Candidates for mayor or councillor no longer need to present a certificate of integrity
The Central Electoral Commission (CEC) and the National Integrity Authority (ANI) have announced that candidates for mayor or local councillor will no longer need to present a certificate of integrity for the upcoming elections. The new measures are provided for in the new Electoral Code, which was adopted in December 2022.
According to the Electoral Code, the certificate of integrity of candidates for mayor or local councillor will be replaced by their declaration on their own responsibility, confirming that they have not been issued any acts of verification regarding the violation of the legal regime of declaration of assets and personal interests, the legal regime of incompatibilities, conflicts of interest, restrictions and limitations, which are not prescribed.
This means that candidates will no longer need to undergo an integrity check by the ANI in order to run for office. The ANI has stated that it will not issue integrity certificates to potential candidates for the general local elections.
The new Electoral Code also provides for several other measures that will be applied for the first time in the local elections on 5 November. These include the likelihood that polling will be held over 2 days in certain precincts in exceptional cases. A ban on organised transport of voters, a lower age limit for mayoral candidates and a ban on campaign concerts have also been introduced.
The election period for the autumn elections was launched on 7 August.
The actual election campaign starts on 6 October, from which time campaigning for candidates is also allowed.
