The report of the scientific service on the draft law on the possibility of exercising the right to vote with postal vote for all citizens, inside and outside the Territory, exclusively for the elections for the selection of members of the European Parliament and regarding the holding of a national referendum.

“The postal vote serves the principle of universality and can be considered compatible with the principle of holding elections simultaneously, as long as the exercise of the voter’s will is close to the day of the election. In this sense, the legislative regulation for the use of postal voting, within the Territory, is in accordance with the Constitution, as long as there is, in any case, the relative temporal proximity to the day of the elections and the secrecy of the vote is ensured, in the rest, and the validity of the procedure”, reports the Scientific Service of the Parliament. Since the requirement of temporal proximity is related, both to the free formation of the political will, in the context of the special guarantees of the pre-election period, (article 29 par. 2 of the Constitution) and to the indivisibility of the electoral body, the Scientific Service reports that it arises the issue of whether the twenty-five (25) days before the election, from which the elector can send his postal vote, as it appears from the combination of articles 4, 11 and 14 of the bill, is, under the current conditions of postal communication, indeed compatible with the principle of the simultaneous holding of elections within the Territory.

The scientific service points out, among other things, that:

• Voting by postal vote is expressly provided for as a possibility in the Council Act “on the election of representatives to the European Parliament by direct and universal suffrage”. It states that Member States “may provide for the possibility of voting in advance, by mail, but also by electronic and online means, in elections to the European Parliament. In this case, they shall adopt measures sufficient to ensure, in particular, the reliability of the result, the secrecy of the vote and the protection of personal data in accordance with applicable Union law.”

• Postal voting is referred to in paragraph 4 of article 51 of the Constitution. Specifically, it is defined that “[ο]Parliamentary elections are held simultaneously throughout the Territory. A law passed by a majority of two-thirds of the total number of deputies may define the matters related to the exercise of the right to vote by voters who are outside the Territory. As for these voters, the principle of the simultaneous holding of elections does not prevent the exercise of their right to vote by postal vote or any other appropriate means, as long as the counting and announcement of the results is carried out whenever this is done and throughout the Territory”.

• voting by postal vote is expressly provided as a possibility in the Council Act according to which Member States may provide for the possibility of voting in advance, by post, but also by electronic and online means, in the elections for the European Parliament. In this case, they shall adopt measures sufficient to ensure in particular the reliability of the result, the secrecy of the vote and the protection of personal data in accordance with applicable Union law.

• the principle of simultaneous voting is a constitutional guarantee of the free and unadulterated formation and manifestation of the popular will, it expresses the unity and indivisible nature of the electoral body.

• Postal voting serves the principle of universality and can be considered compatible with the principle of holding elections simultaneously, as long as the exercise of the voter’s will is close to the day of the election. In this sense, the legislative regulation for the use of postal voting within the Territory is in accordance with the Constitution, as long as there is, in any case, the relevant time proximity to the day of the elections and the secrecy of the vote is ensured, and the validity of the procedure. The requirement of temporal proximity is, on the other hand, related both to the free formation of the political will (within the special guarantees of the pre-election period, see article 29 par. 2 of the Constitution) and to the indivisibility of the electoral body. Therefore, the question arises whether the twenty-five (25) days before the election, from which the voter can send his postal vote, as it results from the combination of articles 4, 11 and 14 of of the bill, is, under the current conditions of postal communication, indeed compatible with the principle of the simultaneous holding of elections within the Territory.

• It remains a question whether, with regard to the elections for the nomination of the European Parliament and the national referendum, the increased majority required by the Constitution (article 51 par. 4 subsection b) in combination with subsection c) remains. It seems more correct that the special provision in question constitutes a decision-making technique which, as a deviation from the rule of making decisions by an absolute majority of the members present (Article 67 of the Constitution), is interpreted narrowly, i.e. according to the letter of the provision (“parliamentary elections”) .

• the verification of the voter’s identity is a crucial parameter to ensure the validity of the process, the secrecy of the vote and, ultimately, the free and unadulterated manifestation of the popular will, principles that, of course, govern the process inside and outside the Territory. In the light of the above, a question arises as to the possibility of authorizing a third party to receive and send the file.

• the responsibility of the contractor or contractors providing postal or courier services in terms of verifying the voter’s identity must apply in full for both the receipt and the sending of the envelope, for voters inside and outside the Territory. Therefore, a concern arises regarding the different treatment of the responsibility of the contractor for the cases of receiving and sending the envelope (article 11 par. and 13 par. 5), but also for the dispatches of electoral envelopes outside the Territory (article 13 par. 5).