# Parliament by ID card: Romania’s 2024 deputies, shared among counties by the ID-card addresses of 1 January 2015

Romania’s 2024 parliamentary election

Ilfov, the county around Bucharest, has one deputy per 112,967 residents; Tulcea has one per 47,749. Each county’s number of deputies (308 home seats of 331) matches exactly, and only, how many people had their ID-card address there on 1 January 2015. The population by domicile, meaning by ID-card address, is 2.9 million higher than the number of people who live in Romania (INS, 1 January 2023).

## Each dot is a deputy

The map shows the 308 deputies elected on 1 December 2024 in Romania’s 41 counties and in Bucharest, each in its own county. How many seats each county gets is written in an annex to Law 208/2015, the parliamentary election law.

Four more seats belong to Romanians living abroad, the group on the left of the map, and 19 to national minorities. In all, the Chamber has 331 deputies.

## The count was made from ID cards, in January 2015

The law gives one deputy per 73,000 inhabitants, plus one for a remainder above half that, with at least four per county. By “inhabitants” it means the population by domicile: people counted at the address in their identity card, wherever they actually live.

Applied to the figures of Romania’s National Institute of Statistics (INS) for every year from 2008 to 2026, the rule reproduces the annex exactly, in all 42 constituencies, only for 1 January 2015.

## For 2024, the law called for 2023 figures

The same law says seats are based on the population on 1 January of the year before a regular election. For the 2016 election that meant 2015. The annex was never changed afterwards, so the 2020 and 2024 elections ran on the same numbers.

On 2023 ID cards there would have been 301 deputies, not 308, and 15 constituencies would have had a different number: Iași and Ilfov with two more each, Bucharest with one more, while 12 counties would have had one fewer each. Dashed circles are missing seats; hollow dots are extra seats.

## The ID-card population is 2.9 million higher than the number of people living in Romania

Domicile is the address in the ID card, and INS says where a person actually lives plays no part in counting it. On 1 January 2023 Romania had 21,953,617 people by domicile and 19,055,228 by usual residence: the people who live in the country.

Counting the people who live in each county, the same rule would give 268 deputies, 40 fewer. Of those, 7 come from the old figures and 33 from the gap between ID-card addresses and where people live. Ilfov is the only county with more residents than ID-card addresses: its residents would give it 8 seats; it has 5.

## The same 308 seats, shared by the people who live there

If Parliament kept 308 home deputies but shared the seats by the people in each county, 13 constituencies would change. Ilfov would have 9 deputies instead of 5.

Călărași, Cluj, Dâmbovița and Timiș would gain one each. Brăila, Bucharest, Buzău, Caraș-Severin, Galați, Neamț, Vaslui and Vâlcea would lose one each.

## How far each county is from the European rule

The Venice Commission, the Council of Europe’s advisory body on constitutional and electoral law, recommends that a seat should represent no more than 10% above or below the average, and certainly not more than 15%, except in special circumstances: a concentrated minority or a thinly populated administrative unit. The distribution of seats must be reviewed at least every ten years.

Measured on the law’s own criterion, the 2023 ID-card population, a deputy from Ilfov represents 39% more people than the average, and one from Iași 16% more. Tulcea, Covasna and Sălaj are below −15% because of the legal minimum of four deputies: without it they would have three each. The Code allows exceptions for thinly populated units, but does not say whether a minimum of four qualifies. Counting the people who live there, Ilfov’s gap reaches +83%, and Caraș-Severin, which has five deputies, is at −21%.

At the 2024 election the annex’s figures were 9.9 years old. If the annex stays as it is, the next regular election, due in 2028, would run on figures almost 14 years old.

## Romanians abroad: 4 deputies for 775,509 votes

Romanians abroad cast 775,509 votes for the Chamber of Deputies, or 193,877 per deputy. In Tulcea it was 20,017 per deputy, 9.7 times fewer. There is no counted population of Romanians abroad, so votes are the only common measure.

If all 312 seats were shared by the votes cast in 2024, Romanians abroad would have 25 deputies. The number depends on turnout, so another election would give another result.

