GROSARU v. ROMANIA JUDGMENT 4 Article 4 “1. Legally constituted organisations of citizens belonging to a single national minority which fail to obtain at least one seat in the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate are entitled, jointly, to one seat in the Chamber of Deputies, in accordance with Article 59 § 2 of the Constitution, provided that their share of the vote is at least 5% of the average number of validly cast votes at national level for the election of a deputy. 2. Organisations of citizens belonging to national minorities participating in elections shall be accorded the same legal status as political parties for the purposes of the electoral process. 3. Organisations of citizens belonging to national minorities having participated in elections on the joint list of the organisations in question shall also be covered by the provisions of paragraph 1; in the event that none of the candidates appearing on the joint list is elected, a seat in the Chamber of Deputies shall be allocated to all the organisations having proposed the list, in compliance with the provisions of paragraph 1. 4. The provisions of paragraph 3 shall not apply to organisations of citizens belonging to national minorities having taken part in elections on a joint list with a political party or another political grouping or which have participated both on the joint lists referred to in paragraph 3 and on their own lists. 5. The seat in the Chamber of Deputies allocated in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 3 shall be allocated in addition to the total number of seats. ...” Article 24 “1. The Central Electoral Office shall be composed of seven judges of the Supreme Court of Justice and sixteen representatives of the parties, political groupings and coalitions participating in the elections. 2. Within five days of an election date being set, the President of the Supreme Court of Justice shall appoint the seven judges from amongst those serving at the court, in a public session and by the drawing of lots. A record shall be made of the result of the draw which shall be signed by the President of the Supreme Court of Justice and which shall serve as confirmation. The President of the Supreme Court of Justice shall give at least forty-eight hours’ notice in the press of the date of the session. 3. Within twenty-four hours of their confirmation, the appointed judges shall select the president of the Central Electoral Office from among their number, by secret ballot. The office thus composed, which is then joined by representatives of the parties, political groupings and coalitions, shall perform all the duties incumbent upon it in accordance with this Law. 4. In the two days following expiry of the time-limit in which to put forward a candidate, the parties, political groupings and coalitions participating in the elections shall inform the Central Electoral Office in writing of the number of lists submitted in