BUCHAREST, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- 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 percent 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 percent), followed by Elena Lasconi of 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, receiving 1,769,760 votes (19.15 percent).
Since no candidate achieved an absolute majority, a runoff is set for Dec. 8, 2024. The current presidential term will conclude on Dec. 21.
Meanwhile, Romania is also preparing for parliamentary elections on Dec. 1, which will determine the composition of the next government and prime minister. ■
