The Constitutional Court of Romania unanimously decided to count all valid and invalid ballots in the first round of the presidential election.
Points of attention
- The Constitutional Court of Romania decided to count all valid and invalid ballots in the first round of the presidential election due to the scandal with falsifications.
- The annulment of the results of the first round may result in a repeat vote as per Romanian law, potentially impacting the election outcome and changing the course of the presidential race.
- Far-right politician Celin Georgescu and liberal pro-European candidate Elena Lasconi emerged as the leading candidates in the controversial election, triggering legal challenges and demands for a recount.
- With the current president ineligible for participation due to term limits, the upcoming second round of the presidential elections on December 8 will determine Romania's new state leader for the next 5 years.
- The role of the President of Romania encompasses crucial powers in national security and foreign policy, making the election process and its outcome of paramount importance for the country's governance.
In Romania, the results of the first round of presidential elections will be annulled
This was reported by the press service of the court.
It is about more than 9 million ballots. The decision was made after the complaint of the failed presidential candidate Christian Terges, who accused the Election Center of falsifications regarding the votes of candidate Elena Lasconi.
At the same time, the court rejected the complaint filed by the candidate Sebastian Popescu regarding the fraud committed by the candidate Celin Georgescu.
A new session of the Constitutional Court will be held on November 29 at 14:00 to decide on the request to annul the first round of the presidential elections, submitted by the candidate of the National Conservative Party of Romania, Christian Terges.
All decisions of the Constitutional Court are final.
According to Romanian laws, in the event of annulment of the election result by the Constitutional Court, a repeat vote will be held on the second Sunday after the date of annulment.
The head of the Permanent Electoral Body, Tony Greble, said live on Digi 24 that a recount can be carried out if there is strong evidence. He emphasized that there are more than 9 million ballots currently in the archives of the district courts to be recounted, and the recount cannot be done in a few hours or days.
Presidential elections in Romania: what is known
Presidential elections were held in Romania on November 24. 13 candidates applied for the post of state leader. The current president, Klaus Iohannis, has been in office for two terms, so he could not participate in the elections.
Far-right politician Celin Georgescu and liberal pro-European candidate Elena Lasconi advanced to the second round of the presidential elections, ahead of incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Čolaka by 0.03 percent, which is about 2,700 votes.
According to the results of counting 100% of the voters' votes, Georgescu received 22.94% of the votes in the first round. Lasconi has 19.18%
Two of the candidates who were eliminated in the first round contested the results of the elections in the Supreme Court of Romania. They demand the annulment of the voting results on the grounds that Georgescu allegedly did not report the sources of funding for his election campaign.
To win immediately in the first round, it was necessary to get more than 50% of the votes. Since no candidate won the majority of votes in the first round, the second round will be scheduled for December 8.
The President of Romania is the head of state and commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces. He is elected for 5 years and has significant powers in matters of national security and foreign policy.
