Romanian Constitutional Court orders recount of first round of presidential election

The Romanian Constitutional Court ordered a recount of the votes in the first round of the presidential election on Thursday, November 28, after the surprise qualification of a pro-Russian nationalist candidate, and the elimination of the prime minister.

The court, seized of a request for cancellation of the vote by another candidate, “unanimously ordered the verification and recount of all ballots”according to a press release.

The Court will meet again on Friday

The Court is scheduled to reconvene on Friday at 2 p.m. (1 p.m. French time). Cristian Terhes, a nationalist MEP who came in ninth place in Sunday's vote, accuses one of the parties of having continued to campaign online after the authorized deadline.

He believes that this may have favored Elena Lasconi, centrist mayor of a small town, who came in second place, just ahead of Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu who found himself excluded from the race even though he was the favorite.

The Constitutional Court also rejected another appeal, received “lately”which denounced the opaque financing of the campaign of Calin Georgescu, who unexpectedly arrived at the head of the first round.

Shock wave in Romania

This former senior Romanian official, admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin and opposed to aid to Ukraine, was able to convince with a campaign on TikTok that went viral, which raised questions from the Romanian authorities.

These results caused a shock wave in the Eastern European country of 19 million inhabitants. Neighboring Ukraine, this member of the EU and NATO had until now resisted nationalist positions, distancing itself from Hungary or Slovakia.

The second round of the presidential election is scheduled for December 8, after the legislative elections on Sunday 1st.