Romania will head to the polls once again in May for a rerun of the first round of its presidential election, whose results were declared invalid on 6 December.
Romanian authorities had claimed that Russia tried to influence and disrupt the voting process during the first round on 24 November last. The country's Constitutional Court later upheld the claim, declaring the election results invalid.
The new first round is scheduled for 4 May. If no candidate secures 50% of the vote, a second round will take place two weeks later. The top two candidates will face each other in this runoff.
The initial round in November was unexpectedly won by ndependent candidate Calin Georgescu, who gained popularity on TikTok with far-right, nationalist, and pro-Russian statements.
According to the Romanian Security Council, Georgescu benefitted from a coordinated, paid campaign on TikTok, although he claimed not to have spent any money. It was also suggested that the social media platform’s algorithm favoured him.
