Romania’s Constitutional Court calls for recount in presidential election, delays first round verdict / Only 2,740 votes separates second and third place candidates

UPDATE 2:
The Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) announced via a press release that it had unanimously decided to recount all ballots from the first round of the presidential elections, including valid votes and nullified ones.

CCR’s Decisions:

1. To reverify and recount all ballots, including valid and null votes, from the November 24, 2024, presidential elections.
2. For the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) to forward the results of the recount to the Constitutional Court.
3. To set a court hearing for November 29, 2024, at 2:00 PM.

In the same session, the Constitutional Court unanimously rejected as inadmissible the annulment request submitted by Sebastian-Constantin Popescu (candidate in the presidential elections) due to late submission (Case no. 3672F/2024).

Regarding a separate challenge filed by Cristian Terheș (another presidential candidate), the court scheduled a new hearing for November 29, 2024, at 2:00 PM.

UPDATE 1:
The Constitutional Court postponed its decisions regarding the validation of the first-round results and the annulment request to Friday, as confirmed in an official statement. Furthermore, CCR requested the Central Electoral Bureau to recount all votes, based on a petition submitted by Cristian Terheș, as reported by G4Media.

Background:
Elena Lasconi (representing the USR party) secured second place in the first round and advanced to the runoff after surpassing Marcel Ciolacu (leader of the PSD) by 2,740 votes. Independent candidate Călin Georgescu emerged as the frontrunner.

Constitutional Court judges dismissed Sebastian Constantin Popescu’s request to annul the first-round results due to late filing. However, discussions on Cristian Terheș’s annulment request are set for Friday at 2:00 PM. CCR will validate the first-round results only after resolving annulment requests.

Details from Sources:
An official source told G4Media: „It’s almost impossible for BEC to complete the recount by tomorrow, given the 9.4 million votes involved. This means another postponement is likely.”

The recount decision stems from Cristian Terheș’s claims of irregularities, specifically corrections made in several polling stations that significantly reduced votes for Ludovic Orban. For example, vote counts for Orban reportedly dropped from 35 to 1 or 58 to 1, according to G4Media.

Cristian Terheș, currently a Member of the European Parliament, ran under the banner of the National Conservative Party and received 95,782 votes (1.04%) in the first round.

Initial Report:
The Constitutional Court began deliberations at 11:00 AM Thursday to assess the validation of the presidential election results and two annulment requests. These requests, filed by candidates Sebastian Constantin Popescu and Cristian Terheș, were based on alleged irregularities. However, Popescu’s petition was deemed inadmissible on formal grounds.

Cristian Terheș’s valid annulment claim cited corrections in polling stations affecting Ludovic Orban’s votes. These corrections were confirmed by all polling station members.

According to Romanian electoral law (Article 52), the Constitutional Court can annul elections only if fraud is proven to have altered the mandate allocation or candidate rankings.

It remains possible that CCR judges will request additional documents or information from other institutions, which could lead to further delays, per G4Media.