Romania’s Constitutional Court asked on November 28 for a recount of the votes cast in the first round of the presidential election that took place on November 24. 

The decision has major implications not only for the presidential election, but also for the parliamentary election scheduled for December 1, particularly on the formation of a ruling coalition. 

The recount is being carried out after a request from candidate Cristian Terhes who claimed some votes cast for Ludovic Orban were registered to fellow centre-right candidate Elena Lasconi. Orban dropped out of the presidential race and voiced his support for Lasconi, but too late for his name to be taken off the ballot papers. 

Lasconi came in second place, behind far-right, pro-Russian Calin Georgescu, who took the largest share of the vote despite trailing mainstream candidates in pre-election polls. 

If Lasconi, leader of Union Save Romania (USR), loses more than 2,740 votes as a result of the recount, she will be overtaken by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) candidate, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu. That would mean Ciolacu, rather than Lasconi, would face Georgescu in the second round. 

Notably, Ciolacu didn’t challenge the outcome of the first ballot. However, as a far-right politician, Terhes may prefer Ciolacu as a challenger for Georgescu.

If discrepancies are found, is not yet clear whether the first round vote will be cancelled or if the ranking of the candidates will simply be changed. 

In the ruling taken and published on November 28, the Constitutional Court said a final decision on Terhes’ request to cancel the presidential ballot would be taken on November 29, implying that the count should be ready within 24 hours. 

However, Central Electoral Bureau (BCE) officials, asked about the feasibility of such a short deadline, said this is not possible. The ballot papers have already been archived, BCE representatives explained.