Romania Annuls Presidential Vote Over Russian Interference Claims
Facts
- Romania's Constitutional Court unanimously annulled the entire presidential election on Friday, just two days before a runoff vote, amid concerns over potential foreign interference on TikTok. Police are also searching properties suspected of being connected to the alleged influence campaign.[1][2][3]
- A new electoral calendar has yet to be drafted, with local media reporting that candidates will have to register once again. Until the next president takes office, Pres. Klaus Iohannis, whose term was to end on Dec. 21, will stay on.[4][5]
- This follows the declassification of intelligence documents on Wednesday that suggested a covert pro-Russia campaign took place on the Chinese-owned platform to promote the right-wing outsider candidate Călin Georgescu.[6][7]
- According to the files and TikTok itself, a single user contributed $381K to users of accounts that promoted Georgescu in the run-up to the first round and even after the end of the electoral campaign. Russia has denied any allegations of interference.[6][8]
- The Constitutional Court previously 'confirm[ed] and validate[d]' the results of the first round, holding the runoff this weekend following a recount of votes amid fears of foreign meddling.[9][10]
- Running as an independent, Georgescu secured nearly 23% of the vote on Nov. 24 and was due to face off against Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union. It would've been the first runoff election in the post-communist era in which neither of the two largest parties had a candidate.[9][4]
Sources: [1]CNN, [2]Nine O' Clock, [3]Dw.Com, [4]Romania Insider, [5]POLITICO, [6]Agerpres, [7]Associated Press, [8]The Moscow Times, [9]BBC News and [10]Reuters.
Narratives
- Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Washington Post and RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Given that authorities in Romania uncovered this large-scale, well-funded Russian online effort to intervene in its consequential presidential election, the Constitutional Court had no choice other than to declare the first round void and order a complete re-run. An election can only be free and fair if all candidates abide by its rules.
- Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by The European Conservative. Millions of Romanians democratically voted to elect Călin Georgescu as their next president, only to see the top court put its finger on the scale because the preferred mainstream parties failed to advance to a runoff. In contrast to what was at worst a statistically insignificant social media scheme, this judicial coup d'état is actually undermining democracy.