Romania’s Constitutional Court has called for a recount of all ballots from the first round of Sunday’s presidential election, throwing the country’s political scene into turmoil.
The Central Electoral Bureau will meet later today to decide the next steps. Meanwhile, a crucial decision on whether to certify or cancel the election has been delayed until Friday, meaning the two leading candidates, ultranationalist Călin Georgescu and liberal Elena Lasconi, can’t yet start campaigning for the December 8 runoff.
The delay comes after two of the original 13 candidates requested the court nullify the results, citing alleged fraud. Cristian Terheș, a member of the European Parliament with around 1% of the vote, claimed votes from a candidate who had dropped out were illegally transferred to Lasconi.
Another plaintiff, Sebastian Constantin Popescu, accused Georgescu of hiding his campaign finances. Georgescu, who unexpectedly performed well in the first round, insisted he spent no money on his campaign, though authorities have investigated his undeclared campaign posters. The court rejected Popescu’s late request, while moving forward with the recount based on Terheș’s complaint.
