(1) The Central Electoral Bureau has the following powers:
a) to adopt, within three days from its setting up, the regulation concerning the organisation and functioning of the electoral bureaus;
b) to ensure publication in the Offi cial Journal of Romania, Part I, of the electoral names and signs of political parties, political alliances, electoral alliances and organisations of citizens belonging to the national minorities, legally set up, which are entitled to take part in the election of the local public administration authorities, and to communicate the list to all constituency electoral bureaus, immediately after their setting up;
c) to monitor and ensure the observance and correct implementation of the legal provisions concerning the elections throughout the country; to ensure the unitary interpretation of the provisions thereof;
d) to settle objections concerning its own activity and challenges concerning the setting up, composition and activity of county constituency electoral bureaus and of the electoral bureaus of the constituency of the Municipality of Bucharest;
e) to receive and settle any challenge concerning the organisation and unfolding of the elections for the local public administration authorities, other than those which, by this law, fall under the competence of constituency electoral bureaus or under that of courts of law;
f) to centralise, based on the communications received from the county constituency electoral bureaus and from the electoral bureaus of the constituency of the Municipality of Bucharest, the number of full lists submitted by the political parties, political alliances, electoral alliances and organisations of citizens belonging to national minorities and to communicate to the Romanian Television Corporation and to the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company the centralised situation, within 24 hours from its drawing up;
g) to receive the reports drawn up by the county constituency electoral bureaus and by the electoral bureaus of the constituency of the Municipality of Bucharest, together with the reports containing the results of the vote, drawn up by the electoral bureaus of communal, town, municipal constituencies and of the sector constituency of the Municipality of Bucharest; to sum up the results at national level, by political parties, political alliances, electoral alliances or organisations of citizens belonging to national minorities taking part in the elections and by independent candidates, separately for the local councils, county councils, mayors and to ensure their publication in the Official Journal of Romania, Part I, and in the press;
h) to settle referrals concerning electoral frauds, having the authority to order the annulment of the elections in a certain electoral constituency, if it finds, based on the evidence administered, that the vote and the setting of the results of the vote took place by frauds likely to modify the allotment of seats in the respective electoral constituency; in such cases, it orders the repeating of the ballot, which will take place within two weeks, at the most, from the fi nding of the fraud. The new elections take place under the same conditions, by using the same electoral lists and the same lists of candidates and independent candidatures, except for the cases in which the bureau ordered the annulment of a list of candidates or of certain nominations of independent candidatures, found to have committed the fraud having led to the annulment of the elections. The existence of the electoral fraud is ascertained by the Central Electoral Bureau, on a case-by-case basis, based on the evidence presented by those having invoked it;
i) to fulfi l any other powers established by law;
j) to ensure the periodical notifi cation of the public opinion concerning the voter turnout.
(2) The Central Electoral Bureau shall accredit, upon proposal by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, foreign observers, as well as delegates of the foreign media and shall settle any challenge concerning accreditations or refusals to accredit domestic observers by the county constituency electoral bureau or by the electoral bureau of the constituency of the Municipality of Bucharest.
(3) In case of an electoral fraud, the application for the annulment of the elections in a certain electoral constituency can be fi led only by the political parties, political alliances, electoral alliances or organisations of citizens belonging to national minorities taking part in the elections or by independent candidates having participated in the elections and only within 48 hours from the closing of the vote, under penalty of losing this right. The application must be motivated and accompanied by the elements of proof on which it relies. The application can be uphold only if the entity fi nding the fraud is not involved
in producing it. The application must be settled before the publication of the results of the vote in the Offi cial Journal of Romania, Part I.
(4) While exercising its powers, the Central Electoral Bureau shall issue decisions that are made public through public sessions and by any other means of publicity. The decisions of the Central Electoral Bureau are mandatory for all electoral bureaus in the country, as well as for all the bodies with powers in the electoral fi eld, from the date of them being made public in public session.
(5) The decisions of the Central Electoral Bureau for the interpretation of certain provisions of this law shall be published in the Offi cial Journal of Romania, Part I.