Romanian Constitutional Court Commands Recount of Presidential Election Votes Amid Controversies

Bucharest, Nov 28 (NationPress) Romania's Constitutional Court (CCR) has mandated on Thursday that the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) conduct a recount of votes from the initial round of the presidential elections.

Simultaneously, the CCR dismissed a request by candidate Sebastian Constantin Popescu to invalidate the results of the first round, citing the tardiness of the submission. However, a separate appeal for annulment submitted by Cristian Terhes is set to be reviewed on Friday.

Terhes, who is a Member of the European Parliament and represents the Romanian National Conservative Party, received 95,782 votes, which accounts for 1.04 percent of the total.

The BEC had revealed the final results of the first round on Tuesday. Independent candidate Calin Georgescu emerged as the frontrunner with 2,120,401 votes (22.94 percent), followed closely by Elena Lasconi from the Save Romania Union with 1,772,500 votes (19.18 percent). Marcel Ciolacu of the Social Democratic Party narrowly missed advancing to the second round with 1,769,760 votes (19.15 percent).

As no candidate secured an absolute majority, a runoff is scheduled for December 8, 2024. The current presidential term is set to conclude on December 21, according to the Xinhua news agency.

In addition, Romania is gearing up for parliamentary elections on December 1, which will play a crucial role in shaping the next government and prime minister.