A top Romanian court has asked the official electoral authority to recount and verify all of the ballots cast in the first round of the presidential election.
The Constitutional Court in Bucharest voted unanimously in favour of the recount, and said the decision is final.
The Central Election Bureau is scheduled to meet on Thursday afternoon to discuss the request.
Calin Georgescu, a little-known, far-right populist, won the first round in the election, beating the incumbent prime minister.
Mr Georgescu, who ran independently, was due to face reformist Elena Lasconi in a December 8 run-off.
Pre-election surveys predicted he would win less than 10% of the vote.
Mr Georgescu’s unexpected success has prompted nightly protests by people who are concerned with previous remarks he has made in praise of Romanian fascist and nationalist leaders as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin, and believe he poses a threat to democracy.
The vote recount was prompted by a complaint made by Cristian Terhes, a former presidential candidate of the Romanian National Conservative Party who obtained 1% of the vote, who alleged that the USR had urged people to vote before some diaspora polls had closed on Sunday, saying it violated electoral laws against campaign activities on polling day.
After the CCR’s ruling, Mr Terhes’ press office said in a statement on Facebook that the court ordered the recount “due to indications of fraud”, and alleged Mr Terhes had “presented evidence suggesting” that valid votes cast for Ludovic Orban = who had dropped out of the race but remained on the ballot – had been reassigned to Ms Lasconi.
It is the first time in Romania’s 35-year post-communist history that the country’s most powerful party, the PSD, did not have a candidate in the second round of a presidential race. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu resigned as PSD party leader after he narrowly lost to Ms Lasconi by just 2,740 votes.
Ms Lasconi criticised the CCR’s decision, saying “Extremism is fought by voting, not backstage games.
“What the CCR is trying to do now is absolutely horrific for a democratic country,” she said.
“I am here to defend democracy and call on the Central Election Bureau to handle the vote recount wisely. The law must be the same for all, not interpreted differently for some.”
Ms Lasconi, a former journalist, had told The Associated Press ahead of the first-round vote that she saw corruption as one of Romania’s biggest issues and vowed to tackle it.
“Romania deserves better, not a group of old politicians who use institutions strictly for their personal interest,” Ms Lasconi added on Thursday.
The CCR also rejected a request by another unsuccessful first-round candidate, Sebastian Popescu, to annul the ballot.
He alleged Mr Georgescu – who declared zero campaign spending – had not disclosed financing linked to a massive TikTok campaign, which many have credited for his success.
Mr Popescu, who got 0.15% in the first round, also alleged in his appeal that Mr Georgescu had used widespread disinformation and “defrauded the electoral law by illegally financing the entire electoral campaign, having support from outside the country’s borders, from state entities with the aim of destabilizing Romania”.
Mr Georgescu, who said a network of Romanian volunteers helped his campaign, has denied any wrongdoing.
“They want to ban the right of the Romanian people to speak freely,” he told a local news channel, adding the first-round vote “was perfectly democratic and legitimate”.
