: Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania/Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România (UDMR)
• Candidate: Elena UDREA
  • Party: People’s Movement Party/Partidul Mișcarea Populară (PMP)
• Candidate: Calin POPESCU-TARICEANU
  • Party: Independent

Last election:

• The last election for President of Romania was held on 22 November 2009 (first round) and 6 December 2009 (second round).[iii] Turnout was 58.02 percent and 10,620,116 of 18,303,224 people casted ballots.[iv] Traian BASESCU of the Democratic Liberal Party won with 5,275,808 votes, beating Mircea-Dan GEOANA of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) who won 5,205,760 votes.[v] Mr. BASESCU won a third term in office. Results can be found here and here.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 21,729,871 (July 2014 est)[vi]
• Registered Voters: 18,423,066 (December 2012)[vii]

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 11,153,890 (July 2014 est)[i]
• Is Romania a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (4 September 1980)[ii]
• Has Romania ratified CEDAW: Yes (7 January 1982)[iii]
• Gender Quota:  No. However, there are Voluntary Political Party Quotas: the Democratic Party (PD) has adopted a 30 percent quota and the Social Democratic Party (PSD) adopted a 30 percent gender quota.[iv]
• Female Candidates in this election: 2.
• Number of Female Legislators: 55 (13%) of 412 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (Camera Deputatilor)[v]
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 54[vi]
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Ranking: Nor Ranked (latest rankings are from 2012)[vii]