AUR demonstration in front of the offices of the Permanent Electoral Authority
Leading the demonstration in front of the Permanent Electoral Authority (AEP) headquarters on Thursday were some 200 supporters of the Alliance for the Union of Romania (AUR), who were protesting the „undermining” of the vote of the Romanian diaspora. George Simion is the chairman of the party.
„We are protesting against the PSD-PNL ruling coalition’s completely undemocratic and unconstitutional decision to close multiple polling places overseas and to impede Romanian expatriates’ ability to cast ballots by holding the elections on a single day in front of the AEP headquarters.” (…) To use their right to vote, we urge Romanians living overseas to visit our nation,” Simion declared.
He claimed that Romanians living abroad are not being given the opportunity to vote and chastised AEP for the way the June 9 election campaign is set up.
„As long as half of Romania’s working-age population is absent, unaware, and denied the opportunity to vote, this is not an electoral campaign.” The remarkable success, according to the officials, is that there are now more polling places than ever before. False, there are more stations than in the legislative election of 2019, but more ought to have been arranged and placed where they were already,” the AUR chief declared.
AEP president Toni Grebla had promised that the diaspora will be able to vote without interference; nevertheless, Simion made it obvious that he had nothing further to speak with her.
„There is just one voting day, no mail-in voting, and significant polling places in Italy and other nations have been closed. Luminita Odobescu, the minister of foreign affairs, claims a record number of stations, but Romanians from those communities are not allowed to vote. That’s manipulation, not a truth,” Simion remarked.
Signs stating „One citizen” were carried by protesters. They chanted, „One vote, equal vote in the diaspora,” „AEP, PSD’s hireling,” and „We don’t want to be led by crooks.”
