Romanian Constitutional Court orders presidential vote recount amid election disputes

Bucharest, Nov 28 Romania's Constitutional Court (CCR) has ordered on Thursday the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) to recount votes from the first round of the presidential election.

At the same time, the CCR rejected a petition by candidate Sebastian Constantin Popescu to annul the first round results, citing late submission of the request. However, a separate annulment appeal filed by Cristian Terhes is scheduled for deliberation on Friday.

Terhes, a Member of the European Parliament and a candidate for the Romanian National Conservative Party, garnered 95,782 votes, representing 1.04 per cent of the total.

The BEC had announced the final first-round results on Tuesday. Independent candidate Calin Georgescu secured the lead with 2,120,401 votes (22.94 per cent), followed by Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union with 1,772,500 votes (19.18 per cent). Marcel Ciolacu of the Social Democratic Party narrowly missed advancing to the second round, receiving 1,769,760 votes (19.15 per cent).

Since no candidate achieved an absolute majority, a runoff is set for Dec. 8, 2024. The current presidential term will conclude on December 21, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, Romania is also preparing for parliamentary elections on December 1, which will determine the composition of the next government and prime minister.

Source: IANS