Romania's Constitutional Court holds urgent consultations on annulment of first round of presidential election results
The judges of the Romanian Constitutional Court are set to meet urgently on Friday for consultations following a surge in requests to annul the results of the presidential elections. These requests reference documents declassified by the Supreme Council for National Defense, which suggest that the campaign of candidate Călin Georgescu was the result of external manipulation.
This meeting occurs after the Court announced on Thursday that the first four requests for annulment will be examined following the second round of elections. According to Digi24.RO, the Constitutional Court will assess whether there are sufficient grounds to prevent the second round from occurring and potentially cancel the elections altogether. If the judges decide to enter a formal session after their informal meeting, it would indicate a possibility that the elections may be annulled today.
“In response to requests from mass media representatives regarding the conduct of the presidential elections, we confirm that these petitions have been registered and will be examined under constitutional and legal provisions related to the election validation process. At this stage, under constitutional guidelines, the Court may evaluate appeals filed by qualified candidates in the upcoming second round of presidential elections”, informs the Constitutional Court.
On the previous day, the Constitutional Court received annulment requests from the National School of Political and Administrative Studies (SNSPA), the National Institute for the Study of Totalitarianism, the publication Calea Europeana, and independent candidate Cristian Terheș.
These requests have emerged following the declassification of information from a CSAT meeting that revealed Georgescu utilized supportive accounts, and various influencers were allegedly paid to promote him on social media, despite his claims of not spending any money on his electoral campaign. Consequently, the Prosecutor General’s Office has initiated an investigation in light of these documents.
Additionally, the United States has expressed concern regarding Russia's involvement in potentially harmful cyber actions aimed at influencing Romania's electoral process. The State Department has asserted that the information reported by Romanian authorities should be thoroughly investigated to ensure the integrity of the electoral process in the country.
We remind you that voting for the second round of the presidential elections in Romania started in the diaspora and will continue for three days, from today until Sunday. The first polling stations opened in Auckland, New Zealand.
Voters in the Republic of Moldova who hold Romanian citizenship can also cast their votes starting today at noon until Sunday. A total of 59 polling stations have been set up across the country, with 34 located in the central region, 17 in the north, and 8 in the south. In the final round for the Cotroceni Palace, independent candidate Călin Georgescu is competing against Elena Lasconi from the Save Romania Union formation.
