Romania Recounting Votes in Presidential Election, CEC Expects First Round to Be Repeated
On Thursday, Romania's Constitutional Court ordered the Central Election Commission to recount all votes in the first round of the presidential election. The decision was published on the court's website.
The decision was made at the end of a two-hour hearing on a complaint filed by presidential candidate Cristian Terhes, who accused the CEC of falsifying the votes of another candidate, Elena Lasconi.
The court also asked the CEC to provide the results of the recount.
On 29 November, the Constitutional Court will hold another hearing. It will consider another request from Terhes - to cancel the results of the first round of the presidential election.
According to Radio Romania Actualitati, the head of the electoral commission, Toni Greble, said that the recount has already begun and that the first round of the presidential election in Romania could be held again if the Constitutional Court decides to cancel the vote on 24 November.
‘Some districts will complete the recount today and the results will be transmitted as soon as possible to the Constitutional Court so that it can decide whether to declare the elections valid or invalid and to organise the first round of voting for the presidential election on 15 December, with the second round to be held on 29 December,’ Greble said.
He noted that the Constitutional Court could invalidate the elections if there is evidence that the election procedure was inadequate to the extent that it ultimately affected the order of political competitors.
The Romanian authorities stated that they had evidence of interference in the election campaign by hostile actors.
The far-right and pro-Russian politician, 62-year-old Calin Georgescu, won in the first round, raising questions about how such a surprise could have been possible.
The country's Supreme Defence Council said it had evidence of interference and that Romania was being targeted by hostile forces such as Russia. It is also claimed that TikTok gave Georgescu more attention and did not force him to label content as political. TikTok has denied these allegations.