Raed Arafat: The condition for banning access to vote in local elections

Raed Arafat, the head of the DSU, published today a post on Facebook explaining a series of information that has spread in the public space, and among them he lists a rule for those who vote, access to the voting booths will be prohibited those without a mask, but allowed if they wear a mask, which in the current context is perfectly normal.

"Seeing that Romania TV, for several hours, has been posting and talking about "Arafat's order" which violates the constitution and which prevents people from voting, I considered it appropriate to clarify the following aspects:

Decision 45 of the National Committee for Emergency Situations (CNSU) was issued today, which includes the hygiene and protection rules for voting day.

Also today at the government meeting, based on the CNSU decision, the government decision adopting the respective rules was adopted, following which a joint application order of the Min. Health and Min. Internal Affairs.

The established rules include wearing a mask in the polling station for everyone inside the polling station, including voters. Thus wearing the mask becomes mandatory through the effect of the legal provisions approved by the government.

During the press conference after the government meeting, one of the journalists present asked me the hypothetical question if a person who does not want to wear a mask in the polling station can enter to vote. And my answer was no, from the moment when a normative act was issued a few minutes earlier that clearly provides the rules. Especially since at the voting stations, according to Law 135/2020, there will be reserves of masks for those who come to the voting station without a mask.

So to conclude:
1. This is not an order of Arafat!
2. It is about a normative act issued at the level of the government based on the CNSU decision and the recommendations of public health specialists.
3. No one will be prevented from voting, but wearing a mask inside the polling station is one of the minimum measures necessary to protect the committee that will be inside the station for hours on end as well as the voters who will be inside the station waiting to reach ballot boxes.
4. If someone does not want to wear a protective mask inside the section, it means that he will risk the lives of those around him, including the members of the voting committee. In this case, the president of the commission will have to respect the law and not allow those without a mask to enter the voting station, and at the entrance there must be a reserve of masks in case someone for one reason or another does not have a mask, so as provided by Law 135 / 2020.

The attempt to create a false scandal through unfounded accusations and statements against me and the insistence to present myself in the false position of a person who violates the Constitution and the Law, and who prevents citizens from voting, is far from being a journalistic approach at any level being only about a manipulation and distortion of the truth."