Online Elections in Romania - Recent Debates [Bachelor Thesis]

Introduction
A. Presentation of the arguments, Means and Purpose..........................................................4
B. The Internet....................................................................................................................6
C. The Concepts of E-Democracy, E-Government, E-Citizen, and E-Governance..........8
D. Internet Voting – Definition, Relation to E-Citizenship, and the Estonian Model..... 10
E. The Case of Romania: Decrease in Turnouts and Technological Endowments.......... 12
2. A First Step Towards General Online Suffrage – The Democrat-Liberal Legislative Bill from 2007
A. General Presentation......................................................................................................15
B. From Registration to Rejection – The Evolution of the Bill in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.......................................................................................................................16
C. Analysis of the Documents
i. The Legislative Proposal – The Initiator‟s Draft………………………………………………………………………......18
ii. The Presentation of Motives..............................................................................20
iii. The Notice of the Legislative Council................................................................22
iv. The Notice of the Commission for Public Administration, Territorial Arrangements and Ecologic Equilibrium....................................................................................23
v. The Notice of the Commission for Information Technology and Communication....................................................................................................23
vi. The Government‟s Point of View........................................................................25
vii. The Notice of the Juridical Commission for Discipline and Immunities...........26
3. A Previous Small-Scale Experiment: How Online Suffrage has Brought a Turnout of 97% in 2003.........................................................................................................................................28
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4. Voter Turnout in Romania 1990-2014
A. The Presidential Elections: 1990-2009...................................................................................31
B. The Parliamentary Elections: 1990-2012................................................................................34
C. The Euro-Parliamentary Elections: 2007-2014........................................................................35
D. The Referenda: 1991-2012.......................................................................................................37
E. Data Analysis...........................................................................................................................38
5. Online Voting and the Political Parties
A. Introduction, Concepts, Assumptions, and Possible Signs of Subjectivity.............................40
B. The Questionnaire, the Expected Answers, and Assumptions................................................42
C. Answers by Representatives of Political Parties
i. Partidul Național Liberal (The National Liberal Party) – Bogdan Țîmpău, Deputy of Deva...........................................................................................................................44
ii. Forța Civică (The Civic Power) – Amelia Boroș, Leader of the Women‟s Organization..............................................................................................................46
iii. Partidul Social Democrat (The Social Democrat Party) – Daniel Crunțeanu, President of Local Organization No. 23 from Slobozia, Ialomița.............................................49
iv. Partidul Conservator (The Conservative Party) – Stelică Zangur, Regional President in the county of Ialomița............................................................................................51
D. Data Analysis..........................................................................................................................53
6. Conclusions
A. In the Views of Varujan Pambuccian, President of the Commission for Internet and Communication Technologies of the Romanian Parliament...................................................57
B. According to the Collected Data..............................................................................................59
7. Bibliography..................................................................................................................................62