The Constitutional Court declared inadmissible the request for the constitutional review of particular provisions of the Electoral Code regarding the organization of a national referendum and parliamentary or presidential elections on the same day, made by MPs of the Bloc of Communists and Socialists, IPN reports.
The application was submitted by MPs Vladimir Voronin, Vlad Batrîncea and Diana Caraman, who say that the text “unless it takes place on the same day as parliamentary or presidential elections” of Article 184 para. (2) of the Electoral Code contradicts the first sentence of the same paragraph, which says that the national referendum cannot take place 60 days before and 60 days after the day of parliamentary or presidential elections. The MPs also argued that in its opinion of September 22, 2014, the Constitutional Court specified that if a referendum is prohibited 60 days before and 60 days after the elections, the referendum cannot take place on that day.
In its case-law, the Court noted that the organization and conduct of several elections at the same time is a common practice in European countries, with many relevant examples. Parliamentary elections and referendums can be held concurrently due to the need to reduce costs and to also increase the number of participants in both of the electoral exercises. Therefore, the Court rejected the applicants‘ argument that there was interference in Article 38 of the Constitution.
The authors of the complaint argued that the provisions of the opinion of September 22, 2014 prohibit the simultaneous holding of the referendum and the presidential election. The Court noted that the reasons cited in that opinion represented an interpretation of the text of the law which it considered equivocal and recommended eliminating the legal ambiguities regarding the possibility of merging elections and referendums.
It also said that after opinion of September 22, 2014 was adopted, the legislators stipulated in the Electoral Code the possibility of holding referendums and elections simultaneously. The Court also underlined the reasons of the judgment of March 14, 2019, in which it found that the simultaneous holding of the referendum and elections is possible.
Moreover, the Court stressed that the Code of Good Practice on Referendums, revised by the Venice Commission on June 17-18, 2022, does not exclude the possibility of holding elections and referendums on the same day. However, the guidelines recommend not holding elections and referenda on the same day if the referendum concerns the institution to be elected.
In conclusion, the Court held that the applicants’ complaint was unfounded, rejecting it as inadmissible.
