Romanian Constitutional Court To Analyze Social Democrat Claims Of Rigged Elections

Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) spokesman Marian Muhulet said the PSD+PC Alliance’s requests for a recount in five stations in Caras-Severin County were debated in Tuesday’s meeting and the conclusion was the notices do not meet the legal criteria to demand a recount, but identify electoral fraud and will be forwarded to the Constitutional Court.

According to Muhulet, PSD+PC said the list of voters contained the signatures of people who were not in the country.

BEC also analyzed PSD+PC’s request for a recount in a Vaslui County station and decided that is up to the Vaslui Electoral Bureau. Muhulet said the 3,000 void votes in Vaslui were counted again and 42 turned out to be valid.

Muhulet said BEC will hold a new meeting Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Democratic Liberal Party vice-president Adriean Videanu said Tuesday that social democrats’ contestation is a „feeble” attempt at public pressure. Videanu said that former social democrat Interior Minister Dan Nica had advanced the legislation on elections, and former Foreign Affairs Minister Cristian Diaconescu, also a social democrat, had decided on the polling stations abroad.

In Videanu’s opinion, the social democrats’ steps to challenge the elections are an insult to democracy.

Romanian social democrat leader Mircea Geoana, who was defeated in the presidential race, said Monday the party decided to challenge the election outcome at the Constitutional Court and the Central Electoral Bureau, claiming the election was rigged.