## Does this change how many seats each party wins?

Parties win seats in two stages. First, in each constituency, every party above the electoral threshold takes one seat for every whole “quota” of votes. The votes left over in all 43 constituencies are then pooled nationally and shared out among the parties. That is how 124 of the 312 seats were allocated in 2024.

So a vote cast in Ilfov or abroad still counts towards its party even where the constituency has too few deputies. What the annex decides is how many deputies come from your county, and how many people each of them represents.

## The Senate: the same annex

Senators are shared out the same way, one per 168,000 inhabitants with at least two per county. Their numbers also match the ID-card population of 1 January 2015, but equally that of 2012–2016, so on their own they could not date the annex. On 2023 ID cards, 7 counties would have a different number of senators: Iași, Ilfov, Suceava and Timiș one more each; Constanța, Mureș and Olt one fewer each.

## Why the seats were never updated

The law contains two provisions that do not fit together. Article 5 calls for the population on 1 January of the year before an election, while the same article says the number of seats is the one in the annex. The annex is part of the law, so only another law can change it.

After the 2020 election, the OSCE/ODIHR assessment mission recommended recalculating the seats before every election, as the law requires. The bills filed in the Senate in 2020 and 2022 dealt only with the seats of Romanians abroad; neither recalculated the counties’ seats. Also in 2020, an emergency ordinance doubled the seats abroad to 8 deputies and 4 senators, but the Constitutional Court struck the whole ordinance down (Decision 150/2020), and the old annex stayed.

A bill from March 2025 that would set the seats per constituency anew (L117/2025) was rejected by the Senate in June 2025 and went to the Chamber of Deputies, which has the final say. On the official legislation portal, the law’s latest amendment took effect in October 2024 and touches neither article 5 nor the annex (checked on 30 October 2026).

## How this was calculated, and what it does not show

Seats are those in Annex 1 of Law 208/2015, identical in the 2015 text and in the consolidated text AEP published in October 2024. The article 5 rule was applied to the population by domicile published by INS (table POP107D) for every year from 2008 to 2026; the 2015 figures are those INS publishes today for that year.

“The people who live there” are the usually-resident population on 1 January 2023 (INS, POP105A), the same date as the domicile population used for comparison. It includes foreign citizens living in Romania, and the gap from the ID-card count cannot be split by cause: some of it is people who emigrated, some people who moved to another county without changing their ID card.

For “the same 308 seats”, seats were shared in proportion by the largest-remainder method, keeping the legal minimum of four per county. The share by votes uses every vote cast for the Chamber of Deputies, including abroad, again with the minimum of four, and depends on turnout; without the minimum, Romanians abroad would get 26 seats rather than 25.

These numbers show how many deputies each constituency has and how many people each represents. They do not show what a vote is worth to the parties: part of the seats is shared out nationally, from votes pooled across the country and abroad.

