The Romanian Supreme Court on Thursday (November 28) ordered a recount of the first round of the presidential election. Romanian security agencies have warned that there may be attempts by hostile countries to interfere with the election results using the internet.
One of the most controversial figures is the 62-year-old pro-Russian independent candidate, Calin Georgescu, who opposes aid to Ukraine, criticizes NATO, and praises Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Georgescu had only single-digit support in polls before Sunday’s vote. Yet, he surprisingly won in the first round of the election, raising questions about the unexpected outcome.
According to the original election schedule, Georgescu will face centrist candidate Elena Lasconi in the second round of voting on December 8. Meanwhile, parliamentary elections are set to be held this Sunday.
On Thursday, the Romanian Constitutional Court took action on a complaint filed by a disqualified candidate alleging irregularities in certain constituencies.
Subsequently, the Supreme Council of National Defense in Romania stated that an analysis revealed a candidate benefited from “mass exposure” and “preferential treatment” on the social media platform TikTok. The group believes this violates Romanian election laws.
The Supreme Council of National Defense is the country’s top security body, composed of the president, prime minister, and various defense units. They announced on Thursday that they have evidence of cyber activities aimed at influencing the election.
In their statement, the Council also mentioned: “A presidential candidate received significant exposure through TikTok’s platform and was not tagged as a political candidate nor required to label the election-related content.”
The statement further highlighted that Romania is a primary target of “hostile actions by the Russian Federation.”
TikTok responded, dismissing claims of preferential treatment toward Georgescu on their platform as “absolutely incorrect.”
“When Romanian authorities contacted us requesting us to add labels to some videos lacking identification information,” a TikTok spokesperson stated, “we took action on those videos within 24 hours.”
The spokesperson claimed that according to the law, these labels should have been added by the candidates themselves. Similar incidents have occurred on multiple other platforms.
On Wednesday, a senior official from Romania’s telecommunications regulatory body called for suspending TikTok’s services and investigating the platform’s role in the elections.
Russian authorities have not immediately commented, although Moscow previously denied interference in foreign elections.
The outcome of this election is crucial for Romania, determining the future direction of this pro-Western country and staunch ally of Ukraine.
The court’s ruling has introduced more uncertainty into the election process.
By law, the Supreme Court must confirm the first-round voting results by November 29 for the second round to proceed as scheduled on December 8. However, the head of the country’s election body stated that recounting the 9.46 million ballots stored in various courthouses across Romania will take several days.
Lasconi criticized the Constitutional Court’s decision on social media, accusing the court of “interfering with the democratic process.”
In a statement, Georgescu accused national institutions of attempting to deprive the people of their voting rights.