RIYADH, 24 November 2007 — Romanians in Saudi Arabia will cast their ballots tomorrow at their embassy in Riyadh in order to elect Romania’s 35 representatives to the European Parliament and to vote on whether to change their electoral system from one in which people vote for party lists to one in which they vote for individual candidates.
The embassy has set up a polling station.
“Although the last elections for European Parliament took place in 2004, Romania joined the European Union in 2007 and hence Romanians are now electing their members for European Parliament,” said George Alexe, a spokesman of the Romanian Embassy, yesterday.
Spelling out the details of these two polls, George said that the European Parliament is a directly elected parliamentary body with 785 members.
“All Romanian citizens residing in the Kingdom, permanently or temporarily, are invited to take part in the national poll,” said Alexe. “All voters will be required to present a valid Romanian passport or ID to vote.”
Romanians living in other parts of the Kingdom must go to Riyadh to vote.
The election is a historic one, because Romanians in Saudi Arabia and other parts of the world will be participating in these two polls for the first time in the country’s history.
Voting will also take place in Spain and Italy, where many Romanians live. Romanian troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo will vote, as well.
Those willing to cast their votes at the embassy can also call 01-2630456 or 01-4566205 for more information.
