The Council of Europe’s Venice Commission (officially European Commission for Democracy through Law) has published an urgent report on the conditions and legal standards whereby constitutional courts can invalidate elections following a controversial ruling of the Romanian Constitutional Court.
The report, published Monday, was in response to a request from Theodoros Rousopoulos, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The Venice Commission stated, “As a rule, the voters must trust that their vote is final. The cancellation of…elections…is justified only under very exceptional circumstances.” If this rule is not followed, this could “lead to mistrust in the judicial remedies or lead to lower interest in cycles of repeat elections, and possibly a lower turnout.” However, “as fraud or other irregularities…can never be excluded, the possibility to partially or fully invalidate election results must be provided for.” The commission found that cancellations must only be made if “the integrity of the election has been irreparably damaged,” such that “the only remedy is a repetition of the elections.” In cases where the election result is canceled because of outside influence, the influence must be shown to have affected the vote, so significantly that the election result no longer reflects the will of the voters.
The Venice Commission did not examine the Romanian Constitutional Court’s decision to overrule the presidential election, but it did make a few statements regarding the invalidation of elections that appeared to support the ruling. Firstly, the commission recognized that the risk of online interference should be governed by the same rules of transparency and integrity that govern traditional campaigns. Secondly, the court said that although online campaigning is relatively new, it should be governed by the same rules of transparency and integrity that govern traditional campaigns.
Last month, Romania’s Constitutional Court halted the country’s ongoing presidential elections. In Romania, presidential elections follow a two-round system. During the first round of Romania’s elections, Calin Georgescu, a far-right independent candidate, had secured the most votes, followed by Elena Lasconi, a social democrat candidate. Romanian authorities had reason to suspect that Georgescu’s popularity had been influenced by Russia through online propaganda, as declassified documents suggested. Georgescu denies any involvement with Russia, although he has expressed his admiration of Vladimir Putin and his intention to stop aiding Ukraine in its war against Russia, which would strongly benefit Russia.
The Venice Commission, formally known as the European Commission for Democracy through Law, is an advisory body of the Council of Europe. It focuses on promoting democracy, human rights, and the rule of law through legal and constitutional expertise. Its opinions are non-binding but influential.
