Romanian court orders a recount of presidential election first round

A top Romanian court has asked the official electoral authority to recount and verify all of the ballots cast in the first round of the presidential election

A top Romanian court on Thursday asked the official electoral authority to recount and verify all of the ballots cast in the first-round of the presidential election.

The Constitutional Court in Bucharest voted unanimously in favor of the recount, and said the decision is final. The Central Election Bureau are scheduled to meet on Thursday afternoon to discuss the request.

Calin Georgescu, a little-known, far-right populist, won the first round in the election, beating the incumbent prime minister.

Georgescu, who ran independently, was due to face reformist Elena Lasconi in a Dec. 8. runoff. Pre-election surveys predicted he would win less than 10% of the vote.