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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Romania
Index
Although the Constitution asserted the right of all
citizens
eighteen years of age and older to participate in the
election of
all representative bodies with a universal, direct, equal,
and
secret vote, it did not determine how elections were to be
organized or specify who was responsible for conducting
them. The
Constitution did declare, however, that the right to
nominate
candidates belonged to the PCR, as well as to all labor
unions,
cooperatives, youth and women's leagues, cultural
associations, and
other mass organizations.
Elections were organized under the direction of the
Socialist
Democracy and Unity Front, the national entity that
incorporated
the country's numerous mass organizations under the
leadership of
the PCR. All candidates for elective office needed the
approval of
the front in order to be placed on the ballot.
The Socialist Democracy and Unity Front was established
in
November 1968 under the original name of the Socialist
Unity Front.
It succeeded the People's Democratic Front, which had
existed since
the communists began to organize effectively during World
War II.
The Socialist Democracy and Unity Front listed among its
member
organizations, in addition to the PCR, the labor unions;
cooperative farm organizations; consumer cooperatives;
professional, scientific, and cultural associations;
student,
youth, women's, and veteran's organizations; religious
bodies; and
representatives of Hungarian, German, Serbian, and
Ukrainian
minorities. In the late 1980s, chairing the organization
was among
Ceausescu's many official duties. In addition to a
chairperson,
the front had an executive chairman, one first vice
chairman and
six other vice chairmen, two secretaries and eighteen
members.
The Socialist Democracy and Unity Front conducted a
general
election in March 1985, when 369 deputies to the GNA were
elected.
Of the 15,733,060 registered voters, 97.8 percent voted
for front
candidates, while 2.3 percent voted against them--about 33
percent
more than in 1980, according to published results.
Although this
figure was the highest number of dissenting votes ever
recorded,
outside observers contended that the percentage would have
been
much higher in an open election.
Data as of July 1989
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