Georgescu Urges Romanians To Show Up At Polls -- Despite Scrapping Of Presidential Runoff

BUCHAREST -- Romania’s far-right, pro-Russian presidential candidate defiantly told voters to turn up at polling stations for a December 8 election runoff that has been scrapped by the Constitutional Court. While Calin Georgescu attempts to fill the streets with backers, however, his actual level of support remains uncertain.

Georgescu told supporters "to wait to be welcomed, to wait for democracy to win through their power," according to a statement on December 7 by his team.

"Mr. Calin Georgescu believes that voting is an earned right. That is why he believes that Romanians have the right to be in front of the polling stations tomorrow," the statement said, adding that Georgescu would go to a polling station near the capital, Bucharest, early in the morning.

Over recent days, thousands of mostly young Romanians have taken to the streets to protest against his pro-Russia comments.

Georgescu, who ran as an independent, had won the first round of the presidential election on November 24, ahead of reformist Elena Lasconi of the center-right Save Romania Union party, setting up a runoff originally set for December 8.

However, Romania's Constitutional Court on December 6 annulled the entire presidential election, throwing the process into upheaval even as diaspora voting had already begun at sites throughout the globe.

Georgescu had blasted the court’s ruling as an “officialized coup” and an attack on democracy, while Lasconi also assailed the decision.

The Constitutional Court in its published ruling cited the illegal use of digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, as well as the use of “undeclared sources of funding.”

The runoff had been seen as a referendum on the NATO and EU member's future course amid accusations of Russian meddling that brought thousands of Romanians onto the streets in support of the country's place in the Euro-Atlantic community.

The Constitutional Court’s unprecedented decision came just two days after President Klaus Iohannis declassified intelligence that alleged Russia had organized thousands of social media accounts to promote Georgescu -- the shock first-round winner -- across platforms such as TikTok and Telegram.

Georgescu had appeared as a favorite to win the runoff, but was passed by Lasconi in the latest opinion poll after the intelligence documents were released.

The court, without naming Georgescu, said that one of the 13 candidates in the November 24 first round had improperly received “preferential treatment” on social media, distorting the outcome of the vote.

Georgescu and Lasconi were supposed to meet in a runoff this weekend. Voting abroad had already started when the court shelved the entire election and instructed the government to set a new one.

Iohannis said he would remain in office until a new presidential election could be conducted again from the start.

He is expected to appoint a prime minister to begin forming a government from the parliament that was elected on December 1. That administration will choose the date of the new election.

Meanwhile, Romania authorities conducted searches at three homes as part of the probe into the election irregularities.

'In the central city of Brasov, police searched three homes early on December 7 as part of a probe "in connection with the crimes of voter corruption, money laundering, and computer forgery," the local prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

It added that the police action had targeted a person involved in the "illegal financing of the electoral campaign of a candidate for the presidency of Romania, through the use of sums of money," without naming Georgescu.

The statement also said the investigation involved alleged violations of Romanian law prohibiting organizations and symbols of a fascist, racist or xenophobic character.

In Washington, the U.S. State Department said Romanians must have confidence their elections are free of harmful external influences.

"The United States reaffirms our confidence in Romania’s democratic institutions and processes, including investigations into foreign malign influence," the department said in a statement issued late on December 6.