## How many people one deputy represents, county by county

- Alba: 5 deputies for 325,838 residents, or 65,168 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 5.
- Arad: 7 deputies for 410,451 residents, or 58,636 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 7.
- Argeș: 9 deputies for 565,747 residents, or 62,861 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 9.
- Bacău: 10 deputies for 597,504 residents, or 59,750 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 10.
- Bihor: 9 deputies for 554,016 residents, or 61,557 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 9.
- Bistrița-Năsăud: 5 deputies for 296,140 residents, or 59,228 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 5.
- Botoșani: 6 deputies for 389,815 residents, or 64,969 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 6.
- Brașov: 9 deputies for 552,813 residents, or 61,424 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 9.
- Brăila: 5 deputies for 277,021 residents, or 55,404 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would get 4.
- Bucharest: 29 deputies for 1,724,966 residents, or 59,482 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would get 28.
- Buzău: 7 deputies for 400,823 residents, or 57,260 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would get 6.
- Caraș-Severin: 5 deputies for 244,904 residents, or 48,981 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would get 4.
- Cluj: 10 deputies for 688,844 residents, or 68,884 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would get 11.
- Constanța: 11 deputies for 657,055 residents, or 59,732 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 11.
- Covasna: 4 deputies for 199,795 residents, or 49,949 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 4.
- Călărași: 4 deputies for 280,468 residents, or 70,117 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would get 5.
- Dolj: 10 deputies for 599,631 residents, or 59,963 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 10.
- Dâmbovița: 7 deputies for 477,197 residents, or 68,171 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would get 8.
- Galați: 9 deputies for 494,280 residents, or 54,920 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would get 8.
- Giurgiu: 4 deputies for 258,751 residents, or 64,688 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 4.
- Gorj: 5 deputies for 311,301 residents, or 62,260 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 5.
- Harghita: 5 deputies for 291,810 residents, or 58,362 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 5.
- Hunedoara: 6 deputies for 357,563 residents, or 59,594 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 6.
- Ialomița: 4 deputies for 249,852 residents, or 62,463 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 4.
- Iași: 12 deputies for 774,025 residents, or 64,502 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 12.
- Ilfov: 5 deputies for 564,833 residents, or 112,967 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would get 9.
- Maramureș: 7 deputies for 451,728 residents, or 64,533 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 7.
- Mehedinți: 4 deputies for 231,398 residents, or 57,850 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 4.
- Mureș: 8 deputies for 519,395 residents, or 64,924 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 8.
- Neamț: 8 deputies for 449,345 residents, or 56,168 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would get 7.
- Olt: 6 deputies for 378,567 residents, or 63,095 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 6.
- Prahova: 11 deputies for 691,246 residents, or 62,841 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 11.
- Romanians abroad: 4 deputies for 775,509 votes in 2024, or 193,877 per deputy; at home the average is 28,179.
- Satu Mare: 5 deputies for 330,662 residents, or 66,132 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 5.
- Sibiu: 6 deputies for 391,433 residents, or 65,239 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 6.
- Suceava: 10 deputies for 642,275 residents, or 64,228 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 10.
- Sălaj: 4 deputies for 210,652 residents, or 52,663 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 4.
- Teleorman: 5 deputies for 318,043 residents, or 63,609 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 5.
- Timiș: 10 deputies for 658,515 residents, or 65,852 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would get 11.
- Tulcea: 4 deputies for 190,994 residents, or 47,749 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 4.
- Vaslui: 7 deputies for 371,464 residents, or 53,066 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would get 6.
- Vrancea: 5 deputies for 333,154 residents, or 66,631 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would still get 5.
- Vâlcea: 6 deputies for 340,914 residents, or 56,819 per deputy, against a national average of 61,868. If the same 308 seats were shared by the people who live in each county, it would get 5.

## Sources

- [Law 208/2015, consolidated text, Permanent Electoral Authority (October 2024)](https://roaep.ro/legislatie/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Legea-nr.-208-2015-consolidata.pdf)
- [INS, TEMPO POP107D: population by domicile on 1 January, by county](http://statistici.insse.ro:8077/tempo-online/#/pages/tables/insse-table)
- [INS, TEMPO POP105A: usually-resident population on 1 January, by county](http://statistici.insse.ro:8077/tempo-online/#/pages/tables/insse-table)
- [AEP, final results for the Chamber of Deputies, 1 December 2024](https://prezenta.roaep.ro/parlamentare01122024/)
- [Central Electoral Bureau, seat-allocation record (RM_1), 6 December 2024](https://parlamentare2024.bec.ro/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/RM_1.pdf)
- [Venice Commission, Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters, CDL-AD(2002)023rev2-cor, point I.2.2](https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.aspx?pdffile=CDL-AD(2002)023rev2-cor-e)
- [Portal Legislativ: Law 208/2015, amendment history](https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocument/170037)
- [Constitutional Court, Decision 150/2020 on Emergency Ordinance 26/2020](https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocumentAfis/223859)
- [Romanian Senate, bill L117/2025, procedure record](https://www.senat.ro/legis/lista.aspx?an_cls=2025&nr_cls=L117)
- [OSCE/ODIHR, final report on the 6 December 2020 parliamentary elections](https://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/romania/481349)