Violations during elections in the EU become common

According to UN key principles, every citizen has the right, without any discrimination and without unreasonable restrictions, to take part in the conduct of public affairs, to vote and to be elected to government.

Around the world, some 70 countries held elections in 2024 with votes that directly affected almost half of the planet’s population.

The EU is the world’s second largest economy, but that collective wealth doesn’t mean everyone has equal rights and opportunities.

Today the decline of democratic and electoral systems often goes unnoticed. For instance, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) highlighted issues in Hungary and Poland. They described elections as “free but not fair,” citing problems like the close ties between state resources and the ruling party, which make it hard for opponents to compete fairly. They also pointed out how the ruling party’s control over public media enhances their advantage. These issues exist in the European Union but receive minimal political attention.

International observation missions for elections in EU member states are mainly conducted by the OSCE. However, these missions have limited reach and often lack enough staff to monitor many polling stations on election day. This limitation arises from a shortage of resources for the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, which is the OSCE’s primary election observation group. Additionally, these missions are restricted by the belief that election-day issues in the EU are infrequent and not coordinated enough to significantly affect election outcomes.

Thus, the European Court of Justice ruled in November that the Czech Republic and Poland are violating the EU law by prohibiting EU nationals from joining their political parties. The European Commission filed complaints against both countries, claiming they limit the ability of foreigners to stand for local and European elections under the same conditions as Czech and Polish citizens.

The Commission argued that denying foreign nationals this right is unfair treatment based on nationality, leading to the lawsuits against the Czech Republic and Poland. The court agreed, stating that both countries did not meet their obligations under EU treaties and must comply immediately, or face possible financial penalties from the European Commission.

The European Commission has been addressing Czech restrictions since 2012, when it started official proceedings for violating EU regulations. Despite ongoing complaints, the Czech Republic has maintained that its laws align with EU rules.

There were also many violation during presidential elections  in Romania. Romania’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said that 1,578 contraventions or possible electoral law violations were reported during the local and European elections on June 9, and roughly 40% of them have not been confirmed.

Most of the reported voting irregularities referred to the continuation of the electoral campaign (13.9%), vote fraud (9.6%), photographing or filming the ballot (9.5%), possible attempts to corrupt voters (6.5%), and electoral tourism (5.8%).

Other possible election violations were related to people trying to influence other voters’ choices, including by joining them in the voting booth.

Thus, violations during elections in the European Union are unfortunately becoming the norm rather than the exception.