Romania court validates first round of presidential election News
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Romania court validates first round of presidential election

The Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) unanimously validated the results of the first round of the presidential elections on Monday.

The country’s constitutional court requested a re-verification and recount of all ballots by the Central Electoral Bureau amid allegations that TikTok provided coverage in favor of Călin Georgescu following his surprise victory on November 24, during Romania’s first round of presidential elections. Cristian Terheș, leader of the Romanian National Conservative Party, who secured 1 percent in the election, triggered the court’s request to recount all votes claiming electoral fraud. Terheș claimed that the Save Romania Union party continued campaigning after the permitted deadline, unlawfully influencing the results. The court rejected this claim as “unfounded“.

Sebastian-Constantin Popescu also requested the annulment of the results. The court rejected his claim because it was made after the November 26 deadline.

With a turnout of 51 percent, Georgescu, an independent pro-Putin candidate, secured the highest number of votes at 22.9 percent. Centre-right candidate Elena Lasconi, leader of the Save Romania Union party, achieved 19.2 percent. Since no candidate received a majority of the vote, a president cannot be declared, and a second round of voting will occur between Georgescu and Lasconi on December 8. The court confirmed the electoral process is taking place in accordance with Article 81(3) of the Constitution of Romania.

Candidates have a right to request the CCR to assess the first-round presidential election results for fraud under Law 370/2004 concerning the election of the President of Romania.

Georgescu faces Lasconi in the next round of voting on December 8. According to the Romanian newspaper Libertatea, Geogescu made controversial statements regarding the war in Ukraine and is a known supporter of Putin.

Georgescu’s unexpected rise was largely driven by his strategic use of TikTok, where he effectively rallied supporters and leveraged the platform to boost his visibility. However, TikTok’s role in his sudden surge has raised concerns, with the platform now under mounting pressure to explain how it handled political content in the country. Romanian NGOs have called on the European Commission to investigate whether TikTok and other social media platforms complied with Europe’s social media laws during the election campaign.

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