September 2026: Announcing the First Global Elections in connection with the XV Congress September 13, 2026

By Abigail of Newbury

The Roma Nation Goes to the Polls
First Global Elections open 31 October — register now at romamandate.org
For the first time in our history, Romani people on five continents will have an opportunity to participate in the election of a new-style of collective leadership through a single common vote.

Election Week runs from Friday 31 October to Thursday 6 November 2026, in connection with the XV World Roma Congress. Eighteen candidates — nine women and nine men, drawn from many countries and bakcgrounds— are standing together on a single ballot paper. They are candidates for the recept of a unique Mandate made of votes from around the world.
If you do one thing today, do this: register to vote at romamandate.org. Registration takes minutes. Every name added to the roll is an addition to the strength of a newly-emerging Roma-owned process, the Democratic Transition.

Why this election matters
For ten years, the Democratic Transition team has worked toward a single objective: an independent Romani electoral system, run by Romani people, answerable to Romani voters.

That independence is meant literally. This is an entirely self-directed initiative, with no institutional sponsor, no government backing and no third-party funders. Nothing about the election has been shaped to satisfy a grant condition, a donor’s priorities or an outside agenda. The system belongs to the people who vote in it, and to nobody else.

We are a nation of many communities, many dialects, many histories — and, too often, many separate voices speaking past one another. That fragmentation has been used against us for centuries. When governments and international bodies ask who speaks for the Roma, we have had passionate advocates, but no one able to answer: the voters do.

This election begins to change that. It is not designed as a competitive contest. It is designed as an act of collective enfranchisement — the construction of a new style of collective leadership that draws its authority from the people it represents, and a democratic machinery that can be mobilised whenever our communities need it.

Anti-Romani racism remains entrenched across Europe and beyond: in evictions, in policing, in segregated schooling, in the treatment of migrants and nomadic families. A leadership with a demonstrable mandate is not a symbolic improvement. It is a practical instrument for confronting all of it.

How to take part
There are two ways to cast your vote.

Online. Voters enlisted at romamandate.org will vote electronically through our electoral platform, with balloting administered via ElectionBuddy. Register in advance to receive your ballot.

In person. Some forty voting stations are planned,with further locations expected to be announced before Election Week. Details of stations and their opening arrangements will be published as they are finalised.

At the close of voting, all results are transmitted to vote@romamandate.org. After a due process of checking and formulation, they will be made public. Although the election is not competitive, the number of votes cast for each candidate will be compiled and published.

The Candidates
Eighteen Candidate stand on the ballot paper — nine women and nine men.

Osman Balic – 27 years of activism with Liga Roma and Roma Niš; member of the Academy of Sciences; Nardi Casanova – Brazilian Roma Federation; works for the security of nomadic life, education and welfare; Mariola Cuenca – Based at the University of Seville; writes for Journal Ameri; promotes women’s rights;  Felicia Derosa – Democratic Transition team; delegate at the Berlin Congress; artist, works in medical care; Aleksandra Manov – Deputy Director of the largest school in the Fakulteta district of Sofia; promotes sports; Zuhal Gezicier – Director of Dom Research; promotes identity, culture and self-representation; Asen Kolev – Member of United Civic Initiatives OGI, with priorities in education, jobs, housing and welfare;  Iliya Kostov – civic leader; chair of the Bulgarian-based Europe Foundation;
Michael Marks – Veteran community leader with municipal experience and a large reach in the United States; Simona Lazar – Roma Union Voice UK, pressing for residence rights for migrants; liaises with groups in Romania;  Daniela Magureanu – Heads the women’s section at Romania’s Partida Romilor; holds education to be the key to progress;
Toma Mladenov – Leads Congress hosts Civic Initiatives; edits RiaDefacto; founder of the Roma London Group;
Adnan Mushtaq – With the Asian Roma Union; runs a medical centre in Pakistan; works with nomadic tribes;  Andris Tertats – From Latvia; holds a psychology degree; connects with Roma everywhere and wants to see more done in the medical field, both physical and mental;  Sabiha Souleiman – 20 years an activist; heads Elipa Greece: self-representation, education, Roma recognition;  Sherrie Smith – Co-founder of Drive2Survive; preserves Traveller life and the rights of Roma migrants;  Mark Adams – His vision: to honour tradition while building new democratic forms;  Viktoria Mohacsi – Former Hungarian MEP, formerly with the European Roma Rights Centre, Brussels; seeks a return to the EU as lobbyist.

Candidates serve as Delegates to the XV Congress and are expected to play a leading part in its proceedings. For those unable to travel to Bulgaria — visa difficulties have already arisen for delegates from Asia — facilities are being provided for full online participation.

A three-Congress strategy
These first elections representing a pioneering start to a longer endeavour. They form the opening stage of a three-Congress strategy, under which the franchise will be steadily broadened over the coming years, leading up to the 60-year Diamond Jubilee of the World Roma Congress in 2031.

The Congress is expected to authorise the formation of a Standing Election Commission, placing the electoral system on a permanent footing.

Every voter enrolled now strengthens what comes after. Candidates are asked to conduct their own election campaigns; committed organisations are expected to carry the registration link to their members; families may encourage  their neighbours.
The resulting, ever growing Electoral Roll will be a lasting instrument in the ongoing quest to achieve parity, a voice and influence appropriate to our burgeoning numbers in a world darkened by threats and uncertainty; it will be there to assist in mobilization when the need arises.

OPRE ROMA

Issued in connection with the XV World Roma Congress by the ad hoc Democratic Transition team.