Romanian court postpones decision on annuling election until Monday

BUCHAREST — Romania’s top court has postponed a decision on whether to annul the first round of the country’s presidential election until Monday afternoon, as a ballot recount is ongoing.
The recount, which the court ordered Thursday, is expected to end late Sunday night. A parliamentary election is also scheduled for the same day.
Turmoil has gripped Romania since Călin Georgescu, a largely unknown, far-right NATO skeptic with pro-Russia leanings, rocketed to victory in the first presidential round last Sunday.
Romania’s top national security officials said Thursday the country was targeted by cyberattacks intended to influence the first round of voting. The role of Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok in manipulating voters is also being scrutinized.
Georgescu is scheduled to take on reformist Elena Lasconi in a runoff on Dec. 8.
The court decision to order the recount came in response to a complaint by Cristian Terheș, a member of the European Parliament, who ran for president and received about 1 percent of the vote. He claimed that some of the votes for another candidate, who dropped out a week before the election and endorsed Lasconi were illegally transferred to her. The candidate, Ludovic Orban, a former Romanian prime minister, dropped out too late to be taken off the ballot.
Lasconi’s party, the Save Romania Union, appealed the recount decision before an appeals court in Bucharest and expressed concerns that the recount of nearly 9.5 million ballots was not being conducted transparently, with no video recording and independent observers allowed. Far fewer people are responsible for counting the ballots than during election night last Sunday.
If the court decides Monday to annul the first round, the rerun of the presidential election is expected on Dec. 15, with a second round two weeks later.