Alleged misinformation and preferential treatment on TikTok leads to an election rerun.
Romania Election Annulled Over Misinformation
The BBC reports Romanian Court Annuls Result of Presidential Election First Round
Romania’s constitutional court has annulled the result of the first round of voting in the presidential election just days before the second round was due to take place.
It means the process will be restarted from scratch, with the government due to decide a date for a new vote.
The first round was won by Calin Georgescu, an almost unknown far-right Nato-sceptic who has previously praised Vladimir Putin.
The court’s decision comes after intelligence documents were declassified, suggesting Georgescu benefitted from a mass influence operation – conducted from abroad – to interfere with the result of the vote.
Hours after the court’s decision, Georgescu told a Romanian TV channel that the country’s democracy was “under attack”, describing the verdict as a “formalised coup d’etat”.
Outgoing Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said the court’s decision to annul was “the only correct solution after the declassification of the documents… which show that the result of the Romanians’ vote was blatantly distorted as a result of Russia’s intervention”.
Last week, the court had ordered a recount of votes cast in Sunday’s first round following allegations that social media platform TikTok gave “preferential treatment” to the surprise winner, Calin Georgescu.
Georgescu, a radical with no party of his own, campaigned mainly on TikTok. The platform said it was “categorically false to claim his account was treated differently to any other candidate”.
He won 23% of the vote, with 19%, Elena Lasconi, of the opposition Save Romania Union and Ciolacu of the governing Social Democrats in third.
Lasconi condemned the court’s ruling as “illegal” and “immoral”, saying “today is the moment when the Romanian state has trampled on democracy”.
“Whether we like it or not, from a legal and legitimate point of view, nine million Romanian citizens, both in the country and in the diaspora, have expressed their preference for a certain candidate. We cannot ignore their will!” she said.
She had been hoping to win the second round run-off on Sunday, which has now been cancelled.
Hoot of the Day
You know the case is rigged when:
1) a recount fails 2) the court then steps in and annuls the election on grounds of misinformation and 3) even the opposition admits the court’s ruling is “illegal” and “immoral”.
Mercy!
If misinformation was grounds for an election rerun, there would never be an election anywhere.
Meanwhile, back in the states ….
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