Romanians demand to vote after scrapped elections

BUCAREST

Romanians have protested outside a voting station near Bucharest together with far-right presidential frontrunner Calin Georgescu after a top court scrapped the scheduled run-off vote after allegations of Russian interference.

Georgescu unexpectedly topped the first round of voting on Nov. 24 in the NATO and EU member bordering Ukraine.

But the Constitutional Court on Dec. 6 unanimously decided to annul the entire electoral process as it was "marred... by multiple irregularities and violations of electoral legislation."

The annulment followed a spate of intelligence documents declassified by the presidency this week detailing allegations against Georgescu and Russia, including claims of "massive" social media promotion and cyberattacks.

More than 100 people gathered at a polling station near Bucharest yesterday, the originally scheduled date of the run-off vote, shouting "Down with dictatorship," "We want to vote" and "Thieves."

Georgescu accused the authorities to have canceled the elections by fear he would win.

"I'm here in the name of democracy and always will be," Georgescu told reporters outside the closed polling station.

Georgescu, who has called the cancelation "a formalized coup d'etat," said he is contesting the vote cancelation in court, as is another far-right party, AUR, which has also called on its supporters to go to polling stations later yesterday.

Romanian authorities allege "preferential treatment" of Georgescu on TikTok, a claim the social media platform has denied.

In the declassified documents they also said Romania was a "target for aggressive Russian hybrid actions," including cyberattacks.

A new government, to be formed after the ruling Social Democrats won last weekend's legislative elections, is expected to set a