The Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR, for its acronym in Romanian) has ordered this Thursday that the votes of the first round of the presidential elections held last Sunday be recounted – in which a pro-Russian and anti-Semitic candidate won by surprise, over the who are accused of illegal financing—to rule out suspicions of fraud. In a statement, the court has reported that it has decided, unanimously, to recount all votes, including valid ones cast and invalid ones. For now, he has decided to postpone a possible annulment of the elections requested by two of the candidates, Romanian media report.
The CCR had received two cancellation requests submitted by Cristian Terhes and Sebastian Popescu, who finished ninth and twelfth, respectively. One of them was rejected for having been submitted after the deadline, so the magistrates only dealt with Terhes’ appeal. The court will meet again on Friday to debate the validation of the elections and the request to annul the result.
A former court judge, Petre Lazaroiu, said the counting of ballots could begin between Friday and Saturday, hours before the country embarks on another election, this time legislative, on Sunday. These elections are destined to be crucial due to the fight between the European bloc and the extreme right, which sympathizes with Russia and wants to re-impose patriotic and traditional ideas as in the times between the wars, when Romania embraced Nazism and communism.
The recount represents an unprecedented decision in Romania. 9.4 million votes would have to be recounted, of which more than 2.1 million were allocated in the count in favor of Georgescu, who only campaigned on the social network TikTok, attracting especially young people, a segment of the population fed up with the vagaries of the rulers and the slow growth of the country that barely reaches ordinary citizens.
In addition, the magistrates have contacted the National Security and Defense Council (CSAT), which also meets this Thursday to address the influence of the social network in the elections, and the Central Electoral Office. They will also examine how the campaign was financed, but also whether it influenced the voters’ decision.
If it is proven that there has been illegal financing, Georgescu could be eliminated in the race for head of state before his confrontation with Elena Lasconi, the center-right and pro-European candidate who also surprised by coming second.
The outgoing head of state, Klaus Iohannis, has limited himself to calling a meeting to analyze the situation with the secret services, of which there are at least six, since almost every ministry has one, while the former president Traian Basescu (2004-2014 ) has been one of the most critical in recent days. “In Romania anything is possible, it is clear that elections have become an unpredictable affair, which is very serious for democracy. “The elections should be carried out to the end, they should go ahead.”
Basescu also considers the elimination prior to the elections of the far-right MEP Diana Sosoaca from the presidential electoral race a mistake: “The CCR was complicit in eliminating Diana Sosoaca, I hope we are not making this a practice,” he told Digi24.
Illegal financing accusations
“The result of the presidential elections of November 24, 2024 was established after fraud committed by the independent candidate Calin Georgescu, who violated Law 334/2006 on the financing of the electoral campaign (…), hid the sources of financing, deceived the electorate through a massive online campaign promoting himself as the messianic man who fights with his own hands and with ZERO lei (Romanian currency) campaign money with the entire political system in Romania,” said Popescu, of the New Romania Party, which is asking the judges to invalidate the electoral result. “He promoted himself as the correct and honest candidate, good only to be voted for by Romanians, while he defrauded the electoral law by illegally financing the entire campaign, counting on support outside the country’s borders, from state entities with the aim of destabilizing Romania. ”he added.
Terhes, president of the Romanian National Conservative Party, demanded the annulment, alleging that representatives of the Save Romania Union, which backs Lasconi, continued the election campaign after it was no longer legal to do so and that there were irregularities in the votes cast. As for Georgescu, he also has suspicions: “We also saw a series of bots on the internet that continually called on people to go to the polls and vote with a certain candidate, both before the vote, which is prohibited, and, especially, on voting day. Now, the difference between him, who came in first place, and the person classified in second place is quite large; It is up to the CCR to evaluate whether or not the way in which the respective campaign was carried out, which cannot be denied, has influenced the outcome of the elections.”
“We are heading towards a catastrophe if the CCR judges decide to annul the first round and eliminate Georgescu, it would be a big mistake. It would martyr him, turn him into Jesus Christ and generate the risk of widespread citizen mobilization. Georgescu’s supporters have already announced it,” explains political analyst Dan Tapalaga.
“Canceling the elections and possibly removing Georgescu from the competition would fuel the conspiracies of all the sovereignist” and “anti-establishment” parties three days before the parliamentary elections. A few days later, in the vote, it would blow up Romania with dramatic consequences,” he continues before warning that the big parties risk being crushed by a massive protest vote. And it warns that “the demonstrations organized by both sides (anti and pro-European) could carry a real risk of serious social unrest and, in turn, political and social instability.”
