Romanian court orders recount of presidential vote after claims that TikTok gave 'preference' to winner
Romanian voters had previously resisted nationalist parties.
Romania'sconstitutionalcourton Thursday ordered arecountof votes cast in thefirstroundof thepresidentialelection afterallegations that social media platform TikTok gave "preferential treatment" to the surprise winner, Calin Georgescu.
But the social media platform denied the allegations saying,"It is categorically false to claim his account was treated differently to any other candidate," in a statement.
One far-right candidate, Calin Georgescu, secured an unexpected lead in thevoteon Sunday, knocking out Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.
He mainly campaigned on TikTok for the presidential election as does not have any party of his own.
But a rival, EU parliament member Cristian Terhes, challenged the result, accusing another candidate of irregularities.
In response, thecourtunanimously ordered a "recheck andrecountof all ballots... in theelectionsfor the office of president ofRomaniaon November 24," it said in a statement.
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The ruling comes days beforeRomaniaholds high-stakes parliamentaryelectionson Sunday, with thepresidentialrunoff to follow on December 8, amid fears they could herald a shift in its foreign policy.
Terhes has accused the centrist Union SaveRomania(USR) party of small-town mayor Elena Lasconi of continuing to campaign online after the legal deadline and asked thecourtto have thefirstroundof thevoteannulled.
Lasconi came second in the ballot, just ahead of Ciolacu who got eliminated from the race.
Theconstitutionalcourtis due to reconvene on Friday at 2:00 pm (1200 GMT).
Thecourtmeanwhile rejected a separate request by anotherpresidentialcandidate, Sebastian Popescu, to annul thefirstroundof thevote, ruling that the demand came too late.
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Georgescu'sfirst-roundwin sent shock waves across the NATO member country of 19 million people.
Romanian voters had previously resisted nationalist parties, setting the country apart from neighbours Hungary and Slovakia.
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