Romania’s Constitutional Court on Thursday asked the Central Electoral Office to recount the votes from the first round of the presidential election, won by ultranationalist and pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu.
The Constitutional Court has moved from today to Friday the session during which it plans to examine two appeals requesting the annulment of the results.
The Court also requested additional information on possible irregularities in the financing of the campaign of Georgescu, who officially declared that he had not spent funds on his electoral promotion, despite intense electoral activity on social networks .
The decision to repeat the recount of the 9.4 million votes cast last Sunday is unprecedented and could also affect the candidates who compete in the second round and the actual date of the elections.
In addition to Georgescu, who obtained almost 23% of the vote, the pro-European Elena Lasconi advanced to the second round with 19%, but with only 2,740 votes difference over Marcel Ciolacu, prime minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party ( PSD). ).
Ciolacu has already announced his resignation as social democratic leader after being excluded from the second round.
The president of the Permanent Electoral Authority, Toni Grebla, also recalled that the campaign for the second round will begin after the Constitutional Court has validated the two candidates having obtained the most votes, he explained to the agency Agerpres.
This means that the second round, initially scheduled for December 8, will be held on another date once the two candidates are validated after the new count.
Concerning the appeals for annulment, one of them, presented by the presidential candidate Cristian Vasile Terheș, claims that the electoral process was marred by irregularities, notably the lack of transparency in the financing of the campaign and possible interference exterior.
A second appeal was rejected for having been filed out of time, according to the Adevarul newspaper.
Lasconi and Ilie Bolojan, interim leader of the PNL, the largest center-right party, urged the Constitutional Court to act with the greatest responsibility and called for respecting the popular vote.
According to the two politicians, ignoring the legitimate results could generate a serious crisis of confidence in the country’s democratic institutions.
In recent hours, accusations against Georgescu have increased over how he financed his campaign, with fears of possible Russian interference due to his speech against NATO and the European Union (EU).
The Permanent Electoral Authority on Thursday asked the Prosecutor’s Office to investigate Georgescu over suspicions that he did not disclose his expenses or contributions to his campaign.
Georgescu told AEP he had no contributions or expenses.
“This is a situation that deserves a thorough investigation, because it contradicts the usual dynamics of electoral campaigns,” said AEP President Toni Grebla.
The AEP revealed on Wednesday the expenses of the presidential candidates and Georgescu’s non-existent expenses contrast with the more than three million euros invested by Lasconi.
Meanwhile, outgoing President Klaus Iohannis called an urgent meeting of the country’s Supreme Defense Council (CSAT) to determine whether cyberattacks, possibly orchestrated by external actors, could have influenced the electoral process.
