The Constitutional Court of Romania ordered a recount of votes in the presidential elections.

The Romanian Constitutional Court appeals to the Central Electoral Commission to verify the results of the presidential elections

The Constitutional Court of Romania has decided to appeal to the Central Electoral Commission in order to verify and recount all ballots, including valid and invalid ones, in the country's presidential elections. This information was reported by the Constitutional Court of Romania itself.

According to the report, on November 28, 2024, a plenary session of the Constitutional Court reviewed the appeal of one of the participants in the race, candidate Cristian Tergesh, regarding the annulment of the presidential elections held on November 24, 2024.

«The court has decided to conduct a re-check and recount of all ballots, including valid and invalid,» the message states.

Moreover, the court unanimously rejected another candidate Sebastian Popescu's request for annulment of the elections.

It should be noted that candidates Sebastian Popescu and Cristian Tergesh appealed to the Constitutional Court of Romania requesting to annul the results of the first round of the presidential elections. Popescu claimed an unfair victory for the far-right candidate Kelín Gheorhescu, whom he accuses of violating campaign financing rules, hiding the origin of funds, and manipulating through TikTok. According to him, such activity may be supported from abroad, in particular through TikTok's Chinese office, aiming to destabilize Romania. Tergesh, for his part, stated about violations of electoral rules during the campaign in support of pro-European candidate Elena Lascu, who advanced to the second round.

If the Constitutional Court annuls the election results, under Romanian law, new voting must take place within two weeks after such decision.

The ultra-nationalist candidate topped the presidential elections in Romania

Unexpectedly, in the presidential elections in Romania, the ultra-nationalist candidate Kelín Gheorhescu came out on top. He claimed that the EU and NATO do not adequately represent Romanian interests, alleging that the war in Ukraine, which borders Romania, is manipulated by American military companies. He also considered himself a supporter of Russian culture and called Putin «a man who loves his country».

In this context, the Prime Minister of Romania Marcel Ciolacu submitted a resignation statement from the position of head of the Social Democratic Party. This occurred after his failure to advance to the second round of the presidential elections, in which he placed third. Pro-European candidate Elena Lascu called to support her candidacy to prevent Romania from falling back under Russian influence.