Romanian court annuls election votes after Russian interference fears

A top Romanian court has annulled the first round of the country's presidential election, days after allegations that Russia ran a campaign to promote the far-right outsider who won.

The Constitutional Court's unprecedented decision — which is final — came after president Klaus Iohannis declassified intelligence on Wednesday that alleged Russia ran a coordinated campaign comprising thousands of social media accounts promoting Calin Georgescu across platforms such as TikTok and Telegram.

Despite being an outsider who declared zero campaign spending, Mr Georgescu emerged as the frontrunner on November 24. 

He was due to face reformist Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union party in a runoff on Sunday.

Mr Iohannis said that once a new government was formed, new dates would be set to re-run the vote from scratch, and that he would remain in office until a new president was elected. 

Some 951 voting stations had already opened abroad on Friday for the runoff for Romania's large diaspora but had to be halted.

Between the scheduled presidential races, Romania also held a parliamentary election that saw pro-Western parties win the most votes but also gains for far-right nationalists.

In a televised statement on Friday, Mr Iohannis said he was "deeply concerned" by the contents of the intelligence reports, which indicated one candidate's campaign was "unlawfully supported from outside Romania" and was a matter of national security.

"The same candidate declared zero campaign expenditures, despite running a highly sophisticated campaign," he said. 

"Intelligence reports revealed that this candidate's campaign was supported by a foreign state with interests contrary to Romania's. 

Reformist candidate condemns decision

Ms Lasconi strongly condemned the court's decision, saying it was "illegal, immoral, and crushes the very essence of democracy."

"We should have moved forward with the vote," she said. 

"We should have respected the will of the Romanian people. 

"Whether we like it or not, from a legal and legitimate standpoint, nine million Romanian citizens, both in the country and the diaspora, expressed their preference for a particular candidate through their votes. 

"We cannot ignore their will."

She added she knows she "would have won", vowing to unite the country for a "better Romania". 

"I will defend our democracy," she said.

"I will not give up."

Ms Lasconi said the issue of Russian interference should have been tackled after the election was completed. 

Some 9.4 million people — about 52.5 per cent of eligible voters — had cast ballots in the first round.

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said in a statement the annulment was "the only correct solution" following the intelligence drop that revealed the "Romanian people's vote was flagrantly distorted as a result of Russian interference."

"The presidential elections must be held again," he said in a post on Facebook. 

"At the same time, investigations by the authorities must uncover who is responsible for the massive attempt to influence the outcome of the presidential election."

Fears annulment could trigger civil unrest

The same court last week ordered a recount of the first-round votes, which added to the myriad controversies that have engulfed a chaotic election cycle. 

Following a recount, the court then validated the first-round results on Monday.

Many observers have expressed concerns that annulling the vote could trigger civil unrest.

George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, said the development was a "coup d'état in full swing" but urged people not to take to the streets. 

Thirteen candidates ran in the first round presidential vote in the European Union and NATO member country. 

Before the first round vote, most surveys predicted the top three candidates would be Prime Minister Ciolacu, who came in third place, and Mr Simion or Ms Lasconi in second place. 

As the surprising results came in with Mr Georgescu on top, and Ms Lasconi narrowly beating Mr Ciolacu, it sent shock waves through the political establishment and plunged it into turmoil.

Many observers attributed Mr Georgescu's success to his TikTok account, which now has six million likes and 541,000 followers. 

But some experts suspect Mr Georgescu's online following was artificially inflated while Romania's top security body alleged he was given preferential treatment by TikTok over other candidates.

In the intelligence release, the secret services alleged that one TikTok user paid more $381,000 ($AU 596,787) to other users to promote Georgescu content.

Mr Georgescu told Associated Press on Wednesday that social media was the "most important existing function for promoting free speech and freedom of expression". 

AP