A top Romanian court has ordered the recount of the ballots cast in the first round of the presidential election that saw a far-right candidate take a shock lead.
The Constitutional Court said in a statement on November 28 that it had "unanimously ordered the reverification and recounting of the voting ballots for the November 24 presidential election." The court in Bucharest said the decision was final.
The Central Election Bureau is scheduled to meet later in the day to discuss the court ruling.
Calin Georgescu, the pro-Russian far-right independent candidate scored a surprise victory in the first round of the election, garnering nearly 23 percent of the vote.
Georgescu is set to face off against center-right Elena Lasconi, a staunch Euro-Atlanticist, in the December 8 runoff after both pushed ahead of favorite leftist Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.
Without the backing of a party, Georgescu's campaign relied heavily on the social media platform TikTok, where his account had 1.6 million likes and where he posted videos of himself attending church, doing judo, running on a track, and speaking on podcasts.
SEE ALSO: How TikTok Fueled The Rise Of Romania's Far-Right Presidential Candidate GeorgescuSeparately, Romania's Supreme National Defense Council said after the court ruling that it had found evidence suggesting that "cyberattacks" had been used to influence the outcome of the election. Without naming Georgescu, the council also charged that TikTok had "given preferential treatment" to a particular candidate.
Romania's president has significant decision-making powers, including on matters of national security and foreign policy.
Elected for a five-year term, the president can also reject party nominees for prime minister and government nominees for judicial appointments.